Proton Injection into a Large Amplitude Space Charge Wave

An account is presented of some aspects of recent progress in the Collective Ion Space Charge Accelerator (CISCA) program at Cornell University. The object of this program is to explore the potential of the slow space charge wave on an electron beam for use in an ion accelerator. We describe in this paper the results of a study of a Luce diode as an ion source and outline initial results obtained when the proton beam is injected into a space charge wave growth section. We find that it is possible to inject a beam of protons through a vacuum diode, used to generate the beam for wave growth, and for the conditions achieved to date to maintain the growth of a coherent wave.