Electrostatic linear ion trap for low-energy ion beam storage

An electrostatic linear ion trap was constructed and applied to the storage of an He ion beam of kinetic energy 208 eV. The time-of-flight detection of the stored ions confirms the validity of its storage performance. It is shown that the interaction with the residual gas plays a crucial role in the loss mechanism of the stored ions. The lifetime of the stored ions, which was measured to be 5.25 ± 0.65 mS in the present study, with modest vacuum conditions, is expected to lengthen substantially with ultra-high vacuum conditions.