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The high magnetic confinement provided by the minimum-B structure of electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRIS) hosts a non-equilibrium plasma, composed of cold multi-charged ions and hot electrons whose energy can expand up to ≈1 MeV. With a very limited accessibility, the ECR plasma is difficult to study. The x-ray photons generated by the interaction of the warm and hot electron populations within the plasma, as well as the photons generated by electrons lost to the chamber wall, are a signal of great interest as it gives an insight to the properties of the ECR plasma. After an introduction presenting the mechanism generating the x rays in ECRIS, this Review presents the methodology to measure x rays both for volumetric measurements and plasma imaging. The main insights of those measurements are presented. Prospects of x-ray measurements to better understand the plasma dynamics are finally highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments have recently demonstrated that kinetic instabilities occurring in magnetoplasma are huge limiting factors to the flux of highly charged ion beams extracted from ECR ion sources. Recently, it has been shown that the two-frequency-heating (TFH) mode has the proven potential to mitigate these instabilities. Since the fundamental physical mechanism of TFH is still unclear, a deeper experimental investigation is necessary. At ATOMKI-Debrecen, the effect on the kinetic instabilities of an argon plasma in a 'two-close-frequency heating' scheme has been explored for the first time by using a frequency gap smaller than 1 GHz (i.e. operating in the so-called two-closed-frequency heating mode). A special multi-diagnostics setup has been designed and implemented. In this paper, we will show the data collected by a two-pin, plasma-chamber immersed antenna connected to an RF detector diode and/or to a spectrum analyzer for the detection of plasma radio-self-emission when varying the pumping frequency in single versus double frequency heating mode. Data have been collected simultaneously to the beam extraction and for different frequency gaps and relative power balances. The turbulent regime of the plasma has been tentatively described in a quantitative way, according to the properties of the plasma self-emitted RF spectrum. The measurements show that plasma self-emitted radiation emerges from the internal ECR region everytime (i.e. below the lower pumping frequency) but the almost total instability damping can be effective for some specific combinations of frequency-gap and power balance, thus eventually improving the plasma confinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With about 1000-h of relativistic high-energy ion beams provided by Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, about 70 users are performing various biology experiments every year. A rich variety of ion species from hydrogen to xenon ions with a dose rate of several Gy/min is available. Carbon, iron, silicon, helium, neon, argon, hydrogen, and oxygen ions were utilized between 2012 and 2014. Presently, three electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRISs) and one Penning ion source are available. Especially, the two frequency heating techniques have improved the performance of an 18 GHz ECRIS. The results have satisfied most requirements for life-science studies. In addition, this improved performance has realized a feasible solution for similar biology experiments with a hospital-specified accelerator complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The output of highly charged ions from an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) consists of ionic losses from a highly confined plasma. Therefore, an increase of the output of the ions of interest always is a compromise between an increase in the confinement and an increase of the losses. One route towards a solution consists of attacking the losses in directions -- i.e., radial directions -- that do not contribute to the required output. This was demonstrated in an experiment (using the Kei ECRIS at NIRS, Japan) where radial losses were electrostatically reduced by positively biasing one set of six "side" electrodes surrounding the plasma in side-ward directions attached (insulated) to the cylindrical wall of the plasma chamber. Recently new studies were performed in two laboratories using two essentially different ion sources. At the BioNano ECRIS (Toyo University, Japan) various sets of electrodes were used; each of the electrodes could be biased individually. At the Atomki ECRIS (Hungary), one movable, off-axis side electrode was applied in technically two versions. The measurements show indeed a decrease of ionic losses but different effectivities as compared to the biased disk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy ion radiotherapy awakens worldwide interest recently. The clinical results obtained by the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan have clearly demonstrated the advantages of carbon ion radiotherapy. Presently, there are four facilities for heavy ion radiotherapy in operation, and several new facilities are under construction or being planned. The most common requests for ion sources are a long lifetime and good stability and reproducibility. Sufficient intensity has been achieved by electron cyclotron resonance ion sources at the present facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation of ion beam extraction from an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) is a fully 3 dimensional problem, even if the extraction geometry has cylindrical symmetry. Because of the strong magnetic flux density, not only the electrons are magnetized but also the Larmor radius of ions is