Electrostatic bottle for long-time storage of fast ion beams

A technique for storage of fast-ion beams (keV) using only electrostatic fields is presented. The fast-ion trap is designed like an optical resonator, whose electrode configuration allows for a very large field-free region, easy access into the trap by various probes, a simple ion loading technique, and a broad acceptance range for the initial kinetic energies of the ions. Such a fast-ion storage device opens up many experimental possibilities, a few of which are presented.