Ionization of a Background Gas by a Weak (ν/γ≪1) Relativistic Electron Beam

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Abstract
The injection of a relativistic electron beam into a neutral gas creates a background plasma. A simple model is presented for this process, which includes (a) direct ionization of the gas by the high‐energy electrons; (b) ionization of the gas caused by the acceleration of secondary electrons in the axial electric field of the beam. A self‐consistent calculation of the conductivity and the electric field in the beam is carried out. The predictions of the model are compared with an experiment on a 2‐MeV 4‐kA beam of 100‐nsec duration, injected into helium at 0.2–2.0 Torr. Results indicate that the theory agrees with experimental observations at lower pressures, but tends to deviate from experimental values at higher pressures.

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