Collective ion acceleration in the system with an isolated anode

Processes of collective proton acceleration in vacuum are studied in the system of an isolated anode and isolated or earthed electrodes located behind the anode on heavy-current electron accelerators ''Tonus'' and ''Vera''. The effect of external conditions and electron beam parameters on the efficiency of accelerating processes is studied. The effect of the presence of a charge pre-pulse and the number of the after-anode electrodes on the energy of accelerated energy electrons is studied. In the system with a single anode the proton yield is Nsub(p)=10sup(14) at 2Esub(e)<Esub(p)<3Esub(e). The charge pre-pulse suppression resulted in an increase of the proton energy up to (6-8)Esub(e) at the yield of 1013. Maximum energies of protons equal to 14Esub(e) are obtained in the system with three after-anode electrodes. Possible mechanism of proton acceleration is discussed. The results are compared with those obtained elsewhere. Possibilities to increase the efficiency of this acceleration method are considered