High intensity metal ion beam production with ECR ion sources at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Abstract

The large number of different experiments performed at the 88 Inch Cyclotron requires great variety and flexibility in the production of ion beams. This flexibility is provided by the two high performance electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources, the LBL ECR and the AECR-U, which can produce beams of ions as light as hydrogen and as heavy as uranium. With these two sources, up to six different metals can be preloaded using two types of ovens. The ovens are mounted radially on the ion sources and inject the metal vapor though the open sextupole structure into the plasma chamber. For the superconducting ECR ion source VENUS, which is under construction at Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory, the use of radial ovens is no longer possible, because the magnetic structure is closed radially. Therefore, we are developing two new axial oven types for low and high temperature applications. Metal ion beam production in ECR ion sources using the oven technique is discussed. The design of the axial oven is presented. Finally, the efficiency of the axial oven is compared with the radial oven for the production of Ca.