Ion plasma sputtering as a method of introducing solid material into an electron cyclotron resonance ion source

Abstract

A direct ion plasma sputtering effect has been observed in an electron cyclotron resonance ion source and developed into a reliable and simple method for producing ion beams from some solid materials. We describe the ion sputtering technique used with the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System Positive Ion Injector Electron Cyclotron Resonance ion source to produce, to date, stable beams of nickel, silver, tellurium, gold, lead, and bismuth and present the results obtained in test cases.