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Ion Beam Production


 

The AECR-U Ion Source

 

 

 

The AECR-U ion source is optimized for the production of high charge state ions and combines all of the current ECR ion source techniques. The AECR ion source was built in 1990 and was upgraded in 1996 to further enhance its performance.

 

 



Fig.1: A cross-sectional view of the LBNL AECR-U ion source. The cross section of the aluminum plasma chamber is shown on the far right side.

 

Its maximum peak fields on axis are 1.7 and 1.1 Tesla at the injection and extraction regions, respectively. The maximum radial field at the inner surface of the aluminum plasma chamber is 0.85 Tesla. The aluminum plasma chamber is 30 cm in length with an inner diameter of 7.6 cm.

 

Six radial slots and an external turbo pump give about 150 l/s pumping speed. The radial slots also provide easy oven access in the plasma chamber. The AECR-U plasma is driven by microwaves of two-frequency (14 and 10 GHz) launched through two of the three off-axis wave-guides terminated at a bias plate in the injection region. The working gases are axially bled into the source through one of the off-axis wave-guides.

 

 

AECR_Pacman_Scanner_Total_View.jpg (25980 bytes)

Fig.3: Picture of the AECR-U injection line
(click figure for enlarged picture)

 

The AECR-U holds many records for the ion charge states and beam intensities. For example a low intensity U64+ beam was produced with the AECR-U ion source and accelerated by the 88-Inch Cyclotron to 2.06 GeV. The performance table lists some of the high charge state ion beams produced by the AECR-U ion source.