Techniques for the measurement of ionization times in ECR ion sources using a fast sputter sample and fast gas valve

Abstract

Two techniques for the discrete injection of material into an Electron Cyclotron Resonance ion source (ECRIS) have been developed for the purpose of measuring the ionization and confinement times of ion species. Previously only solid materials in conjunction with a pulsed laser were used in these studies due to the discrete material introduction produced by this configuration. The first method replaces the pulsed laser with a fast high voltage pulse applied to a sputter sample. The high voltage pulse has a rise time of 100 ns, fall time of 80.0 μs, and variable pulse duration. The second method utilizes a fast-pulsed gas valve capable of producing a gas pulse 160 μs in width. These pulse widths are well below the ionization times of the lower charge states and thus allows for time measurements to be made of all charge states. Both of these techniques can be employed to study the effects of rf power, coil configuration, biased disk, and gas mixing on ionization and confinement times. Rise times for neon, argon, and gold will be presented.