In electron sources with grid plasma cathodes, the boundary of the emission plasma is stabilized by a fine-structured grid, the cell size of which is comparable to the size of the Langmuir layer. The correct choice of the cell size of the emission grid allows to stabilize of the emission plasma boundary, reaching a wide range of the parameters adjustment of the generated electron beam with a weak dependence of these parameters on each other. Since the beam current amplitude is most often controlled by a proportional change of the discharge current in the plasma cathode, which allows to change the emission plasma concentration, this paper is investigated the possibility of generating the electron beam having variable amplitude by predicting the change in the discharge current amplitude during its pulse. The described advantage of plasma cathodes makes it possible to obtain electron beams with both a falling and a rising current amplitude of the beam during its pulse. The obtained regimes of electron beam generation open up new possibilities for using this source for both scientific and technological purposes.

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