Measurement of beam properties and reproducibility on recent PBFA II target shots

Abstract

Recent proton experiments on Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II used a 2 μm gold foil cone to characterize the ion beam. Using the ion beam images obtained by viewing beam-induced characteristic line radiation emitted by such foils with time-integrated x-ray pinhole cameras, the beam centroid axial location and azimuthal symmetry have been analyzed for a recent series of target shots. Azimuthal symmetry on the target midplane on individual shots varied from 6% to 29%. Averaged over the entire series of shots, inferred intensities on the target midplane varied by 24% to 37% from quadrant to quadrant. The beam profiles and beam reproducibility are vital to the interpretation of the results of these target experiments.