Evaluation of the scintillation screens used for low energy pulsed ion beam profiling

For a compact pulsed sealed-tube neutron generator using vacuum arc as ion source, an ion beams diagnostic system based on scintillation screen was established. And the transverse intensity distribution of the deuterium ions on the target of the pulsed neutron generator was obtained. In order to validate the accuracy of the diagnostic system, the ion irradiation effect of the Al2O3, Quartz and YAP scintillation screens were studied. Steady pulsed deuterium ion beam with energy and intensity comparable to the pulsed ion beam used in the neutron generator was let continuously irradiated on the scintillation screens, and the light yield and spot size changes of the screens were recorded. Results showed that, YAP screens own the worst radiation hardness among the three. For Al2O3 and Quartz screens, though their light yield degraded with the ion radiation, the measured beam profile almost not changed for integrated beam intensity of up to 2.5 × 1014 ions/mm2. Therefore, the diagnostic system can provide accurate results for the ion beam diagnostic for neutron generators.