The energy distribution of an electron gun is one of the most important characteristics determining the performance of electron beam-based instruments, such as electron microscopes and electron energy loss spectroscopes. For accurate measurements of the energy distribution, this study presents a novel retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) with the feature of an additional integrated pre-lens, which enables an adjustment of beam trajectory into the analyzer. The advantages of this analyzer are its compact size and simple electrode configuration. According to trajectory simulation theories, the optimum condition arises when the incident electron beam inside the RFEA is focused on the center of a retarding electrode. Comparing I–V curves depending on whether the pre-lens working or not, it is confirmed that the use of the pre-lens dramatically improves the energy resolution and efficiency of the signal acquisition process. The pre-lens RFEA was applied to characterize a Schottky electron gun under various temperatures and extraction voltages as operational conditions. When the tip temperature was increased by 50 K, we were able to measure an energy distribution broadening of 13.8 meV with the proposed pre-lens RFEA. The relative standard deviation of energy distribution was 0.7% for each working condition.

We use the Energy Packet Network (EPN) to investigate an optimal energy distribution problem for the computer-communication system which is powered by intermittent renewable energy sources. The objective is to find an optimal energy distribution to minimize the proposed cost function which computes penalty costs caused by the overall average response time of jobs and the energy loss. In this EPN system, we consider the energy can be lost through storage leakages, or due to empty workstations which will consume energy even no job needs to be processed. Related numerical examples with different sets of parameter values are presented in the paper to evaluate the system performance and to examine the obtained analytical solution. Then a special case is considered to study the optimal system performance when the total energy harvesting rate is sufficiently large.

In this work, plasma is produced by irradiating a Ti target with 10 ns pulsed Nd:YAG (λ = 1064 nm) laser. The laser fluence at the target was varied in the range of 2–20.3 J/cm2. The ion signal from freely expanding Ti plasma in vacuum was characterized with the help of ion collector and time-of-flight electrostatic energy analyzer. The ion charge state was found to increase with the laser fluence and maximum available ion charge in this fluence range is Ti4+. A correlation between the intensities of various ion charge states was observed, which indicates that higher charge states are most probably produced through stepwise ionization mechanism. It is also observed that charge state distribution of plasma can be controlled by variation of the laser fluence. In addition, energy distribution of ion charge states Tin+ (n = 1–4) is measured by varying back plate voltage of the electrostatic energy analyzer for a fixed laser fluence of 20.3 J/cm2. Ions energy distributions were in the range of 0.36–3.0 keV and the most probable ion energy was found to increase linearly with ion charge state. The estimated equivalent potential at the laser fluence of 20.3 J/cm2 is about 310 V. These results are in good agreement with the predictions of electrostatic model of ion acceleration in laser plasma.

The electron emission yield γ induced by Ne2+ and O2+ impacting on a clean tungsten surface has been measured. The range of projectile energy is from 3 keV/u to 14 keV/u. The total electron yield gradually increases with the projectile velocity. It is found simultaneously that the total electron yield for O2+ is larger than the total electron yield for Ne2+, which is opposite to the results for higher projectile velocity. After considering the contribution from recoiling atoms to the energy distribution and electron emission yield, we find that recoiling atoms are of crucial importance in electron emission in our energy range. Thus, the unexpected results in our experiment can be explained successfully.

A Monte Carlo model was used to simulate specimen-electron beam interactions relevant to electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). Electron trajectories were calculated for a variety of likely experimental conditions to examine the interaction volume of the incident electrons as well as that of the subset of incident electrons that emerge from the specimen, i.e., back-scattered electrons (BSEs). The spatial resolution of EBSD was investigated as functions of both materials properties, such as atomic number, atomic weight, and density, and experimental parameters, such as specimen thickness, tilt, and incident beam accelerating voltage. These simulations reveal that the achievable spatial resolution in EBSD is determined by these intrinsic and extrinsic parameters.