Magnetic lenses operating in partial saturation offer two advantages in HVEM: they exhibit small cs and cc and their power depends little on the excitation IN. Curve H, Fig. 1, shows that the maximal axial flux density Bz max of one of the lenses investigated changes between points (3) and (4) by 5% as the excitation varies by 40%. Consequently, the designer can relax the requirements concerning the stability of the lens current supplies. Saturated lenses, however, can only be used if (i) unwanted fields along the optical axis can be controlled, (ii) 'wobbling' of the optical axis due to inhomogeneous saturation around the pole piece faces is prevented, (iii) ample ampere-turns can be squeezed into the space available, and (iv) the lens operating point covers a sufficient range of accelerating voltages.
