Conducting versus insulating walls in a heavy ion reaction chamber

Abstract

We first pay attention to the inflight charge state distribution in a Pb ion beam propagating in a reactor-sized chamber delimited by metallic walls. We thus compare Livermore (code BIC) and Orsay (code BPIC) distributions in the presence of a residual Flibe gas pressure. Next, we replace the electron plasma due to Flibe ionization by a gliding plasma produced by the polarization of the incoming ion beam on insulating walls. Corresponding electrons, when attracted by the beam, are demonstrated to yield a very efficient current neutralization.