Optimization of 10Be beam transport at DREAMS ( DREsden AMS)

¹⁰Be measurements at DREAMS take up a large fraction of the AMS beam times at the 6MV accelerator at the ion beam center of HZDR. Currently, they are undertaken at a terminal voltage of 4.5 MV [Rugel et al., NIMB 2016]. Here, we investigated potential benefits from a change in accelerator terminal voltage in order to increase the efficiency of ¹⁰Be counting.
Presently, after the stripping in Ar gas in the accelerator, Be2+ ions are directed towards a 1 μm thin SiN foil placed after the analysing magnet on the high-energy side that helps to suppress the ¹⁰B interference by differential energy loss and separation in an electrostatic analyser. After passage through the absorber foil the mean charge state of Be ions is increased and the 4+ charge state is selected and transported to the detector. In this mode of operation, losses of ¹⁰Be ion beam intensity on the way from the low-energy side of the system to the detector are dominated by these two charge exchange processes [Arnold et al., NIMB 2010].
However, there is only limited data for the recharge behaviour of Be in a stripper gas at energies relevant for the measurements at DREAMS [Hofmann et al., NIMB 1987; Niklaus et al., NIMB 1994]. For an argon gas stripper, Niklaus et al. [NIMB 1994], suggest lower terminal voltages for optimal transmission of ¹⁰Be2+. On the other hand, an increase of the overall energy of the Be2+ beam after the accelerator will certainly allow for a higher Be4+ yield after the passage through the absorber foil.
In contrast to the original data by Niklaus et al. [NIMB 1994], we found that increasing the terminal voltage to ≥ 5MV does not reduce the yield of the Be2+ charge state after the accelerator.

As a further recharge to the 4+ charge state is conducted in a foil after the analysing magnet it is desirable to hit the foil with the highest available energy/velocity to have optimal stripping of Be2+ to the naked ion. Thus, the efficiency of ¹⁰Be measurements can indeed be improved by increasing the terminal voltage, both at DREAMS and at other AMS facilities of a similar size that are using the absorber method with a charge exchange from 2+ to 4+ for isobar suppression.
We present data on the performance of the system at higher beam energies documenting an increase in overall detection efficiency by 25%. Under these conditions the interfering isobar ¹⁰B is still well separated, and no additional interferences (e.g. from nuclear reactions) appear in our spectra.