Considerations on collective ion acceleration as an intense ion injector

A virtual cathode collective acceleration configuration is examined for use as a pulsed, intense ion injector. Numerical calculations of the collective acceleration have shown peak ion energies of several times that of the electron beam energy. This is consistent with a variety of experiments. The late time behavior is to accelerate ions to lower energies but at a higher current. This is characteristic of a reflex ion triode, which produces an ion beam largely charge but not current neutralized. Dynamic neutralization must be achieved if accelerator applications, requiring transport and focusing, are to be realized. Representative applications have been simulated and are discussed