(20!05!2022) Updated Synopsis (Shahzad Ali Nasir)
(20!05!2022) Updated Synopsis (Shahzad Ali Nasir)
(20!05!2022) Updated Synopsis (Shahzad Ali Nasir)
Department: Physics
SAHIWAL, PAKISTAN
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Table of Contents
1. Abstract..............................................................................................................................4
2. Introduction........................................................................................................................4
3. Literature Review...............................................................................................................5
4. Objectives.........................................................................................................................11
4.1 Justification....................................................................................................................11
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5.1 DGUN Code for Beam Optics Analysis........................................................................12
6. Summary..........................................................................................................................14
8. References/Bibliography..................................................................................................15
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1. Abstract
A small area point-focused electron beam gun will be simulated and optimized using
two-dimensional computer program DGUN for metallurgical applications. Beam optics
analysis of electron gun using electrostatic and electromagnetic focusing will be performed to
get the desired beam characteristics parameters. To get well focused beam at the target, with
minimum divergence the theoretical values of magnetic field will be calculated and then
electromagnets will be designed on the basis of theoretical values.
2. Introduction
Electron guns are basic elements in various high and low power devices being used in
institute of high energy physics. These include many research, academic and strategic
progressive division institution. A brief introduction of electron guns and their simplified
design is given as under:
For electron beam design, following parameters and considerations have to be taken
into the account [3, 4]:
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Second, the beam should have a homogenous emission across the surface of emitter to
enable large area processing of the beam.
Third, a uniform magnetic field is essential to provide a focused beam with the
uniform energy density in the post anode region to achieve a common crossover at the
target.
In this work, simulations, optimization and beam optics analysis of point focused
electron beam gun for material applications will be performed using two-dimensional
computer program DGUN. DGUN is 2-D software that computes electrons trajectories in
electrostatic and magnetic fields. It can simulate almost all types of geometries for an
electron gun. It is extensively in use for majority of experimental labs of High Energy
Physics.
3. Literature Review
Literature has a variety of methods for design of electron beams for different
purposes. Each geometry and application has its own pros and cons, therefore, a compromise
has to be made between beam parameters and resources (experimental and economical).
There is an increased focus on charged particle beam optics in high energy physics which
may lead to desired underlying secrets of this universe.
The use of the time domain computer code has verified a novel method for electron-
gun simulation. This code solves Maxwell equations for dynamic (time dependent) behavior
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in the presence of source charge. Perveance, beam divergence, and current density spread are
all quite close to other authentic simulation and calculations [6].
A study for quick parameterizations and optimization of the electrodes has been
developed by using several codes including DGUN (2-dimensional) code and later, cross-
verified in already used authentic codes. A solenoid was developed in other 2D codes for
focusing using static magnetic field [7].
Charged particle beams are frequently focused on the intended work site employing a
symmetric magnetic field directed along the beam's axis. For existing ion Low Energy Beam
Transport, solenoid focusing is widely regarded as the most accurate, precise, and cost-
effective approach. In current accelerators, superconducting solenoids and superconducting
accelerating cavities are utilized to accelerate high-intensity particle beams. The goal of the
analysis was to reduce solenoid power consumption and beam emittance growth due to
nonlinear space charge and lens aberrations, while also increasing channel acceptance.
Analytical expressions have been derived for maximum beam current in focusing structure,
beam emittance growth due to spherical aberrations, and non-linear space charge forces [8].
Charged particle beam transport has been an important subject in the study of
electromagnetics. Researchers have been finding out analytical solution to the problem of
achieving low beam emittance, high perveance, low beam waist diameter, high beam current
density and high-power density to a longer distance without beam loss. Various research
problems have been solved to find out magnetic fields in several coordinate systems in order
to transport beam to longer distances [9].
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The maximal power density attained by this electron gun is on the order of 10 5 W/cm2. The
ability to carry out technical procedures such as electron beam welding of thick metal
components is enabled by the high-power density [10].
