A new diagnostic method for investigating the mechanism of collective ion acceleration by REB diodes

A new diagnostic method for investigating the characteristics of the potential well responsible for collective acceleration of ions by relativistic electrons is presented. The method is based on direct probing of the potential well with an externally generated ion probe beam, and observing. the deflection of this probe beam with a scintillator - image converter streak camera detection system. Examples of measurements are presented and possible future improvements and measurements are discussed.