Optical characteristics of a two-cylinder electrostatic lens

In this paper formulae are developed for the first and second focal lengths, and the positions of the first and second principal planes of a type of electrostatic lens which has been the subject of study (mostly experimental) in several previous papers. The lens, which is commonly used in electron optical devices, lends itself to a theoretical study, although this does not appear to have been attempted before. It consists of two equal semi-infinite cylinders placed end to end so that their axes coincide and the ends are separated by a small gap. If the cylinders are at potentials V 1 and V 2 and we write σ = V 2 / V 1 , the system behaves as an electron lens when σ > 0 and as an electron mirror when σ < 0. In the latter case some experimental results have been given by Nicoll(1) who also studied the focusing action in the case σ > 0 and, in particular, the formation of intermediate images when σ ≪ 1 and when σ ≫ 1. But for the precise formulation of the relationship between σ and the number of cross-overs a theoretical study, based on the paraxial equation, would be necessary. The problem will be indicated below. An experimental determination of the lens characteristics for values of σ from about 2 to 15 and for several gap widths has been made by Spangenberg(2), whose results will be compared with those obtained in the present paper. The two-cylinder lens has also been studied by Klemperer and Wright(3) using an experimental and a numerical (trigonometrical) method, and some crude analytical results have been given by Gray(4).