Transport of Intense Relativistic Electron Beams in azPinch

Abstract

We have demonstrated efficient guidance and transport of high-$\frac{\nu }{\gamma }$ electron beams along a $z$ pinch. Pinch currents substantially smaller than the beam current are sufficient to contain and propagate the beam. The data suggest single-particle motion of beam electrons in the pinch magnetic field. Numerical calculations of possible trajectories correlate with observed beam expansion and corroborate the single-particle analysis.