The Generation and Diagnosis of Pulsed Relativistic Electron Beams above 1010 Watts

A review of the several approaches to the generation of intense electron streams in the megavolt energy regime is presented. The techniques used in the diagnosis of the 30,000 ampere, 3 Mev beam from a gas insulated coaxial system with a characteristic pulse length of 25 nanoseconds are discussed. The general features of such a stream drifting under self-focused conditions are presented and the results compared with the theory of such an idealized beam. The results of work conducted with cathode arrays of varying geometry are discussed. In particular, the dynamics of 20,000 ampere streams at 2 Mev, from arrays with
₁
≤ n ≤
₄
, are presented. Based on these data, a prognosis is made for the limitations of future high peak power electron accelerators at energies in the 10 Mev range.