Abstract
A magnetron type of low voltage arc has been designed to produce doubly charged helium ions by multiple electron impact. A magnetic field parallel to the axis of a cylindrical cathode makes it possible to operate the arc in pure helium with one ampere arc current and an arc drop of 50 to 100 volts, at a pressure of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ mm. Ions are drawn out of the arc and focused on an ion gun by an auxiliary cathode fitted with a spherical grid. When the ion beam is analyzed with a mass spectrograph it is found that about 5 percent of the ions have a ratio of mass to charge equal to 2. At least part of these are $\mathrm{H}_{2}^{+}$ ions appearing as an impurity which cannot be eliminated. However, with an ion beam of one milliampere which could be readily drawn from the arc, there is evidence to indicate that about 2 percent, or 20 microamperes, would consist of doubly ionized helium which would be available for nuclear investigations.
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