Studies on Beam Formation in an Atomic Beam Source

Abstract

Atomic beam sources (ABS) are widely used workhorses producing polarized atomic beams for polarized gas targets and polarized ion sources. Although they have been used for decades the understanding of the beam formation processes is crude. Models were used more or less successfully to describe the measured intensity and beam parameters. ABS’s are also foreseen for future experiments, such as PAX [1]. An increase of intensity at a high polarization would be beneficial. A direct simulation Monte‐Carlo method (DSMC) [2] was used to describe the beam formation of a hydrogen or deuterium beam in an ABS. For the first time a simulation of a supersonic gas expansion on a molecular level for this application was performed. Beam profile and Time‐of‐Flight measurements confirmed the simulation results. Furthermore a new method of beam formation was tested, the Carrier Jet method [3], based on an expanded beam surrounded by an over‐expanded carrier jet.