Time-resolved studies of deuteron beams emitted from a plasma focus

Fast (0.3—2.5 MeV) deuterons are registered with scintillator-photomultiplier detectors placed behind a Thomson analyzer. Time delays of deuteron signals (minimum FWHM ? 8 ns) in relation to X-ray signals are consistent with times of flight and show that the ions are emitted with a jitter smaller than 5 ns. Longer multi-spike ion pulses sometimes observed are interpreted.