Production of multicharged radioactive ion beams: The 1+ to n+ charge state transformation for the Production, Ionisation, Accélération de Faisceaux Exotiques project

Abstract

Two types of 1+→n+ ion conversion devices have been developed for the Production, Ionisation, Accélération de Faisceaux Exotiques project. Both can be utilized for short lived radioactive ions beams. They are based on collisions inside an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). They transform a 1+ ion beam into a n+ ion beam in less than 0.1 s. In the first device, ions are introduced into the ECR plasma through the extraction hole (backward injection), in the second device they are introduced as usual (forward injection). The particle conversion efficiencies can reach for noble gases ∼6.5% for Kr9+/Kr1+ and for alkali elements ∼2.8% for Rb9+/Rb1+.