Use of EBIS in the string mode of operation on the Nuclotron facility in JINR

The reflex mode of EBIS operation in certain conditions (a special construction of electron gun and electron reflector, a precise axial symmetry of solenoid with a strong magnetic field, a sufficient injected electron current at a certain energy which provide a sufficient density of accumulated electrons in EBIS drift space) leads to formation of the so-called electron string state of a pure one component electron plasma. It was shown experimentally, that electron strings are stable in a broad range of operational conditions to be used for production of highly charged ions in electron string ion sources (ESIS) similarly to streaming electron beams in EBIS. The EBIS “Krion-2” in the string mode of operation, by means of which electron string formation was first observed and majority of experimental information on its features has been obtained, was recently used as the source of highly charged ions on the Nuclotron accelerator facility. During two runs in June 2002 and June 2003 N6+, N7+, Ar16+ and Fe24+ i...