28th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science/13th IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference, Nevada, United States Of America, 17 - 22 June 2001, pp.397-400
Generation of intense electron beams by superposing two discharges, namely a low pressure do glow discharge and a high current pulsed discharge at pressures and voltages very similar to that of the pseudo-spark gap devices, has been reported previously [1, 2]. The small diameter, high peak current and short pulse length are the characteristics of the electron beam generated using this technique. In this technique, no high vacuum facilities are necessary, and many applications such as micro processing, X-rays generation, pre-ionization for high-power lasers are feasible. The electron beam current is in the range of 10-30 A. A full characterization of the electron beam that is utilized in this work has been given in a previous work [3]. In this work it is reported that the most energetic part of the electron beam is about 5-nanosecond pulse duration. The beam is magnetically deflected to the specific point. The pulse repetition rate is up to 100 Hz. Micro-processing as drilling tenths of microns diameter holes in different materials such as copper, titanium, tantalum has been performed. The microstructure of the irradiated materials has been investigated by means of SEM and AFM. Currently, the possibility of processing a matrix of holes is being considered.