Experimental Studies of Anode and Cathode Materials in a Repetitive Driven Axial Vircator

Abstract

Repetitive use of a high-power-microwave radiation source implies strong erosion on cathode and anode materials. Electrode-material endurance has been studied in a series of experiments with an axial virtual cathode oscillator powered by a compact Marx generator. The Marx generator is operated in a 10-Hz repetitive mode with a burst of ten pulses. Velvet and graphite was used as electron-emitting materials, and they showed markedly different pulse characteristics. The following three different anode materials were used: stainless-steel mesh, stainless-steel wires, and molybdenum wires, which all had different influence on the pulse characteristics.