Plasma ion dynamics and beam formation in electron cyclotron resonance ion sources

Abstract

In electron cyclotron resonance ion sources it has been demonstrated that plasma heating may be improved by means of different microwave to plasma coupling mechanisms, including the "frequency tuning" and the "two frequency heating." These techniques affect evidently the electron dynamics, but the relationship with the ion dynamics has not been investigated in details up to now. Here we will try to outline these relations: through the study of ion dynamics we may try to understand how to optimize the electron cyclotron resonance ion sources brightness. A simple model of the ion confinement and beam formation will be presented, based on particle-in-cell and single particle simulations.