Particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulation of ion back bombardment in a high average current RF photo-gun

In this paper, we report on study of ion back bombardment in a high average current radio-frequency (RF) photo-gun using a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulation method. Using this method, we systematically studied effects of gas pressure, RF frequency, RF initial phase, electric field profile, magnetic field, laser repetition rate, different ion species on ion particle line density distribution, kinetic energy spectrum, and ion power line density distribution back bombardment onto the photocathode. These simulation results suggest that effects of ion back bombardment could increase linearly with the background gas pressure and laser repetition rate. The RF frequency significantly affects the ion motion inside the gun so that the ion power deposition on the photocathode in an RF gun can be several orders of magnitude lower than that in a DC gun. The ion back bombardment can be minimized by appropriately choosing the electric field profile and the initial phase.