A Multichannel Deflection Plates Control System for the ALF Facility at the APS

A deflection plates control system was developed as part of SPIRIT (Single Photon Ionization/Resonant Ionization to Threshold), a new secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) instrument that uses tunable vacuum ultraviolet light from the APS ALF (Argonne Linear Free-electron laser) facility for postionization. The system comprises a crate controller with PC104 embedded computer, 32 amplifiers, and two 1-kV power supplies. Thirty-two D/A converters are used to control voltages at the deflection plates within ± 400 V with 100-mV resolution. An algorithm for simultaneous sweeping of up to 16 XY areas with 10-μs time resolution also has been implemented in the embedded computer. The purpose of the system is to supply potentials to various ion optical elements for electrostatic control of keV primary and secondary ion beams in this SNMS instrument. The control system is of particular value in supplying (1) bipolar potentials for steering ions, (2) multiple potentials for octupole lenses that shape the ion beams, and (3) ramped deflection potentials for rastering the primary ion beam. The system has been in use as part of the SPIRIT instrument at the ALF facility since 2002.