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Electron Trajectories And Critical Current In A Two-Dimensional Planar Magnetically Insulated Crossed-Field Gap, Xiaojun Zhu, Jack K. Wright, N. R. Sree Harsha, Jim Browning, Allen L. Garner
Electron Trajectories And Critical Current In A Two-Dimensional Planar Magnetically Insulated Crossed-Field Gap, Xiaojun Zhu, Jack K. Wright, N. R. Sree Harsha, Jim Browning, Allen L. Garner
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The critical current in a one-dimensional (1D) crossed-field gap is defined by the transition from a cycloidal flow to a near-Brillouin (nB) state characterized by electron flow orthogonal to both the electric and magnetic fields and uniform virtual cathode formation. Motivated by recent studies on space-charge-limited current in non-magnetic diodes, we assess the meaning of critical current in a magentically insulated two-dimensional (2D) planar crossed-field geometry. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations demonstrate that binary behavior between a laminar and turbulent state does not occur in 2D because the virtual cathode is nonuniform. Rather than a distinct nB state above the critical current …