The Finite Element Method (FEM) is particularly suited for computations involving
space charge and beam intrinsic current density. This method is based on a division of space
into finite elements which are small compared to the geometric features of the model. Instead
of solving Maxwell’s equations in continuous space, only potential values at the corner points
(nodes) of the finite elements are evaluated [11]. Due to this discretization, Maxwell’s
equations can be considerably large (involving 10,000 – 100,000 unknowns) but can be
solved by standard linear algebra algorithms. DGUN solves the Poisson equation by using
FEM which is governing equation for solving electrostatic problems involving source charge
[12].
Electron guns find their applications in many processes. There is wide range of
industrial, chemical, research, academic, medical and material characterization applications
where electron guns are being used primary source of energy. A brief review of their
applications from recent literature involving some conventional and many novel ideas is
given in following sections:
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3.2.1 Industrial Applications of Electron Gun
The applications of electron beam guns range from industry to research and
development. The television picture tube is a crude application of an electron gun for forming
a picture on a fluorescent screen. They are also utilized in a variety of industrial activities like
welding/soldering, micromachining and lithography. The technologies produced from
accelerators are even more diversified, ranging from the well-known Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance (NMR) imaging to revolutionary ways of electricity generation, transportation,
and large-scale storage [13].
In industrial production activities around the world, more than 1400 high current
electron beam (EB) accelerator machines are in use. Low-energy EB accelerators have played
a critical role in the near-removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and, as a result, the
eradication of greenhouse gas emissions from high-speed coating and printing operations that
use low-energy EB processing. It is more affordable for product development and industrial
application due to its smaller size, lower rates, and efficient operation. Low-energy EB has
proven to be a successful solution for surface cleaning of packing materials used for food and
medical items shortly before they enter aseptic packaging machinery [14].
Radar guns, cathode ray tubes, klystrons, electron beam welding, and a variety of
other experimental designs all necessitate very precise and efficient electron guns. Different
simulation software programs, have been used to effectively develop and optimize electron
guns [15].
Despite its competitors, such as arc and laser technologies, electron beam welding is
frequently employed in industry. Automotive, electronics, electrical engineering, aerospace,
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and mechanical engineering are some of the industries that use high-efficiency electron beam
(EB) welding methods. This method guarantees precise and accurate welded seams in
structural metals with thicknesses ranging from 0.025 mm (microscopic) to 300 mm
(macroscopic level). Deposition and surface modification techniques can also be employed to
produce thin films and coatings. Rapid prototyping, surface texturing, wire and powder
cladding, and alloying are all possible with electron beam welding structures. It can also
provide you an idea of the most modern techniques that can be applied in these procedures, as
well as the latest trends in the field of EB welding.
Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) has progressed from patterning with adapted
scanning electron microscopes to today's dedicated equipment for routine nanoscale study of
prototype devices. High-resolution and precision resist and substrate materials, procedures,
electron sources, electron optics, and software are all well elaborated. Higher-energy beams
and multi-beam systems for higher throughput are possible future advances and are in focus
of researchers. Several advancements in nanostructures along with fabrication issues in the
emerging fields have been widely investigated including patterned media for disk drives [17].
In 1960, the first industrial application of the electron accelerator (EB) was the
manufacturing of heat shrinkable film utilizing electron beam gun (EBG). Following that,
accelerator production technology advanced significantly, and today, numerous types of EB
machines are used for commercial applications. Despite its vast applications in industry,
chemical effects, such as crosslinking and graft-polymerization, are used to modify polymer
materials in EB applications in the polymer industry [18].
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3.2.6 Applications of Electron Guns in Material Characterization
Electron guns are being widely used as a source of focussed electron beam in order to
characterize the material to explore their various characteristics like surface morphology,
nanostructure, crystallinity, electronic structure, crystallite size etc. Point source electron
source are considered as a primary source of characterization techniques like scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning tunneling
microscopy (STM), electronic spectroscopy for rare earth elements and x-ray diffraction
(XRD) [19].
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clearly suggests that simulation procedures using computer codes like EGUN and CST-PS
are critical before experimental testing of geometry [22].
Because the hairpin burns out at excessive current, point source emitters normally
operate in a temperature limited mode of emission. For proper joint welding of different
metals of varied diameters, intense heating in a short cross section can be achieved. In CST-
PS software, a hairpin source electron gun was simulated, including 3D visualization of the
beam emission and convergence with electromagnetic focusing. For the beam optics analysis,
the EGUN program was also employed to model the electron gun. The importance of
computer codes for optimum geometries and parameters is clearly demonstrated by the
conformity between test and simulation findings. The gun's attained parameters are
particularly beneficial for electron accelerators, electron optical devices, and refractory metal
welding [23].
