An electron gun device that emits an electron beam by heating to a high temperature in a vacuum. The surface of a material, which emits an electron beam, is a hydrogenated metal that is melted and in a liquid state during a high-temperature operation. The liquid hydrogenated metal is contained in a hollow cover tube container, which is in a solid state during the high-temperature operation, in the form of a hydrogenated liquid metal or in the form of a liquid metal before hydrogenation, and heated together with the cover tube container to a high temperature. The hydrogenated liquid metal is exposed from the cover tube container and forms a liquid surface where gravity, the electric field and the surface tension of the liquid surface are balanced; and an electron beam is emitted from the exposed surface of the hydrogenated liquid metal.

Disclosed is an electron beam emission device comprising a housing which defines a space in which electron beams are accelerated, and has an opening at the other side thereof through which the electron beams are emitted; a cathode which is disposed at one side in the housing, and emits the electrons; an anode which is positioned in the housing so as to be spaced apart from the cathode toward the other side, and accelerates the electrons emitted from the cathode; and an insulation holder which insulates a portion between the cathode and the housing, and fixes the cathode, wherein the cathode has a surface which faces the anode and is formed concavely to have a gradient, and a rim of the surface of the cathode, which has the gradient, is formed to be rounded.

A welding head for a welding apparatus, the head comprising an outer face attachable to a welding device such as an electron beam gun or laser, an inner face sealable to a workpiece, and an outer sealing ring and an inner sealing ring situated within the inner face and disposed on either side of an evacuatable region, wherein the inner face has a teardrop-shaped profile. Outer and inner sealing rings can be inflatable or formed from different materials, the outer sealing ring being formed from a material with a Shore hardness of between 50 to 70 and the inner sealing ring being formed from a material with a Shore hardness of 20 to 40. A bridging seal can extend from within the inner sealing ring to the outer sealing ring.

An electron beam 3D printing machine, comprising a chamber for generating and accelerating an electron beam and an operating chamber in which a metal powder is melted, with the consequent production of a three-dimensional product. The chamber for generating and accelerating an electron beam houses means for generating an electron beam and means for accelerating the generated electron beam, while the operating chamber houses at least one platform for depositing the metal powder, metal powder handling means and electron beam deflection means. The accelerator means for the generated electron beam comprise a series of resonant cavities fed with an alternating signal.

An electron gun device according to the present invention emits an electron beam by means of heating to a high temperature in a vacuum. According to the present invention, the surface of a material (108, 125), which emits an electron beam, is a hydrogenated metal that is melted and in a liquid state during a high-temperature operation; the liquid hydrogenated metal is contained in a hollow cover tube container (102, 124), which is in a solid state during the high-temperature operation, in the form of a hydrogenated liquid metal or in the form of a liquid metal before hydrogenation, and heated together with the cover tube container (102, 124) to a high temperature; subsequently, the hydrogenated liquid metal is exposed from the cover tube container (102, 124) and forms a liquid surface where gravity, the electric field and the surface tension of the liquid surface are balanced; and an electron beam is emitted from the exposed surface of the hydrogenated liquid metal.

Provided herein are articles of manufacture, systems, and methods employing a gas-deflector plate in low to ultra-high vacuum systems that use differential pumping (e.g., gas-target particle accelerators, mass spectrometers, and windowless delivery ports). In certain embodiments, the gas-deflector plate is configured to be positioned between higher and lower pressure regions in a pressurized system, wherein the gas-deflector plate has a channel therethrough shaped and/or angled such that jetting gas moving through the channel enters the lower pressure region at an angle offset from the vertical axis of the gas-deflector plate and/or the channel. In other embodiments, a jet-deflector component is employed such that the jetting gas strikes such jet-deflector component and is re-directed in another direction.

A filament assembly can include: a button having a planar emitter region with one or more apertures extending from an emission surface of the planar emitter region to an internal surface opposite of the emission surface; an inlet electrical lead coupled to the button at a first side; an outlet electrical lead coupled to the button at a second side opposite of the first side; and a low work function object positioned adjacent to the internal surface of the planar emitter region and retained to the button. The planar emitter region can include a plurality of apertures. The low work function object can include a porous ceramic material having the barium, and may have a polished external surface. An electron gun can include the filament assembly. An additive manufacturing system can include the electron gun having the filament assembly.

Apparatus and method for analyzing an electron beam including a circular sensor disk adapted to receive the electron beam, an inner semi-circular slit in the circular sensor disk; an outer semi-circular slit in the circular sensor disk wherein the outer semi-circular slit is spaced from the first semi-circular slit by a fixed distance; a system for sweeping the electron beam radially outward from the central axis to the inner semi-circular slit and outer second semi-circular slit; a sensor structure operatively connected to the circular sensor disk wherein the sensor structure receives the electron beam when it passes over the inner semi-circular slit and the outer semi-circular slit; and a device for measuring the electron beam that is intercepted by the inner semi-circular slit and the outer semi-circular slit.

Apparatus and method for analyzing an electron beam including a circular sensor disk adapted to receive the electron beam, an inner semi-circular slit in the circular sensor disk; an outer semi-circular slit in the circular sensor disk wherein the outer semi-circular slit is spaced from the first semi-circular slit by a fixed distance; a system for sweeping the electron beam radially outward from the central axis to the inner semi-circular slit and outer second semi-circular slit; a sensor structure operatively connected to the circular sensor disk wherein the sensor structure receives the electron beam when it passes over the inner semi-circular slit and the outer semi-circular slit; and a device for measuring the electron beam that is intercepted by the inner semi-circular slit and the outer semi-circular slit.

A welding head for a welding apparatus, the head comprising an outer face attachable to a welding device such as an electron beam gun or laser, an inner face sealable to a workpiece, and an outer sealing ring and an inner sealing ring situated within the inner face and disposed on either side of an evacuatable region, wherein the inner face has a teardrop-shaped profile. Outer and inner sealing rings can be inflatable or formed from different materials, the outer sealing ring being formed from a material with a Shore hardness of between 50 to 70 and the inner sealing ring being formed from a material with a Shore hardness of 20 to 40. A bridging seal can extend from within the inner sealing ring to the outer sealing ring.