Space-charge effects in the field-assisted thermionic emission from nonuniform cathodes

TL;DR

This study uses simulations to analyze how space-charge influences thermionic electron emission from nonuniform cathodes, revealing effects on current density, beam quality, and optimal operating conditions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into space-charge effects on thermionic emission from patterned cathodes with varying work functions, including the impact on beam properties and optimal temperatures.

Findings

Local current density can exceed space-charge limit at intermediate temperatures.

Space-charge effects homogenize current density and increase it at the periphery.

Optimal brightness occurs near the transition between source-limited and space-charge limited emission.

Abstract

We use computational simulations to study the electron emission and propagation in planar vacuum diodes. We show how space-charge affects thermionic emission from cathodes with two different values of work function that form a checkerboard pattern of finite extent on the cathode surface. We confirm that, for intermediate cathode temperature, the local current density from low work function regions can exceed the space-charge limit for the entire cathode. As the cathode temperature rises space-charge effects lead to homogeneous current density from the interior of the emitting area and a higher current density from its periphery. We show how beam emittance and brightness are affected, and show that the operating temperature for optimal brightness is such that it corresponds to the transition region between source-limited and space-charge limited emission. Finally we show how beam current and beam quality depend on how fine grained the structure of the cathode is.