| 摘要 |
A hollow cathode apparatus is described, which can be rapidly and reliably started. An ignitor (30) positioned upstream from the hollow cathode (20), generates a puff of plasma (36) that flows with the primary gas to be ionized through the cathode. The plasma puff creates a high voltage breakdown between the downstream end (24) of the cathode and a keeper electrode (32), to heat the cathode to an electron-emitting temperature.
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