0000000000612237
AUTHOR
Hannu Koivisto
Plasma diagnostic tools for ECR ion sources : What can we learn from these experiments for the next generation sources
International audience; The order-of-magnitude performance leaps of ECR ion sources over the past decades result from improvements to the magnetic plasma confinement, increases in the microwave heating frequency, and techniques to stabilize the plasma at high densities. Parallel to the technical development of the ion sources themselves, significant effort has been directed into the development of their plasma diagnostic tools. We review the recent results of Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) plasma diagnostics highlighting a number of selected examples of plasma density, electron energy distribution, and ion confinement time measurements, obtained mostly with the second-gener…
Transverse distribution of beam current oscillations of a 14 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source
The temporal stability of oxygen ion beams has been studied with the 14 GHz A-ECR at JYFL (University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Physics). A sector Faraday cup was employed to measure the distribution of the beam current oscillations across the beam profile. The spatial and temporal characteristics of two different oscillation “modes” often observed with the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS are discussed. It was observed that the low frequency oscillations below 200 Hz are distributed almost uniformly. In the high frequency oscillation “mode,” with frequencies >300 Hz at the core of the beam, carrying most of the current, oscillates with smaller amplitude than the peripheral parts of the beam. The result…
Inner shell ionization of argon in ECRIS plasma
Abstract The volumetric K α emission rate of argon emitted from the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heated plasmas of the JYFL (University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Physics) 14 GHz ECR ion source (ECRIS) and the 14.5 GHz Grenoble Test Source (GTS) at iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences have been measured to gain an understanding of the influence of the ion source tune parameters on the absolute inner shell ionization rate. It was observed that the behaviour of the ionization rate and the extracted ion beam currents react differently, depending the parametric sweep performed. The neutral gas pressure and incident microwave power was found to have the strongest influence on…
Diagnostics of a charge breeder electron cyclotron resonance ion source helium plasma with the injection ofNa231+ions
This work describes the utilization of an injected 23Na1+ ion beam as a diagnostics of the helium plasma of a charge breeder electron cyclotron resonance ion source. The obtained data allows estimating the upper limit for the ion-ion collision mean-free path of the incident sodium ions, the lower limit of ion-ion collision frequencies for all charge states of the sodium ions and the lower limit of the helium plasma density. The ion-ion collision frequencies of high charge state ions are shown to be at least on the order of 1–10 MHz and the plasma density is estimated to be on the order of 1011 cm−3 or higher. The experimental results are compared to simulations of the 23Na1+ capture into t…
Photoelectron Emission from Metal Surfaces Induced by Radiation Emitted by a 14 GHz Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source
Photoelectron emission measurements have been performed using a room-temperature 14 GHz ECR ion source. It is shown that the photoelectron emission from Al, Cu, and stainless steel (SAE 304) surfaces, which are common plasma chamber materials, is predominantly caused by radiation emitted from plasma with energies between 8 eV and 1 keV. Characteristic X-ray emission and bremsstrahlung from plasma have a negligible contribution to the photoelectron emission. It is estimated from the measured data that the maximum conceivable photoelectron flux from plasma chamber walls is on the order of 10% of the estimated total electron losses from the plasma. peerReviewed
Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities.
Electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasmas are prone to kinetic instabilities due to anisotropy of the electron energy distribution function stemming from the resonant nature of the electron heating process. Electron cyclotron plasma instabilities are related to non-linear interaction between plasma waves and energetic electrons resulting to strong microwave emission and a burst of energetic electrons escaping the plasma, and explain the periodic oscillations of the extracted beam currents observed in several laboratories. It is demonstrated with a minimum-B 14 GHz ECRIS operating on helium, oxygen, and argon plasmas that kinetic instabilities restrict the parameter space avail…
Charge breeding at GANIL: Improvements, results, and comparison with the other facilities
International audience; The 1+/n+ method, based on an ECRIS charge breeder (CB) originally developed at the LPSC laboratory, is now implemented at GANIL for the production of Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs). Prior to its installation in the middle of the low energy beam line of the SPIRAL1 facility, the 1+/n+ system CB has been modified based on the experiments performed on the CARIBU Facility at Argone National Laboratory. Later, it has been tested at the 1+/n+ LPSC test bench to validate its operation performances. Charge breeding efficiencies as well as charge breeding times have been measured for noble gases and alkali elements. The commissioning phase started at GANIL in the second half-y…
The relationship between visible light emission and species fraction of the hydrogen ion beams extracted from 2.45 GHz microwave discharge.
