Injection of metallic elements into an electron-beam ion trap using a Knudsen cell

A method of injecting metallic elements into an electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) is described. The method is advantageous over the conventional coaxial and pulsed injection methods in two ways: (a) complicated switching of injection and extraction beams can be avoided when extracting beams of highly charged ions from the EBIT and (b) a beam of stable intensity can be achieved. This method may be applicable to any metallic elements or metallic compounds that have vapor pressures of similar to 0.1 Pa at a temperature lower than 1900 degrees C. We have employed this method for the extraction of highly charged ions of Bi, Er, Fe, and Ho. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Physics of electron beam ion traps and sources

This paper presents the basic physics underlying the operation of electron beam ion traps and sources, with the machine physics underlying their operation being described in some detail. Predictions arising from this description are compared with some diagnostic measurements.

Design of an electron-beam ion trap to be situated at Queen's University, Belfast

An electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) has been designed for atomic physics experiments at the Queen's University of Belfast. A pair of permanent magnets will be used to produce an axial magnetic field to compress an electron beam, whereas pairs of superconducting magnets have been used for traditional EBITs. The design of the new EBIT is detailed and possible experiments are explained to show the feasibility of the EBIT. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Thomson scattering system at the Tokyo electron beam ion trap

A Thomson scattering system has been installed at the Tokyo electron beam ion trap for probing characteristics of the electron beam. A YVO4 green laser beam was injected antiparallel to the electron beam. The image of the Thomson scattering light from the electron beam has been observed using a charged-coupled device camera. By using a combination of interference filters, the spectral distribution of the Thomson scattering light has been measured. The Doppler shift observed for the scattered light is consistent with the beam energy. The beam radius dependence was investigated as a function of the beam energy, the beam current, and the magnetic field at the trap region. The variation of the measured beam radius against the beam current and the magnetic field were similar to those in Herrmann's prediction. The beam radius as a function of the beam energy was also similar to Herrmann's prediction but seemed to become larger at low energy. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Numerical simulation of the charge balance and temperature evolution in an electron beam ion trap

A computer code has been developed to simulate and study the evolution of ion charge states inside the trap region of an electron beam ion trap. In addition to atomic physics phenomena previously included in similar codes such as electron impact ionization, radiative recombination, and charge exchange, several aspects of the relevant physics such as dielectronic recombination, ionization heating, and ion cloud expansion have been included for the first time in the model. The code was developed using object oriented concepts with database support, making it readable, accurate, and well organized. The simulation results show a good agreement with various experiments, and give useful information for selection of operating conditions and experiment design.

Nonlinear propagation of modulated ion-acoustic plasma waves in the presence of an electron beam

Theoretical and numerical studies are presented of the amplitude modulation of ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) in a plasma consisting of warm ions, Maxwellian electrons, and a cold electron beam. Perturbations parallel to the carrier IAW propagation direction have been investigated. The existence of four distinct linear ion acoustic modes is shown, each of which possesses a different behavior from the modulational stability point of view. The stability analysis, based on a nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE) reveals that the IAW may become unstable. The stability criteria depend on the IAW carrier wave number, and also on the ion temperature, the beam velocity and the beam electron density. Furthermore, the occurrence of localized envelope structures (solitons) is investigated, from first principles. The numerical analysis shows that the two first modes (essentially IAWs, modified due to the beam) present a complex behavior, essentially characterized by modulational stability for large wavelengths and instability for shorter ones. Dark-type envelope excitations (voids, holes) occur in the former case, while bright-type ones (pulses) appear in the latter. The latter two modes are characterized by an intrinsic instability, as the frequency develops a finite imaginary part for small ionic temperature values. At intermediate temperatures, both bright- and dark-type excitations may exist, although the numerical landscape is intertwined between stability and instability regions.(c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Electron beam-plasma interaction and ion-acoustic solitary waves in plasmas with a superthermal electron component

The study of non-Maxwellian plasmas is crucial to the understanding of space and astrophysical plasma dynamics. In this paper, we investigate the existence of arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic solitary waves in an unmagnetized plasma consisting of ions and excess superthermal electrons (modelled by a kappa-type distribution), which is penetrated by an electron beam. A kappa (kappa-) type distribution is assumed for the background electrons. A (Sagdeev-type) pseudopotential formalism is employed to derive an energy-balance like equation. The range of allowed values of the soliton speed (Mach number), wherein solitary waves may exist, is determined. The Mach number range (allowed soliton speed values) becomes narrower under the combined effect of the electron beam and of the superthermal electrons, and may even be reduced to nil (predicting no solitary wave existence) for high enough beam density and low enough kappa (significant superthermality). For fixed values of all other parameters (Mach number, electron beam-to-ion density ratio and electron beam velocity), both soliton amplitude and (electric potential perturbation) profile steepness increase as kappa decreases. The combined occurrence of small-amplitude negative potential structures and larger amplitude positive ones is pointed out, while the dependence of either type on the plasma parameters is investigated.

