| Summary: | Ion beams emitted from the low-inductance kJ NX2
plasma focus have been numerically characterized and trends of
these beams in various gases have been reported. In this paper,
the ion beams from high-inductance kJ plasma focus machines
AECS PF2 and INTI operated with various gases are studied.
The obtained results show that the beam ions mean energy
depends on the gas type and increases with increasing ion mass
of the gas. It also indicates a higher ion fluence for H 2 (4.4 ×
10 20 ions m −2 ), and a very small fluence value for Xe (0.085 ×
10 20 ions m −2 ). The ion number reduces from H 2 (24 × 10 14 )
to Xe (0.074 × 10 14 ). The ion current decreases from H 2 (20.5%
of the discharge current) to 5.4% for Xe. The beam energy
drops from H 2 (0.63% of stored energy E 0 ) to 0.4% for O 2 ;
however, then increases from Ne to the radiatively-collapsed
gases Ar, Kr, and Xe. Argon has the highest damage factor
(77 × 10 10 Wm −2 s 0.5 ), while the lightest gases have the lowest
(2–6 × 10 10 Wm −2 s 0.5 ). The magnetic field compressing the
pinch is higher for the heavier gases. This paper confirms that
the trends of ion beam production with various gases in high-
inductance machines are the same as the trends in low-inductance
machines.
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