The relationship between Balmer-α and Fulcher-band emissions with extracted H + , H + 2 , and H + 3 ions is demonstrated for a 2.45 GHz microwave discharge. Ion mass spectra and optical measurements of Balmer-α and Fulcher-band emissions have been obtained with a Wien Filter having an optical viewport on the plasma chamber axis. The beam of approximately 1 mA is analyzed for different plasma conditions simultaneously with the measurement of light emissions both with temporal resolution. The use of visible light emissions as a valuable diagnostic tool for monitoring the species fraction of the extracted beams is proposed. peerReviewed
Central Region Upgrade for the Jyväskylä K130 Cyclotron
The Jyväskylä K130 cyclotron has been in operation for more than 25 years providing beams from H to Au with energies ranging from 1 to 80 MeV/u for nuclear physics research and applications. At the typical energies around 5 MeV/u used for the nuclear physics program the injection voltage used is about 10 kV. The low voltage limits the beam intensity especially from the 18 GHz ECRIS HIISI. To increase the beam intensities the central region of the K130 cyclotron is being upgraded by increasing the injection voltage by a factor of 2. The new central region with spiral inflectors for harmonics 1-3 has been designed. The new central region shows better transmission in simulations than the origi…
Ion source and low energy beam transport prototyping for a single-ended heavy ion ToF-ERDA facility
We present the status of the ion source and low energy beam transport prototyping activities for a heavy ion time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (ToF-ERDA) equipment, designed to accelerate a flux of 1–10 particle nano-Ampere of 40Ar6-12+ ions to 3–6 MeV energy for depth profiling of light elements. The prototype injector consists of a novel permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance ion source CUBE-ECRIS with a minimum-B quadrupole field topology, and a 90° permanent magnet dipole with adjustable field strength for charge state selection. We report experimentally measured argon beam currents as a function of the applied microwave power and ion source potential to demonstrat…
Periodic Beam Current Oscillations Driven by Electron Cyclotron Instabilities in ECRIS Plasmas
Experimental observation of cyclotron instabilities in electron cyclotron resonance ion source plasma operated in cwmode is reported. The instabilities are associated with strong microwave emission and a burst of energetic electrons escaping the plasma, and explain the periodic oscillations of the extracted beam currents. The instabilities are shown to restrict the parameter space available for the optimization of high charge state ion currents. nonPeerReviewed
Experimental activities with the LPSC charge breeder in the European context
WEOBMH01; International audience; One of the Work Packages of the "Enhanced Multi-Ionization of short-Lived Isotopes at EURISOL"NuPNET project focuses on the ECR charge breeding.The LPSC charge breeder is used for experimental studiesin order to better understand the fundamental processesinvolved in the 1+ beam capture by a 14 GHz ECRplasma. Some improvements, like symmetrisation of themagnetic field at the injection side and higher pumpingspeed, have been carried out on the PHOENIX chargebreeder. The impact of these modifications on theefficiencies and charge breeding times are presented. Inthe same time, the new LPSC 1+ source developmentsperformed in order to ease the efficiency measurem…
Experimental evidence on photo-assisted O− ion production from Al2O3 cathode in cesium sputter negative ion source
The production of negative ions in cesium sputter ion sources is generally considered to be a pure surface process. It has been recently proposed that ion pair production could explain the higher-than-expected beam currents extracted from these ion sources, therefore opening the door for laser-assisted enhancement of the negative ion yield. We have tested this hypothesis by measuring the effect of various pulsed diode lasers on the O − beam current produced from Al 2O 3 cathode of a cesium sputter ion source. It is expected that the ion pair production of O − requires populating the 5d electronic states of neutral cesium, thus implying that the process should be provoked only with specific …
Studying the double-frequency heating mode in ECRIS plasma using Kα diagnostics
Despite the success of double-heating frequency in enhancing high charge state production, the underlying physics remains poorly understood. By combining three different diagnostic techniques i.e. Kα emission, optical emission and the extracted charge state distribution, it is now possible to assess the proposed explanations for the effectiveness of double-frequency heating against the experimental results. These results seem to indicate that the increase of plasma density accounts largely for the favorable behavior of this operation mode compared to single-frequency mode. peerReviewed
Estimating ion confinement times from beam current transients in conventional and charge breeder ECRIS
International audience; Cumulative ion confinement times are probed by measuring decaying ion current transients in pulsed material injection mode. The method is applied in a charge breeder and conventional ECRIS yielding mutually corroborative results. The cumulative confinement time estimates vary from approximately 2 ms–60 ms with a clear dependence on the ion charge-to-mass ratio—higher charges having longer residence times. The long cumulative confinement times are proposed as a partial explanation to recently observed unexpectedly high ion temperatures. The results are relevant for rare ion beam (RIB) production as the confinement time and the lifetime of stable isotopes can be used f…
The role of radio frequency scattering in high-energy electron losses from minimum-B ECR ion source
Abstract The measurement of the axially lost electron energy distribution escaping from a minimum-B electron cyclotron resonance ion source in the range of 4–800 keV is reported. The experiments have revealed the existence of a hump at 150–300 keV energy, containing up to 15% of the lost electrons and carrying up to 30% of the measured energy losses. The mean energy of the hump is independent of the microwave power, frequency and neutral gas pressure but increases with the magnetic field strength, most importantly with the value of the minimum-B field. Experiments in pulsed operation mode have indicated the presence of the hump only when microwave power is applied, confirming that the origi…
Ultra-fast intensified frame images from an electron cyclotron resonance hydrogen plasma at 2.45 GHz: some space distributions of visible and monochromatic emissions.
First results from an ultra-fast frame image acquisition diagnostic coupled to a 2.45 GHz microwave hydrogen discharge are presented. The plasma reactor has been modified to include a transparent doubled shielded quartz window allowing to viewing the full plasma volume. Pictures describing the breakdown process at 1μs exposure time have been obtained for integrated visible light signal, Balmer-alpha, Balmer-beta lines, and Fulcher-band. Several different plasma emission distributions are reported. The distribution depends on the magnetic field configuration, incident microwave power, and neutral gas pressure. peerReviewed
Workshop on performance variations in H? ion sources 2012: PV H?12
This paper briefly summarizes a workshop held in Jyvaskyla the day after NIBS’12. The half-day workshop aimed at globally capturing the issue of performance variations in H− sources. There was a focus on production facilities and facilities that work under production-like conditions, because there are often high expectations to be met.
Photoelectron Emission from Metal Surfaces Induced by VUV-emission of Filament Driven Hydrogen Arc Discharge Plasma
Photoelectron emission measurements have been performed using a filament-driven multi-cusp arc discharge volume production H^- ion source (LIISA). It has been found that photoelectron currents obtained with Al, Cu, Mo, Ta and stainless steel (SAE 304) are on the same order of magnitude. The photoelectron currents depend linearly on the discharge power. It is shown experimentally that photoelectron emission is significant only in the short wavelength range of hydrogen spectrum due to the energy dependence of the quantum efficiency. It is estimated from the measured data that the maximum photoelectron flux from plasma chamber walls is on the order of 1 A per kW of discharge power.
