In order to put the Pulse Line Ion Accelerator （PLIA） concept to its practical application, a small experimental platform was built. It was found that the actual axial electric field is smaller than the theoretical calculation, so the accelerated ions will enter into the deceleration zone before leaving the helix, which will seriously affect the acceleration process. Based on the improved parameters, the He＋ with 24 keV is accelerated to 55 keV, and the proof-of-principle experiment is completed on this platform.
Dielectric wall accelerator(DWA), towards high gradient acceleration field(30 MeV/m–100 MeV/m), is under development at Institute of Modern Physics. A prototype was designed and constructed to prove the principle. This needs a short pulse high current electron source to match the acceleration field generated by the Blumlein-type pulse forming lines(PFLs). In this paper, we report the design and test of a new type short pulse high current electron gun based on principle of vacuum arc discharge. Electron beams of 100 mA with pulse width of 10 ns were obtained.
An oil dielectric helical pulse line to demonstrate the principles of a Pulse Line Ion Accelerator （PLIA） has been designed and fabricated. The simulation of the axial electric field of an accelerator with CST code has been completed and the simulation results show complete agreement with the theoretical calculations. To fully understand the real value of the electric field excited from the helical line in PLIA, an optical electric integrated electric field measurement system was adopted. The measurement result shows that the real magnitude of axial electric field is smaller than that calculated, probably due to the actual pitch of the resister column which is much less than that of helix.
