Direct high-resolution ion beam-profile imaging using a position-sensitive Faraday cup array.

Ion sources have wide-spread use in a multitude of applications. For many, an accurate knowledge, or better, an accurate imaging, of the beam profile and intensity is an important criterion. We are developing an ion source to calibrate instruments for space-based measurements of solar wind and suprathermal particles in the energy range from below 1 keV/nuc to above 200 keV/nuc. In order to establish accurate beam profiles for calibration purposes, we have developed a new method based on an array of very small (diameter = 0.3 mm) Faraday cups. Here, we describe the experimental setup and discuss how to achieve several requirements such as a large thermal load due to the approximately 40 W of beam power.