Effects of magnetic configuration on hot electrons in a minimum-B ECR plasma
International audience; To investigate the hot electron population and the appearance of kinetic instabilities in highly charged electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS), the axially emitted bremsstrahlung spectra and microwave bursts emitted from ECRIS plasma were synchronously measured on SECRAL-II (Superconducting ECR ion source with Advanced design in Lanzhou No. II) ion source with various magnetic field configurations. The experimental results show that when the ratio of the minimum field to the resonance field (i.e. Bmin/Becr ) is less than ~0.8, the bremsstrahlung spectral temperature Ts increases linearly with the Bmin/Becr –ratio when the injection, extraction and radial mi…
High current proton beams production at Simple Mirror Ion Source 37
This paper presents the latest results of high current proton beam production at Simple Mirror Ion Source (SMIS) 37 facility at the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP RAS). In this experimental setup, the plasma is created and the electrons are heated by 37.5 GHz gyrotron radiation with power up to 100 kW in a simple mirror trap fulfilling the ECR condition. Latest experiments at SMIS 37 were performed using a single-aperture two-electrode extraction system. Proton beams with currents up to 450 mA at high voltages below 45 kV were obtained. The maximum beam current density was measured to be 600 mA/cm2. A possibility of further improvement through the development of an advanced extraction sy…
The electron cyclotron resonance ion source with arc-shaped coils concept
The main limitation to further improve the performance of ECR ion sources is set by the magnet technology related to the multipole magnet field used for the closed minimum-B structure. The JYFL ion source group has sought different approaches to improve the strength of the minimum-B structure required for the production of highly charged ion beams. It was found out that such a configuration can be realized with arc shaped coils. The first prototype, electron cyclotron resonance ion source with arc-shaped coils (ARC-ECRIS), was constructed and tested at JYFL in 2006. It was confirmed that such an ion source can be used for the production of highly charged ion beams. Regardless of several cos…
Time resolved measurements of hydrogen ion energy distributions in a pulsed 2.45 GHz microwave plasma
A plasma diagnostic study of the Ion Energy Distribution Functions (IEDFs) of H+, H+2H2+, and H+3H3+ ions in a 2.45 GHz hydrogen plasma reactor called TIPS is presented. The measurements are conducted by using a Plasma Ion Mass Spectrometer with an energy sector and a quadrupole detector from HIDEN Analytical Limited in order to select an ion species and to measure its energy distribution. The reactor is operated in the pulsed mode at 100 Hz with a duty cycle of 10% (1 ms pulse width). The IEDFs of H+, H+2H2+, and H+3H3+ are obtained each 5 μs with 1 μs time resolution throughout the entire pulse. The temporal evolution of the plasma potential and ion temperature of H+ is derived from the d…
Status of new 18 GHz ECRIS HIISI
A new 18 GHz ECR ion source HIISI is under commissioning at the Accelerator Laboratory at the University of Jyvaskyla (JYFL). The main purpose of HIISI is to produce high-energy beam cocktails, e.g. Xe44+, for radiation effects testing of electronics with the K130 cyclotron. The initial commissioning results in 18+14 GHz operation with oxygen, argon and xenon are reported. The beam currents are compared to those produced by reference ion sources (JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS, GTS and SuSI). At the moment (October 2017) 560 µA of O6+ and 310 µA of Ar13+, for example, have been reached with HIISI at 2.3 kW total power.A new 18 GHz ECR ion source HIISI is under commissioning at the Accelerator Laboratory…
Measurements of the energy distribution of electrons lost from the minimum B-field -- the effect of instabilities and two-frequency heating
Further progress in the development of ECR ion sources (ECRIS) requires deeper understanding of the underlying physics. One of the topics that remains obscure, though being crucial for the performance of the ECRIS, is the electron energy distribution (EED). A well-developed technique of measuring the EED of electrons escaping axially from the magnetically confined plasma of an ECRIS was used for the study of EED in unstable mode of plasma confinement, i.e. in the presence of kinetic instabilities. The experimental data were recorded for pulsed and CW discharges with a room-temperature 14 GHz ECRIS at the JYFL accelerator laboratory. The measurements were focused on observing differences bet…
Hydrogen plasma induced photoelectron emission from low work function cesium covered metal surfaces
Experimental results of hydrogen plasma induced photoelectron emission from cesium covered metal surfaces under ion source relevant conditions are reported. The transient photoelectron current during the Cs deposition process is measured from Mo, Al, Cu, Ta, Y, Ni, and stainless steel (SAE 304) surfaces. The photoelectron emission is 2–3.5 times higher at optimal Cs layer thickness in comparison to the clean substrate material. Emission from the thick layer of Cs is found to be 60%–80% lower than the emission from clean substrates. peerReviewed
Correlations between density distributions, optical spectra, and ion species in a hydrogen plasma (invited)
An experimental study of plasma distributions in a 2.45 GHz hydrogen discharge operated at 100 Hz repetition rate is presented. Ultrafast photography, time integrated visible light emission spectra, time resolved Balmer-alpha emission, time resolved Fulcher Band emission, ion species mass spectra, and time resolved ion species fraction measurements have been implemented as diagnostic tools in a broad range of plasma conditions. Results of plasma distributions and optical emissions correlated with H + , H + 2 , and H + 3 ion currents by using a Wien filter system with optical observation capability are reported. The magnetic field distribution and strength is found as the most critical facto…
The effect of microwave power on the Ar9+ and Ar13+ optical emission intensities and ion beam currents in ECRIS
The production of Ar9+ and Ar13+ ions in an ECRIS plasma and the efficiency of the ion beam extraction and transport of the resulting Ar9+ and Ar13+ ion beams have been studied with the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS by using optical emission spectroscopy and measurement of the m/q analyzed beam currents. The relative changes in both the optical emission and the ion beam current in CW mode as function of microwave power and in amplitude modulation (AM) operation mode are reported. The results indicate a discrepancy between the parametric dependence of high charge state ion densities in the core plasma and their extracted beam currents. The observation implies that in CW mode the ion currents could be li…
Photoelectron emission induced by low temperature hydrogen plasmas