On-line cone beam CT image guidance for vocal cord tumor targeting

Background and purpose: We are developing a technique for highly focused vocal cord irradiation in early glottic carcinoma to optimally treat a target volume confined to a single cord. This technique, in contrast with the conventional methods, aims at sparing the healthy vocal cord. As such a technique requires sub-mm daily targeting accuracy to be effective, we investigate the accuracy achievable with on-line kV-cone beam CT (CBCT) corrections. Materials and methods: CBCT scans were obtained in 10 early glottic cancer patients in each treatment fraction. The grey value registration available in X-ray volume imaging (XVI) software (Elekta, Synergy) was applied to a volume of interest encompassing the thyroid cartilage. After application of the thus derived corrections, residue displacements with respect to the planning CT scan were measured at clearly identifiable relevant landmarks. The intra- and inter-observer variations were also measured. Results: While before correction the systematic displacements of the vocal cords were as large as 2.4 ± 3.3 mm (cranial-caudal population mean ± SD Σ), daily CBCT registration and correction reduced these values to less than 0.2 ± 0.5 mm in all directions. Random positioning errors (SD σ) were reduced to less than 1 mm. Correcting only for translations and not for rotations did not appreciably affect this accuracy. The residue random displacements partly stem from intra-observer variations (SD = 0.2-0.6 mm). Conclusion: The use of CBCT for daily image guidance in combination with standard mask fixation reduced systematic and random set-up errors of the vocal cords to <1 mm prior to the delivery of each fraction dose. Thus, this facilitates the high targeting precision required for a single vocal cord irradiation. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-equilibrium modeling of the FE XVII 3C/3D Line Ratio in an Intense X-ray Free-electron Laser Excited Plasma

Recent measurements using an X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) and an Electron Beam Ion Trap at the Linac Coherent Light Source facility highlighted large discrepancies between the observed and theoretical values for the Fe XVII 3C/3D line intensity ratio. This result raised the question of whether the theoretical oscillator strengths may be significantly in error, due to insufficiencies in the atomic structure calculations. We present time-dependent spectral modeling of this experiment and show that non-equilibrium effects can dramatically reduce the predicted 3C/3D line intensity ratio, compared with that obtained by simply taking the ratio of oscillator strengths. Once these non-equilibrium effects are accounted for, the measured line intensity ratio can be used to determine a revised value for the 3C/3D oscillator strength ratio, giving a range from 3.0 to 3.5. We also provide a framework to narrow this range further, if more precise information about the pulse parameters can be determined. We discuss the implications of the new results for the use of Fe XVII spectral features as astrophysical diagnostics and investigate the importance of time-dependent effects in interpreting XFEL-excited plasmas.

Hybrid time dependent/independent solution for the He i line ratio temperature and density diagnostic for a thermal helium beam with applications in the scrape-off layer-edge regions in tokamaks

Spectroscopic studies of line emission intensities and ratios offer an attractive option in the\r\ndevelopment of non-invasive plasma diagnostics. Evaluating ratios of selected He I line\r\nemission profiles from the singlet and triplet neutral helium spin systems allows for simultaneous\r\nmeasurement of electron density (ne) and temperature (Te) profiles. Typically, this powerful\r\ndiagnostic tool is limited by the relatively long relaxation times of the 3S metastable term of helium\r\nthat populates the triplet spin system, and on which electron temperature sensitive lines are based.\r\nBy developing a time dependent analytical solution, we model the time evolution of the two spin\r\nsystems. We present a hybrid time dependent/independent line ratio solution that improves the\r\nrange of application of this diagnostic technique in the scrape-off layer (SOL) and edge plasma\r\nregions when comparing it against the current equilibrium line ratio helium model used at\r\nTEXTOR.