Kinetic Simulations of Ion Beam Neutralization

Abstract

Full particle PIC simulations are performed to study the neutralization of an ion beam in the cohesionless, mesothermal regime. Simulations further confirmed that neutralization is achieved through interactions between the trapped electrons and the potential well established by the propagation of the beam front along the beam direction and is not through plasma instabilities as previous studies suggested. In the transverse direction, the process is similar to that of the expansion of mesothermal plasma into vacuum. Parametric simulations are also performed to investigate the effects of beam radius and domain boundary condition on the neutralization process. The results suggests that, while the qualitative behavior may be similar in ground tests, quantitative parameters such as the beam potential will be affected significantly by the vacuum chamber because of the limits imposed on the expansion process by the finite chamber space.