Energy amplification and beam bunching in a pulse line ion accelerator

In a first beam dynamics validation experiment for a new Pulse Line Ion Acceleration (PLIA) concept, the predicted energy amplification and beam bunching were experimentally observed. Beam energy modulation of - 80 to + 150 keV was measured using a PLIA input voltage waveform of - 21 to + 12 kV. Ion pulses accelerated by 150 keV, and bunching by a factor of 4 were simultaneously achieved. The measured longitudinal phase space and current waveform of the accelerated beam are in good agreement with 3D particle-in-cell simulations.