Experiments on ion space charge neutralization with pulsed electron beams

The method of space-charge neutralization of heavy ion beams with electron beam pulses generated with electron guns incorporating ferroelectric cathodes [1] has been experimentally investigated. Several experiments are described, the results of which prove that the intensity of selected ion beam parts with defined charge states generated in a laser ion source can be increased by one order of magnitude. For elevated charge states the intensity amplification is more significant and may reach a factor 4 for highly charged ions from an AI target.