Neutralization principles for the Extraction and Transport of Ion Beams

The strict application of conventional extraction techniques of ion beams from a plasma source is characterized by a natural intensity limit determined by space charge.The extracted current may be enhanced far beyond this limit by neutralizing the space charge of the extracted ions in the first extraction gap of the source with electrons injected from the opposite side. The transverse and longitudinal emittances of a neutralized ion beam, hence its brightness, are preserved. Results of beam compensation experiments, which have been carried out with a laser ion source, are resumed for proposing a general scheme of neutralizing ion sources and their adjacent low-energy beam transport channels with electron beams. Many technical applications of high-mass ion beam neutralization technology may be identified: the enhancement of ion source output for injection into high-intensity, low-and high-energy accelerators, or ion thrusters in space technology, for the neutral beams needed for plasma heating of magnetic confinement fusion devices, and for future accelerator-driven systems for fusion, fission and nuclear waste incineration.