Experiment of two-frequency heating for production of multiply charged ion at compact ECR ion source

Abstract

Several research and developments have been performed at a compact ECR ion source (Kei3) with a fixed magnetic field at HIMAC. The Kei3 is a testing machine for application of Kei series developed for high-energy carbon-ion radiotherapy. It is difficult for Kei3 to produce ions that are heavier than carbon ion because it uses the same magnetic field distribution as the Kei series. In order to improve the beam current of multiply charged ions such as neon and argon, the two-microwave-frequency heating method was tested in the Kei3. Microwaves are introduced into the plasma chamber with a WR-90 rectangular waveguide. A traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifier made by the NEC (LD79X75A1) is used as the microwave source. The frequency band is 9.75-10.25 GHz and the maximum output power is 750 W. The WR-75 waveguide is also introduced from the upper part of the upstream vacuum chamber and installed on top of the existing the WR-90 waveguide. A TWT amplifier manufactured by the Xicom (XTRD-300IJ) was used as a microwave source for the two-microwave-frequency heating. The frequency band is 10-18 GHz and the maximum output power is 300 W. A beam test with oxygen, neon, and argon was performed in order to confirm the effect of two microwave frequency heating. In this test, we focused on O6+, Ne7+, and Ar9+ ions. We measured the dependence of the XTRD-300IJ microwave frequency and the microwave power of the LD79X75A1 on a charge state distributions.