A Surface Plasma Ion Source fo Heavy Negative Ion Beams

60693 This project will build and characterize a high current, high brightness Heavy Negative Ion Surface Plasma Source, for use in nuclear physics research, with geometry and other source parameters optimized for production of intense mA range beams and without unwanted contamination. The source will be capable of producing beams in the range from boron to uranium. In Phase I, computer simulations were performed to study the inner source geometry in order to determine the arrangement of components in the source. Inner source optics, extraction optics, and transport were also examined with the computer simulations. Experimental studies were conducted to test negative ion transport without destruction as well as cathode materials and methods for negative ion production. Phase II will build a test stand and DC and pulsed sources will be designed, built, and characterized based on the Phase I studies. Beam brightness will be measured and tested for negative ion transport in a plasma channel. Cathode materials and methods will be tested for producing different ion species. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Negative ion sources are needed for research as injectors into tandem accelerators and also used in industry for high energy ion implantation. There are more than 100 industrial tandem accelerators that would benefit from refrofitting this ion source. In addition, there are important advanced energy and defense applications that require high brightness ion sources