Experimental results of low temperature hydrogen plasma induced photoelectron emission measurements comparing two different plasma heating methods are summarized. By exposing the samples to the vacuum ultraviolet radiation of a filament-driven multi-cusp arc discharge ion source and a 2.45 GHz microwave-driven ion source, it has been measured that the total photoelectron emission from various metal surfaces is on the order of 1 A per kW of plasma heating power, which can be increased by a factor of 2–3.5 with a thin layer of alkali metal. The possible effects of the photoelectrons on the plasma sheath structure are studied with a 1D collisionless model extended to include the contribution o…
A novel approach to β-decay: PANDORA, a new experimental setup for future in-plasma measurements
International audience; Theoretical predictions as well as experiments performed at storage rings have shown that the lifetimes of β-radionuclides can change significantly as a function of the ionization state. In this paper we describe an innovative approach, based on the use of a compact plasma trap to emulate selected stellar-like conditions. It has been proposed within the PANDORA project (Plasmas for Astrophysics, Nuclear Decay Observation and Radiation for Archaeometry) with the aim to measure, for the first time in plasma, nuclear β-decay rates of radionuclides involved in nuclear-astrophysics processes. To achieve this task, a compact magnetic plasma trap has been designed…
Nano-graphite cold cathodes for electric solar wind sail
The nanographite (NG) films consisting of tiny graphite crystallites (nanowalls) are produced by carbon condensation from methane–hydrogen gas mixture activated by a direct current discharge. High aspect ratio and structural features of the NG crystallites provides efficient field electron emission (FE). Applicability and performance of the NG films in an electron gun (E-gun) of a solar wind thruster system with an electric sail (E-sail) is tested. The long-term tests are demonstrated suitability of E-gun assembly with the NG cathodes for the real space missions. The results of the tests are analyzed and physical mechanisms of the cathode aging and practical methods for improvement performa…
Cyclotron instability in the afterglow mode of minimum-B ECRIS.
It was shown recently that cyclotron instability in non-equilibrium plasma of a minimum-B electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) causes perturbation of the extracted ion current and generation of strong bursts of bremsstrahlung emission, which limit the performance of the ion source. The present work is devoted to the dynamic regimes of plasma instability in ECRIS operated in pulsed mode. Instability develops in decaying plasma shortly after heating microwaves are switched off and manifests itself in the form of powerful pulses of electromagnetic emission associated with precipitation of high energy electrons. Time-resolved measurements of microwave emission bursts are presented. I…
The effect of cavity tuning on oxygen beam currents of an A-ECR type 14 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source.
The efficiency of the microwave-plasma coupling plays a significant role in the production of highly charged ion beams with electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRISs). The coupling properties are affected by the mechanical design of the ion source plasma chamber and microwave launching system, as well as damping of the microwave electric field by the plasma. Several experiments attempting to optimize the microwave-plasma coupling characteristics by fine-tuning the frequency of the injected microwaves have been conducted with varying degrees of success. The inherent difficulty in interpretation of the frequency tuning results is that the effects of microwave coupling system and the ca…
The biased disc of an electron cyclotron resonance ion source as a probe of instability-induced electron and ion losses
International audience; Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) plasmas are prone to kinetic instabilities resulting in loss of electron and ion confinement. It is demonstrated that the biased disk of an ECRIS can be used as a probe to quantify such instability-induced electron and ion losses occurring in less than 10 µs. The qualitative interpretation of the data is supported by the measurement of the energy spread of the extracted ion beams implying a transient plasma potential >1.5 kV during the instability. A parametric study of the electron losses combined with electron tracking simulations allows for estimating the fraction of electrons expelled in each instability event to be…
Thermal Design of Refridgerated Hexapole 18 GHZ ECRIS HIISI
A project is underway for constructing a new 18 GHz ECR ion source HIISI at University of Jyväskylä. An innovative plasma chamber structure with grooves at magnetic poles for larger chamber radius at poles. The hexapole will be refridgerated to sub-zero temperatures to boost the coercivity and the remanence of the permanent magnet material and to allow the use of high remanence, low intrinsic coersivity permanent magnet materials. The hexapole structure is insulated from high temperature solenoid coils and plasma chamber by vacuum. The thermal design of the structure has been made using a thermal diffusion code taking in account radiative, conductive and convective heat transfer processes. …
Plasma response to amplitude modulation of the microwave power on a 14 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source
This paper reports the effects of sinusoidal microwave power Amplitude Modulation (AM) on the performance of Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion sources. The study was conducted on the 14 GHz ECR ion source ECR2 at the University of Jyväskylä. The klystron output was intentionally altered by a variable frequency sinusoidal amplitude modulation. The average microwave power 350 W was modulated between 530 W and 180 W from 0.011-25 kHz. The integrated x-ray energy, the mass analyzed beam current and the forward and reflected microwave power were measured. The energy integrated x-ray signal responded strongly with low frequency modulation and was no longer observable at approximately 2.2 kHz…
A study of VUV emission and the extracted electron-ion ratio in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas of a filament-driven H−/D− ion source
Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) emission diagnostics for studying differences of electron impact processes in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas are presented. The method is applied to study a filament driven multicusp arc discharge negative ion source by comparing the VUV-emission intensities of different emission bands and extracted currents of H−/D− ions and electrons. It was found that the ratio of coextracted electrons to extracted ions is four times higher for deuterium than for hydrogen. No significant differences of the VUV-spectra or volumetric rates of ionization, excitation, production of high vibrational states, and dissociation were found between the plasmas of the two isotopes. The volum…
