An inexpensive biasing system for use in electrostatic steering of ions

Abstract

We introduce a compact design for an electronic device capable of superposing 8 bias voltages up to $\pm$96~V on a voltage of up to 5~kV. Such a device has been implemented to provide biasing of a beam steerer-shifter system for use in aligning an ion beam with the optical axis of a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph. The device features a 16-bit digital interface both to set and to monitor the applied voltages, and can be built for less than \$500~USD. By selection of higher isolation components, the design concept can be extended to allow operation up to 20~kV.