16O contamination in 4He analysis beams

The ⁴He⁺ beam from a Van de Graaff accelerator is often accompanied by an ¹⁶O⁺ beam of the same energy. If, after acceleration and before magnetic analysis, one electron is stripped from the oxygen ion to form ¹⁶O²⁺, these ions will not be separated from ⁴He⁺ during magnetic analysis. The ¹⁶O²⁺ fraction in the ⁴He⁺ beam was measured by analyzing back-scattering spectra for a thin Au film and the O to He ion charge ratio of 2:1 was confirmed by electrostatic deflection. Ion source conditions and the pressure in the beam lines strongly affect the ¹⁶O²⁺ fraction and the dependence of the O²⁺/O⁺ ratio on pressure is found to be in approximate agreement with predicted values. A formula for estimating the ¹⁶O²⁺ beam intensity, based on charge exchange data and measurement of the primary ¹⁶O⁺ beam intensity, is NO²⁺] = 13 P(torr) l(cm) NO⁺], where P is the total gas pressure, l the length of the beam line between the accelerator and switching magnet and NO²⁺] and NO⁺] are the beam intensities of the respective species. The ¹⁶O²⁺ contamination of ⁴He⁺ beams is easily removed by electrostatic separation.