Dynamic regimes of cyclotron instability in the afterglow mode of minimum-B electron cyclotron resonance ion source plasma
The paper is concerned with the dynamic regimes of cyclotron instabilities in non-equilibrium plasma of a minimum-B electron cyclotron resonance ion source operated in pulsed mode. The instability appears in decaying ion source plasma shortly (1–10 ms) after switching off the microwave radiation of the klystron, and manifests itself in the form of powerful pulses of electromagnetic emission associated with precipitation of high-energy electrons along the magnetic field lines. Recently it was shown that this plasma instability causes perturbations of the extracted ion current, which limits the performance of the ion source and generates strong bursts of bremsstrahlung emission. In this artic…
Microwave emission from ECR plasmas under conditions of two-frequency heating induced by kinetic instabilities
Multiple frequency heating is one of the most effective techniques to improve the performances of ECR ion sources. It has been demonstrated that the appearance of the periodic ion beam current oscillations in ECRIS at high heating power and low magnetic field gradient is associated with kinetic plasma instabilities. Recently it was proven that one of the main features of multiple frequency heating is connected with stabilizing effect, namely the suppression of electron cyclotron instability in ECRIS plasmas. Due to this kind of stabilization it is possible to run the ion source in stable mode using higher total microwave power and thus to obtain better ion beam parameters. Unfortunately, ev…
Optimizing charge breeding techniques for ISOL facilities in Europe: conclusions from the EMILIE project
ThuM07; International audience; The present paper summarizes the results obtained from the past few years in the framework ofthe Enhanced Multi-Ionization of short-Lived Isotopes for Eurisol (EMILIE) project. The EMILIEproject aims at improving the charge breeding techniques with both Electron Cyclotron ResonanceIon Sources (ECRIS) and Electron Beam Ion Sources (EBISs) for European Radioactive Ion Beam(RIB) facilities. Within EMILIE, an original technique for debunching the beam from EBIS chargebreeders is being developed, for making an optimal use of the capabilities of CW post-acceleratorsof the future facilities. Such a debunching technique should eventually resolve duty cycle andtime st…
Measurement of the energy distribution of electrons escaping minimum-B ECR plasmas
The measurement of the electron energy distribution (EED) of electrons escaping axially from a minimum-B electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) is reported. The experimental data were recorded with a room-temperature 14 GHz ECRIS at the JYFL accelerator laboratory. The electrons escaping through the extraction mirror of the ion source were detected with a secondary electron amplifier placed downstream from a dipole magnet serving as an electron spectrometer with 500 eV resolution. It was discovered that the EED in the range of 5–250 keV is strongly non-Maxwellian and exhibits several local maxima below 20 keV energy. It was observed that the most influential ion source operating pa…
Limitation of the ECRIS performance by kinetic plasma instabilities (invited).
Electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasmas are prone to kinetic instabilities due to anisotropic electron velocity distribution. The instabilities are associated with strong microwave emission and periodic bursts of energetic electrons escaping the magnetic confinement. The instabilities explain the periodic ms-scale oscillation of the extracted beam current observed with several high performance ECRISs and restrict the parameter space available for the optimization of extracted beam currents of highly charged ions. Experiments with the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS have demonstrated that due to the instabilities the optimum Bmin-field is less than 0.8BECR, which is the value suggested by …
Spectroscopic study of ion temperature in minimum-B ECRIS plasma
Experimentally determined ion temperatures of different charge states and elements in minimum-B confined electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasma are reported. It is demonstrated with optical emission spectroscopy, complemented by the energy spread measurements of the extracted ion beams, that the ion temperature in the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS is 5–28 eV depending on the plasma species and charge state. The reported ion temperatures are an order of magnitude higher than previously deduced from indirect diagnostics and used in simulations, but agree with those reported for a quadrupole mirror fusion experiment. The diagnostics setup and data interpretation are discussed in detail to …
Status of new 18 GHz ECRIS HIISI
A new 18 GHz ECR ion source HIISI is under commissioning at the Accelerator Laboratory at the University of Jyväskylä (JYFL). The main purpose of HIISI is to produce high-energy beam cocktails, e.g. Xe44+, for radiation effects testing of electronics with the K130 cyclotron. The initial commissioning results in 18+14 GHz operation with oxygen, argon and xenon are reported. The beam currents are compared to those produced by reference ion sources (JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS, GTS and SuSI). At the moment (October 2017) 560 µA of O6+ and 310 µA of Ar13+, for example, have been reached with HIISI at 2.3 kW total power. peerReviewed
Design of a 10 GHz minimum-B quadrupole permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance ion source
This paper presents a simulation study of a permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) with a minimum-B quadrupole magnetic field topology. The magnetic field is made to conform to conventional ECRIS with $B_\textrm{min}/B_\textrm{ECR}$ of 0.67 and a last closed magnetic isosurface of 1.86$B_\textrm{ECR}$ at 10 GHz. The distribution of magnetic field gradients parallel to the field, affecting the electron heating efficiency, cover a range from 0 to 13 T/m, being similar to conventional ECRIS. Therefore it is expected that the novel ion source produces warm electrons and high charge state ions in significant number. Single electron tracking simulations are used to estim…
Application and development of ion-source technology for radiation-effects testing of electronics
Abstract Studies of heavy-ion induced single event effect (SEE) on space electronics are necessary to verify the operation of the components in the harsh radiation environment. These studies are conducted by using high-energy heavy-ion beams to simulate the radiation effects in space. The ion beams are accelerated as so-called ion cocktails, containing several ion beam species with similar mass-to-charge ratio, covering a wide range of linear energy transfer (LET) values also present in space. The use of cocktails enables fast switching between beam species during testing. Production of these high-energy ion cocktails poses challenging requirements to the ion sources because in most laborat…
