The design of the main accelerator for a pulsed positron beam

The pulsed positron beam at the Helsinki University of Technology is designed for the end energy of 3-30 keV and grounded target. This is achieved with a constant voltage acceleration followed by an adjustable deceleration. In the design of this accelerator-decelerator the possibility for electrical breakdowns and partial discharges must be eliminated.For designing the electrode and insulator structures for accelerator-decelerator configuration electric field simulations were carried out with the finite element analysis program. In this paper we present the design of the accelerator-decelerator and the results of the electric field simulations. The results of high voltage tests will also be presented and compared with the simulations.