Study on space charge effect in an electrostatic ion analyzer applied to measure laser produced ions.

The abundance of different ions produced by laser ion sources is usually analyzed by an electrostatic ion analyzer (EIA). Ion current intensities in the range of several mA/cm2 at the position of the EIA have been achieved from the laser ion source developed by the Institute of Modern Physics; this indicates that a noticeable influence of space charge effect during the ion transmission will occur. Hence, while the parameters of the EIA or the beams are changed, such as ion species, current intensity, the ions’ transmission efficiency through the EIA is different, which will result in an uncertainty in the estimation of the ions’ yields. Special attention is focused on this issue in this paper. Ion's transmissions through the EIA under different circumstances are studied with simulations and experiments, the results of which are consistent with each other.