Kinetic instabilities in pulsed operation mode of a 14 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source
The occurrence of kinetic plasma instabilities is studied in pulsed operation mode of a 14 GHz Aelectron cyclotron resonance type electron cyclotron resonance ion source. It is shown that the temporal delay between the plasma breakdown and the appearance of the instabilities is on the order of 10- 100 ms. The most important parameters affecting the delay are magnetic field strength and neutral gas pressure. It is demonstrated that kinetic instabilities limit the high charge state ion beam production in the unstable operating regime. peerReviewed
Power efficiency improvements with the radio frequency H− ion source
CW 13.56 MHz radio frequency-driven H− ion source is under development at the University of Jyväskylä for replacing an existing filament-driven ion source at the MCC30/15 cyclotron. Previously, production of 1 mA H− beam, which is the target intensity of the ion source, has been reported at 3 kW of RF power. The original ion source front plate with an adjustable electromagnet based filter field has been replaced with a new front plate with permanent magnet filter field. The new structure is more open and enables a higher flux of ro-vibrationally excited molecules towards the plasma electrode and provides a better control of the potential near the extraction due to a stronger separation of t…
Ion source research and development at University of Jyväskylä: Studies of different plasma processes and towards the higher beam intensities
MonPS16; International audience; The long-term operation of high charge state electron cyclotron resonance ion sources fed withhigh microwave power has caused damage to the plasma chamber wall in several laboratories.Porosity, or a small hole, can be progressively created in the wall on a year time scale, which cancause a water leak from the cooling system into the plasma chamber vacuum. A burnout of theVENUS chamber is investigated. Information on the hole formation and on the necessary localhot electron power density is presented. Next, the hot electron flux to the wall is studied bymeans of simulations. First, the results of a simple model assuming that electrons are fullymagnetized and …
Diagnostics of a charge breeder electron cyclotron resonance ion source helium plasma with the injection of 23 Na 1+ ions
This work describes the utilization of an injected 23Na1þ ion beam as a diagnostics of the helium plasma of a charge breeder electron cyclotron resonance ion source. The obtained data allows estimating the upper limit for the ion-ion collision mean-free path of the incident sodium ions, the lower limit of ion-ion collision frequencies for all charge states of the sodium ions and the lower limit of the helium plasma density. The ion-ion collision frequencies of high charge state ions are shown to be at least on the order of 1–10 MHz and the plasma density is estimated to be on the order of 1011 cm−3 or higher. The experimental results are compared to simulations of the 23Na1þ capture into th…
Power efficiency improvements with the radio frequency H− ion source
CW 13.56 MHz radio frequency-driven H(-) ion source is under development at the University of Jyväskylä for replacing an existing filament-driven ion source at the MCC30/15 cyclotron. Previously, production of 1 mA H(-) beam, which is the target intensity of the ion source, has been reported at 3 kW of RF power. The original ion source front plate with an adjustable electromagnet based filter field has been replaced with a new front plate with permanent magnet filter field. The new structure is more open and enables a higher flux of ro-vibrationally excited molecules towards the plasma electrode and provides a better control of the potential near the extraction due to a stronger separation …
The electron cyclotron resonance ion source with arc-shaped coils concept
The main limitation to further improve the performance of ECR ion sources is set by the magnet technology related to the multipole magnet field used for the closed minimum-B structure. The JYFL ion source group has sought different approaches to improve the strength of the minimum-B structure required for the production of highly charged ion beams. It was found out that such a configuration can be realized with arc shaped coils. The first prototype, electron cyclotron resonance ion source with arc-shaped coils (ARC-ECRIS), was constructed and tested at JYFL in 2006. It was confirmed that such an ion source can be used for the production of highly charged ion beams. Regardless of several cos…
Investigations into the alpha-decay of 195At
The low-energy nuclear structure and decay properties of the neutron-deficient isotopes 195At and 191Bi have been studied. 195At was produced in the reaction 142Nd(56Fe,p2n)195At and 191Bi as the daughter activity of 195At. The activities were implanted in a position-sensitive silicon detector after being separated from the primary beam by a gas-filled recoil separator. The 1/2+ intruder state was determined to be the ground state in 195At with an alpha-decay energy of E α = 6953(3) keV and a half-life T 1/2 = 328(20) ms. Another state with an alpha-decay energy E α = 7075(4) keV and a half-life T 1/2 = 147(5) ms was found to decay to a 148.7(5) keV excited state in 191Bi for which a spin a…
The effect of plasma instabilities on the background impurities in charge breeder ECRIS
International audience; Experimental observations of plasma instabilities in the 14.5 GHz PHOENIX charge breeder ECRIS are summarized. It has been found that the injection of 133Cs+ or 85Rb+ into oxygen discharge of the CB-ECRIS can trigger electron cyclotron instabilities, which results to sputtering of the surfaces exposed to the plasma, followed by up to an order of magnitude increase of impurity currents in the extracted n+ charge state distribution. The transition from stable to unstable plasma regime is caused by gradual accumulation and ionization of Cs/Rb altering the discharge parameters in 10 - 100 ms time scale, not by a prompt interaction between the incident ion beam and the EC…
High Current Proton and Deuteron Beams for Accelerators and Neutron Generators
This paper presents the latest results of high current proton and deuteron beam production at SMIS 37 facility at the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP RAS). In this experimental setup the plasma is created and the electrons are heated by 37.5 GHz gyrotron radiation with power up to 100 kW in a simple mirror trap fulfilling the ECR condition. High microwave power and frequency allow sustaining higher density hydrogen plasma (ne up to 2·1013 cm-3) in comparison to conventional ECRIS’s or microwave sources. The low ion temperature, on the order of a few eV, is beneficial to produce proton beams with low emittance. Latest experiments at SMIS 37 were performed using a single-aperture two-electr…
New progress of high current gasdynamic ion source (invited).
