Energy analysis of charged particle beam incident on multipole plasma trap boundary*

A positive ion beam (helium or argon) is directed toward an array of radio-frequency (RF) electrodes comprising the boundary of a multipole plasma trap (MPT) [1].  A retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) is used to study the changes in the energy distribution of the outgoing beam, after reflection from the MPT and/or beams losses due to transmission through the MPT boundary.  The beam parameters (ion species; incident energy) and MPT parameters (RF voltage, frequency) will be varied to investigate regimes for adiabatic and non-adiabatic reflection, and a scenario for the inclusion of a multicusp magnetic field at the MPT boundary will be studied as well.  The single reflection experimental approach studied here will then be used as the basis for a three-dimensional trapping volume in further experiments to be designed.

[1] N. K. Hicks, A. Bowman, and K. Godden, Physics 1 (3), 392–401 (2019) doi:10.3390/physics1030028