A high current vacuum arc ion source for heavy ion fusion

Summary form only given. AASC is presently developing a vacuum arc ion source for Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF) and other commercial applications. Induction linear accelerators that produce energetic heavy ion beams are a prime candidate for power-producing fusion reactors. A source of heavy ions with low emittance and low beam noise, 1+ to 3+ charge states, /spl ap/0.5 A current, 5-20 /spl mu/s pulse widths and /spl sim/10 Hz repetition rates is required. A Gadolinium (A/spl ap/158) ion beam with /spl ap/0.12 A beam current, 120 keV beam energy, /spl ap/2.5 cm diameter extraction aperture and 20 /spl mu/s pulse width has been produced for HIF studies. We have measured that >80% Gd ions were in the 2+ charge state, the beam current fluctuation level (rms) was /spl ap/1.5% and the beam emittance was /spl ap/0.3 /spl pi/ mm mrad (normalized). With /spl ap/8/spl times/10/sup -5/ torr background gas pressure, the beam was well space-charge neutralized and good propagation of the 20 /spl mu/s long Gd ion beams was observed. Details of the work will be presented. The results of the experiment imply that the vacuum arc ion source is a highly promising candidate for HIF applications.