Position-sensitive non-destructive detection of charged-particle bunches in low-energy beamlines.

We have developed and operated an electronic detection system for the non-destructive single-pass detection of bunches of charged particles in a beamline that allows for a measurement of their lateral position with respect to the central beamline axis on a shot-to-shot basis. It provides all features of our related development reported in Kiffer et al. (Rev Sci Instrum 90:113301, 2019), namely single-pass measurement of bunch length, kinetic energy and absolute charge, and is additionally designed to provide the lateral position of bunches with sub-mm accuracy. We show the setup, associated methods and provide characterizing measurements with bunches of highly charged ions in the keV regime of kinetic energy that demonstrate the capabilities and show a typical application.

Single-pass non-destructive electronic detection of charged particles.

We have devised an experimental method and apparatus for the simultaneous nondestructive determination of the absolute ion number, ion kinetic energy, and length of bunches of charged particles. We have built and operated a corresponding electronic detector that is based on induced charges and their subsequent low-noise amplification at cryogenic temperatures. We have performed measurements with bunches of low-energy highly charged ions from an electron-beam ion source that show the capability of the methods and their implementation. We discuss requirements for, and applications of, such detectors with a particular view on the obtainable information and their sensitivity.