A thin film device as a low energy, high flux charged particle spectrometer

We are continuing our investigation of the use of stacks of electrically isolated thin metal foils as spectrometers for lost ions from tokamak fusion plasmas. Devices of this type in which the foil thicknesses were a few micrometers were installed on the Joint European Torus during the recent first deuterium–tritium experiment in an effort to observe lost energetic alpha particles. While there was no convincing evidence of lost alpha particles in this experiment, we did observe significant fluxes of low energy (<500 keV) charged particles. In an effort to provide an instrument for the investigation of this phenomenon and of escaping relatively low energy (<100 keV) ions from other fusion plasma devices, we have developed alternative devices with very thin (few hundred nanometers) alternating layers of conductor and insulator. Four such devices have been fabricated and tested for protons with energies between 20 and 160 keV and demonstrated good energy resolution (typically about 10%) for proton bombarding energies between about 40 and 120 keV. One of the devices, consisting of deposited layers of Al, Ti, and SiO2 was operated up to a current density of about 100 m/cm2 at an energy of 100 keV, corresponding to a power volume density of 100 kW/cm3