Electron beam to probe space-charge neutralization of high current ion beams

High current Ion beam transport is facilitated by compensating the Space charge (SC) which otherwise leads to emittance growth and beam loss. Thus determination of the radial distributions of the beam potential, compensating electrons (CE) and particle densities in the proton ECR Ion Source is described in this paper. The ECR Ion Source designed delivers a 30 mA Hydrogen Ion current at 50 KeV. We aim to measure if the space charge of the Ion beam is compensated at 10^-5 mbar and study the charge compensation factor with neutral gas pressure. The beam emittance and proton fraction were determined during the characterization of the Ion Source. The space charge measurement and compensation would limit the emittance growth due to nonlinear radial space charge forces of the beam ions and CE. Electron beam probe (EBP) offers a possibility to measure preciously the SC neutralization of the ion beam and also beam position could be inferred with this technique. The EBP measurement offers a nondestructive method for online beam space charge and position measurement. (author)