Experiments on Ion Acceleration in the Diode of the KALMAR REB Generator

Abstract

Experiments on ion acceleration in the ambipolar field were carried out at the Kalmar relativistic electron beam generator with a pulsed voltage of ~250 kV, current of ~40 kA, and pulse duration of ~150 ns. Previously developed methods were used to measure the ion fluxes and determine some other properties of the generated ion beams. It was found that aluminum ions (the heaviest particles present in the thin anode film) acquired the maximum energy of 6.1 MeV, while the maximum proton energy was ~800 keV. The energy of ions propagating at an angle of 20° relative to the accelerator axis was approximately 15% lower than the energy of ions propagating along the axis. The total energy of accelerated ions varied from 0.07 to 0.35 J, while the angular divergence of the electron beams was 1.2°–2.2°.