Generation of a focused proton beam with a self-magnetically BΘ-insulated ion diode

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Abstract
A self-magnetically BΘ -insulated ion diode was investigated and optimized at the pulsed power line KALIF (2 MV, 50 ns, 2 Ω) to produce a focused and pulsed high-intensity proton beam for generation of high-power density in matter. This diode is characterized by an azimuthal insulating magnetic field that is generated by the diode current. The beam is neutralized by electrons from the cathode vanes, so that neither a gas filled drift space nor foils are needed. The beam therefore propagates in vacuum and repeated shots are possible without changing parts. The protons had energies up to 1.8 MeV and the proton content in the ion beam was about 50%. The maximum total diode current was about 800 kA and its efficiency was as high as 70%. The beam microdivergence was determined to be 1.1°. The radial dependence of the proton current density was measured and is proportional to r−1.74. This result was confirmed by 2D quasistatic particle-in-cell simulations. The focus was optimized by adjusting the anode shape and the gap geometry and by decreasing the beam divergence. The FWHM diameter of the focus at a distance of 300 mm was about 10 mm and the resulting focused power density was 0.13 TW/cm2. The effect of the gap distance on focusing and impedance was investigated and it was found necessary to adjust the gap to better than 0.1 mm over the total 30-cm-diam anode to obtain the best performance. The electron loss and the corresponding erosion at the posts that hold the anode was reduced. The lifetime is now limited by the plastic anode insert to 10–15 pulses. Based on these results a ‘‘small BΘ diode’’ is suggested for which a power density increase of a factor of 3 is estimated.

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