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11th International Conference on the Physics of Highly Charged Ions, Caen, 2002-09-01 to 2002-09-06
Abstract:
The evolution of a mixture of highly charged Ar and Ba ions was measured in an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) by recording the characteristic X-ray emission from trapped ions. A special feature in the spectra are sawtooth-like intensity variations caused by a periodic collapse of the ion inventory in the trap. The effect requires favorable conditions to become present and is very sensitive to the trapping conditions. Analysis of the measurements is based on a time-dependent calculation of the trapping process. Simulations show that sawtooth activity results from the feedback between the low-Z Ar and high-Z Ba ions (Hopf bifurcation). Sawtooth spectra open up a spectroscopic method to test theoretical EBIT models and probe the dynamics in ion traps and sources.
