Energy straggling of low-energy Ion beam in a charge exchange cell for negative ion production

Energy straggling in a charge exchange cell, which is frequently used for negative ion production, was studied experimentally and compared with the results of theoretical evaluation. The change of the energy spectrum of a He(+) beam due to charge exchange processes in argon gas was measured in the energy range of 2-6 keV. Energy straggling by multiple collisions is expressed by the energy loss formula due to inelastic and elastic processes. The impact parameter is related to the elastic scattering angle, and the geometry of the charge exchange cell and other components of the beam transportation system determines the maximum acceptable scattering angle. The energy spread was evaluated taking the integral limit over the impact parameter into consideration. The theoretical results showed good agreement with those of actual measurement. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.