Preliminary Research Results for the Generation and Diagnostics of High Power Ion Beams on FLASH II Accelerator

Abstract

The preliminary experimental results of the generation and diagnostics of high-power ion beams of FLASH II accelerator are reported. The high-power ion beams presently are being produced in a pinched diode. The method for enhancing the ratio of ion to electron current is to increase the electron residing time by pinching the electron flow. Furthermore, electron beam pinching can be combined with electron reflexing to achieve ion beams with even higher efficiency and intensity. The anode plasma is generated by anode foil bombarded with electron and anode foil surface flashover. In recent experiments on FLASH II accelerator, ion beams have been produced with a current of 160 kA and an energy of 500 keV corresponding to an ion beam peak power of about 80 GW. The ion number and current of high power ion beams were determined by monitoring delayed radioactivity from nuclear reactions induced in a 12C target by the proton beams. The prompt γ-rays and diode bremsstrahlung x-rays were measured with a PIN semi-conductor detector and a plastic scintillator detector. The current density distribution of ion beam were measured with a biased ion collector array. The ion beams were also recorded with a CR-39 detector.