Fast mechanical shutter for pulsed ion beam generation

A pneumatically actuated mechanical shutter has been developed for pulsed ion beam operation. The mechanical shutter provides vacuum isolation between the gas filled ion source (nominally at ∼10 mTorr) and the high vacuum accelerator chamber (nominally <μTorr), which is essential for applications involving high voltage gradients. In the present design, the FWHM pulse length of the ion beam was measured to be approximately 1.5 ms with rise and decay times of ∼1 ms. Steady-state pressure measurements show an order of magnitude decrease in the main chamber pressure by incorporating the shutter.