Intense Ion Beam Flux of Adsorbed Gases and Metallic Anode Materials in the “Point Pinch Diode” Measured with Thomson-Parabola Ion Spectrometer

An intense flux of ion beams was observed in a "Point Pinch Diode" which consists of concentric elliptic or spherical electrodes and a slender magnetically insulated transmission line. The ion beam had an energy of about 380 keV, which was equivalent to the supplied diode voltage. The peak current density of the ion beam ranged from 5 to 7.5 kA/cm2 in spite of a small input energy (less than about 1 kJ). Measurements with a Thomson-parabola ion spectrometer show that the major components were hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, the origins of which were oil and water adsorbed on the surface of the metallic anodes. A significant flux of the metallic ion beams was also detected in the cases of aluminium, copper and gold anodes.