4. Objectives
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40 to 60 0.40 to 0.60 5 to 15 2 to 4 8-12 2.0 x 10-2 to
6.0 x 10-2
4.1 Justification
Previously, several shapes have been optimized for curved (C shaped) emitters to
avoid beam divergence. Researchers have studied such electron guns widely but several
parameters still require to be calculated and optimized by using simple numerical simulation
methods. These parameters include cathode current density, variation of electric field in
electron gun, ripple factor in beam for longer distance travel and design of proper
electromagnet for focusing of beam to work site.
In this work, a novel design of point source (hairpin) electron gun with flat electrodes
(cathodes and anodes) will be proposed with proper calculation of aforementioned
parameters. Further, low accelerating potential will be used to achieve these parameters so
that low power consumption electron gun is used for industrial applications like material
processing, welding, lithography etc.
Moreover, beam optics analysis is more efficient comprehensive in DGUN compared
rather than other such codes. Simulation times for large values of iteration in DGUN is very
less for which it is desirable computer code being used in various research and academic
organization like Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), High Energy Accelerator
Research Organization (KEK) and European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN).
Physical iterative testing of electron beam with required beam parameters by varying
the control variables like electrode potentials, input current and heating power is time
consuming, cumbersome and costly task with no guarantee of achieving the optimized
design. In order to overcome aforementioned disadvantages, certain computer-aided design-
cum-simulation techniques have been developed and are being widely used for the simulation
of electron beam guns as covered in introduction and literature review section. These
techniques allow the optimization of the electron gun operation by using different parameters
and operating it in different conditions to get the electron beam of required energy and shape.
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The use of computer aided designs in achieving electron beam with desired parameters in a
particular application is well justified and has far reaching consequences in practical set up.
The input data consists of two files which are described shortly:
geom.cod: It contains the data which mainly includes the coded information regarding
electrode shape of the electron gun.
dginput.dat: It contains coded input data other than electrode shape i.e. node potentials,
beam waist radius, boundary conditions (Neumann boundary conditions for convergence of
the solution) and axial distance etc. It consists of three name lists.
After processing/running the input codes in DGUN following output files are obtained
which can be described as under:
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surface.res: It contains calculated information regarding electric field strength near electrode
surfaces.
bsize.res: It contains information regarding envelops of the beam after last successful
convergent iteration.
dgplt.res: It contains information regarding beam output profile and can be used to draw
figures without any specific format.
Busch’s theorem is widely used to study the motion of charged particles under the
influence of electric and magnetic field. The trajectory of charged particle beam can be
controlled to an already optimized / required value by using a magnetic field. Such controlled
flow of charged beam particles is sometimes called Brillouin flow which is achieved by using
a minimum amount of magnetic field which is called Brillouin field and is calculated
theoretically as:
√
√2 I o
B b= 3
2
εo π r η 2
√V o
Bb ≈(8.32 x 10−4 )
√Io
1
4
rV o
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5.3 Optimization of Electron Beam for Focusing
The calculated value of magnetic field will be applied in DGUN code and process
mentioned in section 5.2 will be repeated for checking the achieved characteristics of the
beam. The value of magnetic field will be fine-tuned so that desired parameters may be
achieved with minimum error.
6. Summary
A point source (hairpin) electron gun will be simulated because such sources have
several advantages like low operating temperature (300 K), high brightness of the order of
1013 A m-2 sr-1, high current density of the order of 10 6 A/cm2, small emitter size, spatially
coherent beam with small energy spread and durable with longer life time. Besides, it has
several disadvantages as it is not suitable for large area processing of materials, current
density drops rapidly, emission current is not stable and need ultra-high voltage (UHV).
The theoretical and numerical simulation design of a point focused electron gun is
proposed in this research synopsis. A brief introduction regarding applications of electron
gun has been reviewed from recent research articles reported for several purposes. Literature
of the electron gun design and simulation has been reviewed widely for point focused gun.
