Electron Beam Ion Sources

TL;DR

Electron Beam Ion Sources (EBISs) are advanced ion sources that produce highly charged ions with excellent beam quality, useful in research, technology, and medicine, based on electron impact ionization principles.

Contribution

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of EBIS physics, operation principles, technical solutions, and their diverse applications across multiple fields.

Findings

EBISs produce highly charged ions with low energy spread.

They generate high-quality ion beams suitable for various applications.

EBISs are effective sources of photons from highly charged ions.

Abstract

Electron beam ion sources (EBISs) are ion sources that work based on the principle of electron impact ionization, allowing the production of very highly charged ions. The ions produced can be extracted as a DC ion beam as well as ion pulses of different time structures. In comparison to most of the other known ion sources, EBISs feature ion beams with very good beam emittances and a low energy spread. Furthermore, EBISs are excellent sources of photons (X-rays, ultraviolet, extreme ultraviolet, visible light) from highly charged ions. This chapter gives an overview of EBIS physics, the principle of operation, and the known technical solutions. Using examples, the performance of EBISs as well as their applications in various fields of basic research, technology and medicine are discussed.