Collective ion acceleration studies at the University of Maryland

The collective acceleration of light and heavy ions using an intense linear electron beam (1.5 MeV, 35 kA, 35 ns) injected into a localized ion source has been studied experimentally. The ion source is provided either by electron beam induced ionization of a neutral gas cloud from a fast puff valve or from a 15 Joule, Q-switched ruby laser fired at targets mounted on the downstream side of the anode. Under varying conditions, protons have been accelerated to energies up to 14 MeV, and heavy ions (D, He, C, N, Ne, Al, Ar, Kr, Cu, Fe, Xe, and W) to energies of about 5 MeV/nucleon.