The experimental and theoretical research carried out at the Institute of Applied Physics resulted in development of a new type of electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRISs)—the gasdynamic ECRIS. The gasdynamic ECRIS features a confinement mechanism in a magnetic trap that is different from Geller’s ECRIS confinement, i.e., the quasi-gasdynamic one similar to that in fusion mirror traps. Experimental studies of gasdynamic ECRIS were performed at Simple Mirror Ion Source (SMIS) 37 facility. The plasma was created by 37.5 and 75 GHz gyrotron radiation with power up to 100 kW. High frequency microwaves allowed to create and sustain plasma with significant density (up to 8 × 1013 cm−3 ) …
Effects of magnetic configuration on hot electrons in a minimum-B ECR plasma
To investigate the hot electron population and the appearance of kinetic instabilities in highly charged electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS), the axially emitted bremsstrahlung spectra and microwave bursts emitted from ECRIS plasma were synchronously measured on SECRAL-II (Superconducting ECR ion source with Advanced design in Lanzhou No. II) ion source with various magnetic field configurations. The experimental results show that when the ratio of the minimum field to the resonance field (i.e. Bmin/Becr) is less than ~0.8, the bremsstrahlung spectral temperature Ts increases linearly with the Bmin/Becr–ratio when the injection, extraction and radial mirror fields are kept const…
Upgrades for the RADEF Facility
RADEF includes heavy ion and proton beam lines for irradiation of space electronics. A special beam cocktail for back side irradiations has been developed. Also, experimental LET values of its two heaviest ions have been determined.
Dynamic regimes of cyclotron instability in the afterglow mode of minimum-Belectron cyclotron resonance ion source plasma
The paper is concerned with the dynamic regimes of cyclotron instabilities in non-equilibrium plasma of a minimum-B electron cyclotron resonance ion source operated in pulsed mode. The instability appears in decaying ion source plasma shortly (1–10 ms) after switching off the microwave radiation of the klystron, and manifests itself in the form of powerful pulses of electromagnetic emission associated with precipitation of high-energy electrons along the magnetic field lines. Recently it was shown that this plasma instability causes perturbations of the extracted ion current, which limits the performance of the ion source and generates strong bursts of bremsstrahlung emission. In this artic…
High yield neutron generator based on a high-current gasdynamic electron cyclotron resonance ion source
In present paper, an approach for high yield compact D-D neutron generator based on a high current gasdynamic electron cyclotron resonance ion source is suggested. Results on dense pulsed deuteron beam production with current up to 500 mA and current density up to 750 mA/cm2 are demonstrated. Neutron yield from D2O and TiD2 targets was measured in case of its bombardment by pulsed 300 mA Dþ beam with 45 keV energy. Neutron yield density at target surface of 109 s 1 cm2 was detected with a system of two 3 He proportional counters. Estimations based on obtained experimental results show that neutron yield from a high quality TiD2 target bombarded by Dþ beam demonstrated in present work accele…
Electron cyclotron resonance ion sources – physics, technology and future challenges
This article has no abstract. peerReviewed
E-sail test payload of the ESTCube-1 nanosatellite
The scientific mission of ESTCube-1, launched in May 2013, is to measure the electric solar wind sail (E-sail) force in orbit. The experiment is planned to push forward the development of the E-sail, a propulsion method recently invented at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The E-sail is based on extracting momentum from the solar wind plasma flow by using long thin electrically charged tethers. ESTCube-1 is equipped with one such tether, together with hardware capable of deploying and charging it. At the orbital altitude of ESTCube-1 (660–680 km) there is no solar wind present. Instead, ESTCube-1 shall observe the interaction between the charged tether and the ionospheric plasma. The E…
Plasma instabilities of a charge breeder ECRIS
International audience; Experimental observation of plasma instabilities in a charge breeder electron cyclotron resonance ion source (CB-ECRIS) is reported. It is demonstrated that the injection of 133Cs+ or 85Rb+ ion beam into the oxygen discharge of the CB-ECRIS can trigger electron cyclotron instabilities, which restricts the parameter space available for the optimization of the charge breeding efficiency. It is concluded that the transition from a stable to unstable plasma regime is caused by gradual accumulation and ionization of Cs/Rb and simultaneous change of the discharge parameters in 10–100 ms time scale, not by a prompt interaction between the incident ion beam and the ECRIS pla…
Broadband microwave emission spectrum associated with kinetic instabilities in minimum-B ECR plasmas
Plasmas of electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRISs) are prone to kinetic instabilities due to the resonant heating mechanism resulting in anisotropic electron velocity distribution. Frequently observed periodic oscillations of extracted ion beam current in the case of high plasma heating power and/or strong magnetic field have been proven to be caused by cyclotrontype instabilities leading to a notable reduction and temporal variation of highly charged ion production. Thus, investigations of such instabilities and techniques for their suppression have become important topics in ECRIS research. The microwave emission caused by the instabilities contains information on the electron e…
A new 18 GHz room temperature electron cyclotron resonance ion source for highly charged ion beams
An innovative 18 GHz HIISI (Heavy Ion Ion Source Injector) room temperature Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source (ECRIS) has been designed and constructed at the Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä (JYFL), for the nuclear physics program of the JYFL Accelerator Laboratory. The primary objective of HIISI is to increase the intensities of medium charge states (M/Q ≅ 5) by a factor of 10 in comparison with the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS and to increase the maximum usable xenon charge state from 35+ to 44+ to serve the space electronics irradiation testing program. HIISI is equipped with a refrigerated permanent magnet hexapole and a noncylindrical plasma chamber to achieve very stro…
