Time resolved energy spectrum of the axial ion beam generated in plasma focus discharges

The energy spectrum of the deuteron beam along the electrode axis (0 degrees ) in a plasma focus discharge has been determined with a time of flight (TOF) method and with a differential filter method in the ion energy interval E=0.3-9 MeV. The ion TOF method is applied to single-ion pulse events with an ion emission time t(E) that is only weakly dependent on the ion energy E for E>0.3 MeV. The correlation of the ion beam intensity with the filling pressure, the neutron yield and the hard X-ray intensity is also reported