Simulation of chamber transport for heavy-ion fusion

Beams for heavy-ion fusion (HIF) are expected to require substantial neutralization in a target chamber. Present targets call for higher beam currents and smaller focal spots than most earlier designs, leading to high space-charge fields. Collisional stripping by the background gas expected in the chamber further increases the beam charge. Simulations with no electron sources other than beam stripping and background-gas ionization show an acceptable focal spot only for beam currents far below the values assumed in recent HIF reactor scenarios. Much recent research has, therefore, focused on beam neutralization by electron sources that were neglected in earlier simulations, including emission from walls and the target, photoionization by radiation from the target, and pre-neutralization by a plasma generated along the beam path. The simulations summarized here indicate that these effects can reduce significantly the beam focal-spot size. (author)