Experimental simulations of beam propagation over large distances in a compact linear Paul trap

Abstract

The Paul Trap Simulator Experiment (PTSX) is a compact laboratory experiment that places the physicist in the frame of reference of a long, charged-particle bunch coasting through a kilometers-long magnetic alternating-gradient (AG) transport system. The transverse dynamics of particles in both systems are described by similar equations, including nonlinear space-charge effects. The time-dependent voltages applied to the PTSX quadrupole electrodes are equivalent to the axially oscillating magnetic fields applied in the AG system. Experiments concerning the quiescent propagation of intense beams over large distances can then be performed in a compact and flexible facility. An understanding and characterization of the conditions required for quiescent beam transport, minimum halo particle generation, and precise beam compression and manipulation techniques, are essential, as accelerators and transport systems demand that ever-increasing amounts of space charge be transported. Application areas include ion-beam-driven high energy density physics, high energy and nuclear physics accelerator systems, etc. One-component cesium plasmas have been trapped in PTSX that correspond to normalized beam intensities, ŝ=ωp2(0)∕2ωq2, up to 80% of the space-charge limit where self-electric forces balance the applied focusing force. Here, ωp(0)=[nb(0)eb2∕mbϵ0]1∕2 is the on-axis plasma frequency, and ωq is the smooth-focusing frequency associated with the applied focusing field. Plasmas in PTSX with values of ŝ that are 20% of the limit have been trapped for times corresponding to equivalent beam propagation over 10km. Results are presented for experiments in which the amplitude of the quadrupole focusing lattice is modified as a function of time. It is found that instantaneous changes in lattice amplitude can be detrimental to transverse confinement of the charge bunch.