Steve R. Abbott

The third generation superconducting 28 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source VENUS (invited).

VENUS is a third generation electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source, which incorporates a high field superconducting NbTi magnet structure, a 28 GHz gryotron microwave source and a state of the art closed cycle cryosystem. During the decade from initial concept to regular operation, it has demonstrated both the feasibility and the performance levels of this new generation of ECR ion sources and required innovation on magnet construction, plasma chamber design, and beam transport. In this paper, the development, performance, and major innovations are described as well as a look to the potential to construct a fourth generation ECR ion source.

Results with the superconducting electron cyclotron resonance ion source VENUS (invited)

During the last year, the VENUS electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source was commissioned at 18 GHz and preparations for 28 GHz operation, which is set to begin early in 2004, are now underway. The goal of the VENUS ECR ion source project as the RIA research and development injector is the production of 240 eμA of U30+, a high current medium charge state beam. On the other hand, as an injector ion source for the 88-Inch Cyclotron the design objective is the production of 5 eμA of U48+, a low current, very high charge state beam. During the commissioning phase with 18 GHz, tests with various gases and recently metals have been performed with up to 2000 W rf power and the performance is very promising. For example, 1100 eμA of O6+, 180 eμA of Ar12+, 150 eμA of Xe20+, and 100 eμA of Bi24+ were produced in the early commissioning phase, ranking VENUS among the currently highest performance 18 GHz ECR ion sources. The emittance of the beams produced at 18 GHz was measured with a two axis emittance scanner...

High intensity metal ion beam production with ECR ion sources at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The large number of different experiments performed at the 88 Inch Cyclotron requires great variety and flexibility in the production of ion beams. This flexibility is provided by the two high performance electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources, the LBL ECR and the AECR-U, which can produce beams of ions as light as hydrogen and as heavy as uranium. With these two sources, up to six different metals can be preloaded using two types of ovens. The ovens are mounted radially on the ion sources and inject the metal vapor though the open sextupole structure into the plasma chamber. For the superconducting ECR ion source VENUS, which is under construction at Lawrence Berkely National Laboratory, the use of radial ovens is no longer possible, because the magnetic structure is closed radially. Therefore, we are developing two new axial oven types for low and high temperature applications. Metal ion beam production in ECR ion sources using the oven technique is discussed. The design of the axial oven is pre...

First Results of the Superconducting ECR Ion Source Venus with 28 GHz

VENUS (Versatile ECR ion source for NUclear Science) is a next generation superconducting ECR ion source, designed to produce high current, high charge state ions for the 88‐Inch Cyclotron at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. VENUS also serves as the prototype ion source for the RIA (Rare Isotope Accelerator) front end. The magnetic confinement configuration consists of three superconducting axial coils and six superconducting radial coils in a sextupole configuration. The nominal design fields of the axial magnets are 4T at injection and 3T at extraction; the nominal radial design field strength at the plasma chamber wall is 2T, making VENUS the world most powerful ECR plasma confinement structure. From the beginning, VENUS has been designed for optimum operation at 28 GHz with high power (10 kW).In 2003 the VENUS ECR ion source was commissioned at 18 GHz, while preparations for 28 GHz operation were being conducted. During this commissioning phase with 18 GHz, tests with various gases and metal...

Commissioning of the superconducting ECR ion source VENUS

VENUS (Versatile ECR ion source for NUclear Science) is a next generation superconducting ECR ion source, designed to produce high current, high charge state ions for the 88-Inch Cyclotron at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. VENUS also serves as the prototype ion source for the RIA (Rare Isotope Accelerator) front end. The magnetic confinement configuration consists of three superconducting axial coils and six superconducting radial coils in a sextupole configuration. The nominal design fields of the axial magnets are 4T at injection and 3T at extraction; the nominal radial design field strength at the plasma chamber wall is 2T, making VENUS the world most powerful ECR plasma confinement structure. The magnetic field strength has been designed for optimum operation at 28 GHz. The four-year VENUS project has recently achieved two major milestones: The first plasma was ignited in June, the first mass-analyzed high charge state ion beam was extracted in September of 2002. The paper describes the ongoing commissioning. Initial results including first emittance measurements are presented.