Preliminary Measurement of Space Charge Neutralization Level for Proton Beam
摘要
For high-intensity low-energy ion beams, space charge effect is a main cause of beam divergence and emittance growth. Fortunately, residual gas molecules in the drift space tend to be ionized and neutralize the beam space charge spontaneously. The level of Space Charge Neutralization (SCN) is measured through the detection of created secondary ion energy distribution in the beam region. A so-called non-interceptive Three-grid Energy Analyzer (TEA) has been designed and manufactured at Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMP). This paper will present the details of the TEA detector and the application to diagnose proton beam SCN level in the Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) line. As a preliminary result, for an 18.5 mA proton beam a best compensating point appears at the vacuum pressure of 1.510*3 Pa. And the neutralization level is advanced with the growth of beam current in a constant vacuum pressure.