Experimental measurement of the meridian Petzval image plane of a streak tube.

For an electron-optical imaging system with wide beam focusing, the calculation of the field curvature can be performed only theoretically and requires the specific analytical expressions of the axial potential distribution in the streak tube and its corresponding derivatives, making the calculation cumbersome. Even when the electron trajectory is tracked using the numerical calculation method, the calculated results cannot be verified experimentally. A method for measuring the field curvature of the streak tube based on the spherical fluorescent screen is proposed for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. This method can directly measure the field curvature from the experimental image without requiring information on the internal structure of the streak tube, which is extremely useful for the design of the subsequent image reconstruction algorithm.