Microbeam Beam Heating Analysis of Thin Foils Using Heat Conduction Theory

The temperature distribution in and near the scan region of an ion microbeam is estimated using heat conduction theory. In the calculation, the energy deposited by a beam spot on a thin foil is treated as a point energy source. The spatial and time dependent temperature contributions from energy deposited by the ion beam rastering in a square scan pattern were then computed. The results showed that for poor conductors, the temperature of the material under the scan region can rise rapidly by up to two orders of magnitude, while that of good conductors remains virtually unchanged. The calculated results were consistent with experimental data where Mylar foils were scanned using an He microbeam and the time for melt through was measured. Radiational cooling effects were also investigated and found to contribute little to the heat losses at typical microbeam beam powers.