A multicharged heavy ion source for the IPCR cyclotron

Abstract An electron bombarded hot cathode type ion source was constructed for the IPCR 160 cm variable energy cyclotron. The behavior of this source was investigated to determine the charge- state yield of ions for carbon, nitrogen and oxygen gases and to determine the parameters that effected these yields and source stability. The relative yields of multiple-charged ions were found to be critically dependent on the rate of gas flow, the arc voltage and the arc power. For the source stability, the alignment of the arc axis with the magnetic field was found to be important and it was effective to decrease undesired sparks and glow discharges in the source system. At present, ions of N 4+ , N 5+ and C 4+ are accelerated to energies between 4 and 10 MeV per nucleon in the cyclotron and they are extracted to the beam transport system with intensities of a few μA.