New compact ion source design and implementation for low current applications

TL;DR

This paper presents a cost-effective, compact ECR ion source designed with commercially available components, demonstrating effective plasma generation and proton beam extraction for low current applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, fully functional ECR ion source that emphasizes affordability and simplicity through the use of off-the-shelf parts.

Findings

Successful plasma generation demonstrated

Proton beam extraction achieved

Design proves cost-effective and reliable

Abstract

A new compact electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source for low current applications, designed and built in-house at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is presented. The source was designed to use as many commercially available components as possible for key tasks such as electromagnetic resonators, magnetic structure, RF power couplers and beam transport, to lower the cost and lessen reliance on specially made parts for spares. This leads to a cost-effective yet compact and fully functional design. The main design decisions are described and experiments on plasma generation and the proton beam extracted using the source are shown and discussed.