Operation of an electron beam initiated metallic plasma capillary discharge

• A different mode of operation of metallic capillary discharge is developed.
• It uses the electron beam from the THCD to bombard on the floating anode tip.
• The floating anode tip is evaporated or ionised due to electron bombardment.
• The ionised material is injected into the capillary to form metallic plasma.

In this work, a simple and different technique of generation of a metallic capillary discharge plasma is being studied. The capillary is initially evacuated to a low pressure of below 10−2 Pa. The transient hollow cathode discharge (THCD) produces high energy electron beam that subsequently is employed to vaporize the anode material that will inject into the capillary and initiates the discharge through the capillary. The EUV energy emission produced is calculated to be an estimation in the order of tens of milijoules. At the peak of the current of around 9 kA, the electron temperature of the plasma achieved is estimated to be around 11 eV.