Subnanosecond electron beams formed in a gas-filled diode

Abstract

We have studied the conditions for the formation of a pulsed beam of runaway electrons in a diode filled with air at atmospheric pressure, whereby the current and voltage pulses in the system were measured with a subnanosecond time resolution. It is experimentally demonstrated for the first time that the electron beam appears on the leading front of the voltage pulse at a relatively small voltage on the discharge gap. At atmospheric pressure, a full width at half maximum of the current pulse does not exceed 0.3 ns.