Triple drift ion beam bunching systems for enhanced bunching efficiency

To obtain high efficiency in bunching ions one generally uses a multiharmon ic buncher or a double drift buncher. Here we have explored the possiblity of using a triple drift bunching system to obtain still higher bunching eff iciency. It consists of three bunchers separated in space. The first bunche r is excited with the fundamental rf wave whereas the other two bunchers ar e driven by the second harmonic. We have optimized the parameters of such a system and have shown that by using only two rf frequencies one can obtain bunching efficiency higher than what can be obtained with a multiharmonic buncher consisting of nine harmonics. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physic s.