E-field measurement of pulse line ion accelerator

TL;DR

This paper presents the calibration and application of an integrated optical E-field sensor for measuring the high-frequency, high-magnitude electric fields in pulse line ion accelerators, demonstrating accurate, fast, and spatially detailed measurements.

Contribution

The study calibrates and validates an integrated optical E-field sensor for precise, high-speed measurements of E-fields in pulse line ion accelerators, with results matching simulations.

Findings

E-field near insulation surface is 1.1 times larger than along the axis

Sensor has a fast response to 4 ns rising edges

E-field propagation is nearly lossless

Abstract

The E-field of pulse line ion accelerator (PLIA) is unique with high frequency (~MHz), large magnitude (~MV/m) and limited measuring space (~cm). The integrated optical E-field sensor (IOES) has remarkable advantages and has been used for PLIA E-field measurement. Firstly, the transfer function of IOES has been calibrated to ensure the measurement accuracy. And the time-domain response illustrates that the sensor has a fast dynamic performance to effectively follow a 4 ns rising edge. Then, the E-field distribution along the axis and near the insulator surface of PLIA was measured, showing that the propagation of E-field is almost lossless and E-field near the insulation surface is about 1.1 times larger than that along the axis, which is in accordance with the simulation result.