Beam Phase Space of an Intense Ion Beam in a Neutralizing Plasma

The Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX-I) generates high intensity ion beams to explore warm dense matter physics. Transverse final focusing is accomplished with an 8-Tesla, 10-cm long pulsed solenoid magnet combined with a background neutralizing plasma to effectively cancel the space charge field of the ion beam. We report on phase space measurements of the beam before the neutralization channel and of the focused ion beam at the target plane. These are compared to WARP particle-in-cell simulations of the ion beam propagation through the focusing system and neutralizing plasma. Due to the orientation of the plasma sources with respect to the focusing magnet, the plasma distribution within the final focusing lens is strongly affected by the magnetic field, an effect which can influence the peak intensity at the target and which is included in the model of the experiment.