Bunch Compression of a Non-Relativistic 280-keV-He⁺ Beam

At 150 kV-pulsed neutron generator at the Fast Neutron Researh Facility is being upgraded to produce a 280-kV-pulsed-He beam for Time-of-Flight Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (TOF RBS). Modification are being done by replacing the existing beamline elements by a 400-kV accelerating tube, 45o-double focusing dipole magnet and quadrupole lens. The beam transport system has to be redesigned based on the new elements. The important part of a good pulsed beam depends on the pulsing system. The two main parts are the chopper and buncher. Radiofrequency (RF) of 2 MHz is used for the chopper and 4 MHz for the buncher. For the buncher the RF amplitude of 13 kV is applied to two gaps, so that the ion pulse is compressed twice. An optimized geometry for the 280-keV pulsed helium ion beam is presented in this paper,. The PARMELA code has been used to optimize the space-charge effect, resulting in a excitated pulse width of less than 2 ns at a target. The calculated distance from a buncher to the target is 4.6 m. Effects of energy spread and phase angle between the chopper and buncher have been included in the optimization of the bunch lengh.