An overview on TRIUMF’s developments on ion source for radioactive beams (invited)

Abstract

The ISAC facility at TRIUMF utilizes up to 100 microA from the 500 MeV H(-) cyclotron to produce the radioactive ion beam (RIB) using the isotopic separation on line method. The ISAC-I facility comprised the RIB production target stations, the mass separator, and the beam delivery to low energy area and to a room temperature linear accelerator composed of a four-rod radio frequency quadrupole and an interdigital H-type structure drift tube LINAC. ISAC-I linear accelerator can provide beam from A=3 to 30 amu with an energy range from 0.15 to 1.5 A MeV. Since the beginning of operations target development program has been to increase proton beam currents on targets. Now we routinely operate our target at 50-85 microA and recently we have operated our target at 100 microA. Other developments are in place to add other ion sources, laser, force electron beam induced are discharge and electron cyclotron resonance ion source to the actual surface ion source. The last two five year plans were mainly devoted to the construction of a heavy ion superconducting LINAC (ISAC-II) that will upgrade the mass and the energy range from 30 to 150 and from 1.5 to 6.5 A MeV, respectively. The intermediate stage E< or =4.2 A MeV is already completed and commissioned; three experiments using (11)Li, (9)Li, and (29)Na have been completed this summer.