USE OF A CHARGE-COUPLED-DEVICE CAMERA SYSTEM FOR OPTICAL DIAGNOSTICS OF INTENSE ION-BEAMS

Among the various possibilities for investigating the properties of io n beams, two of the most important principles for determining the beam quality are profile measurements using wires or slit apertures, and d ifferent kinds of emittance measurement devices. However, most of the commonly used systems have the disadvantage of being either destructiv e to the beam, or at least to have a considerable influence on the fur ther beam propagation downstream of the point of measurement. Also, fo r the investigation of intense ion beams, thermal problems on the scan ners themselves might arise. Observation of particles emitted from the ion beam in radial direction allow an indirect but nondestructive obs ervation of the beam. Or the different optical methods that exist to a ccomplish this, we recently conducted an investigation on the possibil ities to employ a charge coupled device-camera system for such nondest ructive beam diagnostics in our space-charge compensation test stand. First, experimental results on optical profile measurements are presen ted and compared to results obtained by a slit scanner and a wire scan ner. Additionally, to gain a better understanding of the measured data , optically obtained sectional profiles behind a slit and a circular a perture were analyzed. Possibilities for gaining information on the tw o-dimensional beam profile and the beam emittance are explored. (C) 19 97 American Institute of Physics.