Characterization of oxygen ion beams emitted from plasma focus

• The Lee model is modified to include oxygen in addition to other gases.
• It is then applied to study the properties of ion beams emitted from various energies.
• Plasma focus devices operated with oxygen gas.
• Scaling trends are suggested for oxygen ion beam characteristics.

The Lee model is modified to include oxygen in addition to other gases. It is then applied to characterize the ion beams emitted from the low energy plasma focus PF 1 kJ device operated with oxygen gas. The numerical experiments give the following results: ion fluence- 3 × 1018 ions m−2, ion flux- 2.4 × 1026 ions m−2 s−1, ion energy- 261 keV, ion number- 3.5 × 1013, ion current- 3.5 kA, and damage factor- 1.12 × 109 Wm−2 s0.5. Numerical experiments are systematically carried out on other plasma focus devices of various energies. Scaling trends are suggested for oxygen ion beam characteristics. These results provide much needed benchmark reference values and scaling trends for ion beams of a plasma focus operated in oxygen gas.