Collective Acceleration of Light and Heavy Ions

The collective acceleration of ions (H, D, He, C, N, Ne, Al, Ar, Fe, Cu, Xe) from a well localized plasma immediately downstream of a relativistic electron beam diode is experimentally investigated. The ions are produced either by electron impact on a well confined gas cloud from a fast rise puff valve or by a high power (1OJ, 15ns), Q-switched ruby laser pulse incident on solid material. Peak ion energies up to 5 MeV/nucleon were observed using a 1.5 MeV, 35 kA, 30 ns electron beam pulse. Ion energy diagnostics include nuclear activation, range-energy/ track etching, and time of flight measurements. The effect of a strong applied axial magnetic field (1-10 kilogauss) on the acceleration process has also been studied.