There are several methods being used in practice for gun design but it has been observed that
2D codes are simpler and efficient. Widely used computer code DGUN will be used for
simulating a point focused electron gun with low accelerating potential and magnetic field
will be applied later for focusing of beam to work site by theoretical calculation. A well
optimized point focused electron gun geometry will be reported with proper parametric
justification for low energy industrial, commercial and other allied applications.
Time, cost and performance efficient electron gun design mechanism has been
focused of researchers for quite a while. There are several computer codes in practice for
simulation of electron gun for practical uses. Several computer codes are extensively used for
design and simulation and later, gun is tested in experimental facility.
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Expected outcome of this research study are:-
i. A novel idea to design small area point focused electron gun using flat
cathode geometry to avoid other design complications
ii. Comprehensive study of parameters of point source focused electron gun at
low accelerating potential
iii. Theoretical design, simulation and optimization of point source focused
electron gun by using widely used two-dimensional computer code DGUN
for its particular applications in industry like electron beam welding (EBW),
electron beam lithography (EBL) and micromachining such as cutting,
drilling & machining which is quickly replacing existing technologies like
arc and laser welding.
iv. Design of appropriate solenoids / electromagnets for magnetostatic focusing
of beam to target for EBW, EBL and material processing.
v. Transmission of electron beam to longer distances without beam loss.
8. References/Bibliography
1. Schultz, H., Electron beam welding. Vol. 93. 1993: Woodhead Publishing.
3. Maloff, I.G. and D.W. Epstein, Theory of Electron Gun. Proceedings of the Institute
of Radio Engineers, 1934. 22(12): p. 1386-1411.
4. G. Bressanin, G.H., Low Energy High Perveance Electron Gun. 1966, Joint Nuclear
Research Centre, Ispra Establishment, Italy: Brussels, Italy. p. 42.
7. Iqbal, M., et al., Design, simulation and analysis of beam optics and solenoid of high-
power gun for RF power source. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated
Equipment, 2021. 1014: p. 165703.
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9. Dattoli, G., et al., Charged Beam Dynamics, Particle Accelerators and Free Electron
Lasers. 2017.
10. Iqbal, M., et al., Optimal welding parameters with 10 keV point source electron gun.
Vacuum, 2011. 85(6): p. 654-656.
11. Demkowicz, L., Finite Element Methods for Maxwell Equations. 2007.
12. Nelson, E.M., J. Petillo, and K.L. Jensen, New and improved emission models in the
finite-element gun code MICHELLE. 2006. 501-502.
14. Berejka, A., Prospects and challenges for the industrial use of electron beam
accelerators. International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Research Applications and
Utilization of Accelerators, 2009.
15. Ives, R.L., et al. Computer optimized design of electron guns. in 2008 IEEE
International Vacuum Electronics Conference. 2008.
16. Węglowski, M.S., S. Błacha, and A. Phillips, Electron beam welding – Techniques
and trends – Review. Vacuum, 2016. 130.
17. Tennant, D.M. and A.R. Bleier, 4.02 - Electron Beam Lithography of Nanostructures,
in Comprehensive Nanoscience and Technology, D.L. Andrews, G.D. Scholes, and
G.P. Wiederrecht, Editors. 2011, Academic Press: Amsterdam. p. 35-62.
18. Kawakami, W., Introduction to Electron Beam Processing. 1994, Takasaki Radiation
Chemistry Research Establishment, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
20. Jánský, P., et al., Numerical simulations of the thermionic electron gun for electron-
beam welding and micromachining. Vacuum, 2009. 84: p. 357-362.
21. Litovko, I., Extraction and transport of sharp focused electron beam. Czechoslovak
Journal of Physics, 2006. 56(2): p. B909-B915.
22. ul Islam, G., et al., Simulation and test of a point focused electron beam emitter.
Instruments and Experimental Techniques, 2017. 60(1): p. 87-90.
23. Islam, G.u., et al., Simulation and test of a thermioic hairpin source DC electron
beam gun. Optik, 2016. 127(4): p. 1905-1908.
24. Avrakhov, P., et al., Studies of a powerful PPM focused X-band klystron. 1999. 474.
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