Characterization of the neon ion beam emitted from plasma focus device

Abstract

Ion beam emission from a neon gas filled plasma focus device has been studied by using a fast response Faraday cup. The neon ion beam emission is found to be highly pressure dependant and it is maximum at a pressure of 0.3 Torr. The beam energy is found to be poly energetic ranging from 18 to 1000 keV with higher ion population below 180 keV at optimum operating pressure of 0.3 Torr. The maximum ion density at 0.3 Torr is estimated to be around 5 × 10 19 /m3. The neon ion beam with this characteristic of energy and density seems to be effective for testing material of interest in tokamak research. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.