VUV irradiance measurement of a 2.45 GHz microwave-driven hydrogen discharge
Absolute values of VUV-emission of a 2.45 GHz microwave-driven hydrogen discharge are reported. The measurements were performed with a robust and straightforward method based on a photodiode and optical filters. It was found that the volumetric photon emission rate in the VUV-range (80-250 nm) is $10^{16}$-$10^{17}$ 1/cm$^3$s, which corresponds to approximately 8% dissipation of injected microwave power by VUV photon emission. The volumetric emission of characteristic emission bands was utilized to diagnostics of molecular plasma processes including volumetric rates of ionization, dissociation and excitation to high vibrational levels and metastable states. The estimated reaction rates impl…
Investigation into the gas mixing effect in ECRIS plasma using Kα and optical diagnostics
Mixing a lighter gas species into the plasma of an ECRIS is known to enhance high charge state production of the heavier gas species. With this investigation, Kα diagnostics, optical emission spectroscopy and the measured charge state distribution of the extracted beam were combined to shed more light on the physics governing this phenomenon. Kα diagnostics data from two ion sources, the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS and the GTS at iThemba LABS, are presented to gain confidence on the observed trends. The results seem to favor ion cooling as the most likely mechanism responsible for the favorable influence of the gas mixing.Mixing a lighter gas species into the plasma of an ECRIS is known to enhance hi…
Photoelectron emission experiments with ECR-driven multi-dipolar negative ion plasma source
Photoelectron emission measurements have been performed using a 2.45 GHz ECR-driven multi-dipolar plasma source in a low pressure hydrogen discharge. Photoelectron currents induced by light emitted from ECR zone and H− production region are measured from Al, Cu, Mo, Ta, and stainless steel (SAE 304) surfaces as a function of microwave power and neutral hydrogen pressure. The total photoelectron current from the plasma chamber wall is estimated to reach values up to 1 A for 900 W of injected microwave power. It is concluded that the volumetric photon emission rate in wavelength range relevant for photoelectron emission is a few times higher in arc discharge. peerReviewed
Prospects for advanced electron cyclotron resonance and electron beam ion source charge breeding methods for EURISOL
International audience; As the most ambitious concept of isotope separation on line (ISOL) facility, EURISOL aims at producing unprecedented intensities of post-accelerated radioactive isotopes. Charge breeding, which transforms the charge state of radioactive beams from 1+ to an n+ charge state prior to postacceleration, is a key technology which has to overcome the following challenges: high charge states for high energies, efficiency, rapidity and purity. On the roadmap to EURISOL, a dedicated R&D is being undertaken to push forward the frontiers of the present state-of-the-art techniques which use either electron cyclotron resonance or electron beam ion sources. We describe here the gui…
Superconductivity suppression in Fe-implanted thin Al films
At present, ion implantation into metallic systems is given increasing attention, aiming at achieving properties and functionalities of technologically valuable materials not easily available via conventional techniques. In our experiments thin Al films were implanted with Fe ions in order to find out how the superconductive properties of the metal can be modified at will. The purpose was twofold, viz., first, to study the basic physics of superconductivity in low-dimensional metallic structures doped with impurities. The second purpose was to apply ion implantation for the suppression of undesired superconductivity in aluminum widely used for fabrication of micro- and nanodevices operated …
Photo-assisted O− and Al− production with a cesium sputter ion source
It has been recently proposed that the production of negative ions with cesium sputter ion sources could be enhanced by laser-assisted resonant ion pair production. We have tested this hypothesis by measuring the effect of pulsed diode lasers at various wavelengths on the O− and Al− beam current produced from Al2O3 cathode of a cesium sputter ion source. The experimental results provide evidence for the existence of a wavelength-dependent photo-assisted enhancement of negative ion currents but cast doubt on its alleged resonant nature as the effect is observed for both O− and Al− ions at laser energies above a certain threshold. The beam current transients observed during the laser pulses s…
Spectroscopic method to study low charge state ion and cold electron population in ECRIS plasma
The results of optical emission spectroscopy experiments probing the cold electron population of a 14 GHz Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) are reported. The study has been conducted with a high resolution spectrometer and data acquisition setup developed specifically for the diagnostics of weak emission line characteristic to ECRIS plasmas. The optical emission lines of low charge state ions and neutral atoms of neon have been measured and analyzed with the line-ratio method. The aforementioned electron population temperature of the cold electron population (Te < 100 eV) is determined for Maxwell-Boltzmann and Druyvesteyn energy distributions to demonstrate the applicability …
ECRIS plasma spectroscopy with a high resolution spectrometer
Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) plasmas contain high-energy electrons and highly charged ions implying that only noninvasive methods such as optical emission spectroscopy are reliable in their characterization. A high-resolution spectrometer (10 pm FWHM at 632 nm) enabling the detection of weak emission lines has been developed at University of Jyväskylä, Department of Physics (JYFL) for this purpose. Diagnostics results probing the densities of ions, neutral atoms, and the temperature of the cold electron population in the JYFL 14 GHz ECRIS are described. For example, it has been observed that the cold electron temperature drops from 40 eV to 20 eV when the extraction volta…