Dynamic simulations of an ion diode for high power pulsed ion beams

Based on the explosive emission model, the self-consistent and 2.5 dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell MAGIC code was employed to simulate the dynamics of the particles, including electron and proton, in a planar magnetically insulated ion diode for high-power pulsed ion beams. Time-dependent diode characteristics, spatial and phase space distributions of the charged particles, as well as the distribution of the net charge density and the electric field in the anode-cathode (AC) gap are presented at a diode voltage of 300 kV and a double intensity of the critical magnetic field. The results show that the extracted ion current density is five times larger than the single species limited ion current density according to Child-Langmuir law. The virtual cathode forms in the vicinity of the cathode surface when the external magnetic field applied, and the space-charge leads to the fluctuation and enhancement of the electric field in the AC gap