Ion beam generation in a diode with a ferroelectric anode

In this article experimental results of the application of a ferroelectric anode for the generation of ion beams are presented. The ferroelectric anode was made of a solid solution of Sr, Ba, Ti, Nb, Pb, and O. Its front side was covered by a grounded Cu strip electrode. The ion beam generation was studied in a planar diode powered by a high-voltage generator with accelerating voltage ⩽300 kV and pulse duration ⩽400 ns. The source of the ion beam was found to be the plasma which was formed on the front anode surface. This plasma was formed by a driving pulse with an amplitude ⩽18 kV and pulse duration of ∼400 ns which was applied to the rear Cu disk electrode prior to the application of the accelerating pulse. The generation of ion beams with current amplitude up to 150 A was demonstrated in the plasma prefilled mode of the diode operation. It was found that the generated ion beam consists of light $({\mathrm{H}}^{+},{\mathrm{C}}^{+},{\mathrm{O}}^{+})$ and heavy $({\mathrm{Ti}}^{+},{\mathrm{Cu}}^{+},{\mathrm{Sr}}^{+})$ ions. In addition, it was shown that the application of a reflex triode scheme with a negative grid cathode allowed us to separate effectively the light ions from the generated ion beam.