Physical Nature of 'Anomalous' Electrons in High-Current Vacuum Diodes

Introduction/purpose: a fundamental theoretical explanation is given for the fact that in subnanosecond vacuum diodes there exists a group of electrons with kinetic energies much higher than the applied voltage (multiplied by the value of the elementary charge) qumax. methods: a mathematical method is used based on the numerical solution of the vlasov-poisson differential equations system for one-dimensional vacuum diodes of various designs. results: it is shown in detail that the so-called anomalous electrons appear in the transient time domain characterizing the processes of establishing current flow in vacuum diodes. conclusion: it has been convincingly shown that the presence of anomalous electrons is not associated with either the diode design or the presence of additional current carriers. in vacuum diodes with a subnanosecond leading edge of the voltage pulse, the excess of energy over qumax can be over 20%.