Design of a high temperature oven for an ECR source for the production of uranium ion beams

VENUS is the superconducting electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab´s 88-Inch Cyclotron. To generate neutral atoms for ionization, the source utilizes a resistively- heated high temperature oven that is located in a magnetic field of up to 4 Tesla and operates at temperatures up to about 2000degC. However, temperatures between 2100- 2300degC are required to produce the desired 280 emuA of high charge state uranium ion beams, and increased thermal and structural effects, combined with elevated chemical reactivity significantly reduce the oven´s ability to operate in this envelope. The oven has been redesigned with higher thermal efficiency, improved structural strength and chemically compatible species in order to produce the desired high intensity, high charge state uranium beams. Aspects of the engineering development are presented.