The nuclei would be positive ions... I don't believe free electrons would be stable in a penning trap set up for positive ions. The strongly positive endcaps (m

The nuclei would be positive ions... I don't believe free electrons would be stable in a penning trap set up for positive ions. The strongly positive endcaps (my guess is 60kv) would make it unlikely that they would stay in the same region as the positive ions, though I'm not sure. The goal is for the ions to act like individual ballistic deuterium nuclei flying along a cyclotron trajectory. The density should be very low most of the time, but spike dramatically very briefly. That line between high density and acting like individual particles is one of the reasons this device is difficult for me to model.