Particle beam transport through an insulator guide

In this paper we present a new transport scheme for an intense electron bea m and for an intense ion beam using an insulator guide: charged particle ex traction from a plasma generated at the insulator surface is self-regulated by the net space charge of the beam in order for effective charge neutrali zation. A part of the beam particles hits the insulator surface, and the pa rticle charge accumulated at the insulator surface creates local discharges . The discharges produce the plasma at the insulator surface. In this paper we present particle-in-cell simulation results for the particle beam trans port through the insulator guide. The simulation results demonstrate that t he self-regulated space-charge neutralization is effectively achieved, and that the simplicity of the proposed scheme may increase its viability. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. Al rights reserved.