much smaller than the geometrical dimension of the plasma chamber (O 64 × 179 mm). If we assume that the influence of collisions is small on the path of particles, we can do particle tracking through the plasma if the initial coordinates of particles are known.We generated starting coordinates of plasma ions by simulation of the plasma electrons, accelerated stochastically by the 14.5 GHz radio frequency power fed to the plasma. With that we were able to investigate the influence of different electron energies on the extracted beam. Using these assumptions, we can reproduce the experimental results obtained 10 years ago, where we monitored the beam profile with the help of viewing targets. Additionally, methods have been developed to investigate arbitrary 2D cuts of the 6D phase space. To this date, we are able to discuss full 4D information. Currently, we extend our analysis tool towards 5D and 6D, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the modification of fullerenes with iron and chlorine using two individually controllable plasmas in the Bio-Nano electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). One of the plasmas is composed of fullerene and the other one is composed of iron and chlorine. The online ion beam analysis allows one to investigate the rate of the vapor-phase collisional modification process in the ECRIS, while the offline analyses (e.g., liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) of the materials deposited on the plasma chamber can give information on the surface-type process. Both analytical methods show the presence of modified fullerenes such as fullerene-chlorine, fullerene-iron, and fullerene-chlorine-iron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this article is to present simulations on the extraction from an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). The aim of this work is to find out an extraction system, which allows one to reduce the emittances and to increase the current of the extracted ion beam at the focal point of the analyzing dipole. But first, we should locate the correct software which is able to reproduce the specific physics of an ion beam. To perform the simulations, the following softwares have been tested: SIMION 3D, AXCEL, CPO 3D, and especially, for the magnetic field calculation, MATHEMATICA coupled with the RADIA module. Emittance calculations have been done with two types of ECRIS: one with a hexapole and one without a hexapole, and the difference will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compact electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source with a permanent magnet configuration (Kei2 source) has been developed at National Institute of Radiological Sciences for a new carbon therapy facility. The Kei2 source was designed for production of C4+ ions; its performance such as beam intensity and stability has already reached the medical requirements. Therefore, the prototype development of the source for medical use is essentially finished. Recently, we have started a few studies on other applications of the source. One is the production of fullerenes in the ECR plasma and modified fullerenes with various atoms for new materials. A second application is the production of multiply charged ions (not only carbon) for ion implantation. In this paper, some basic experiments for these applications are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-frequency heating technique was studied to increase the beam intensities of highly charged ions provided by the high-voltage extraction configuration (HEC) ion source at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). The observed dependences on microwave power and frequency suggested that this technique improved plasma stability but it required precise frequency tuning and more microwave power than was available before 2013. Recently, a new, high-power (1200 W) wide bandwidth (17.1-18.5 GHz) travelling-wave-tube amplifier (TWTA) was installed. After some single tests with klystron and TWT amplifiers the simultaneous injection of the two microwaves has been successfully realized. The dependence of highly charged ions (HCI) currents on the superposed microwave power was studied by changing only the output power of one of the two amplifiers, alternatively. While operating the klystron on its fixed 18.0 GHz, the frequency of the TWTA was swept within its full limits (17.1-18.5 GHz), and the effect of this frequency on the HCI-production rate was examined under several operation conditions. As an overall result, new beam records of highly charged argon, krypton, and xenon beams were obtained at the NIRS-HEC ion source by this high-power two-frequency operation mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the material science experiments, carried out recently using the Bio-Nano electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) at Toyo University, are reported. We have investigated several methods to synthesize endohedral C60 using ion-ion and ion-molecule collision reaction in the ECRIS. Because of the simplicity of the configuration, we can install a large choice of additional equipment in the ECRIS. The Bio-Nano ECRIS is suitable not only to test the materials production but also to test technical developments to improve or understand the performance of an ECRIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synthesis technology of endohedral fullerenes such as Fe@C60 has developed with an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. The production of N@C60 was reported. However, the yield was quite low, since most fullerene molecules were broken in the ECR plasma. We have adopted gas-mixing techniques in order to cool the plasma and then reduce fullerene dissociation. Mass spectra of ion beams extracted from fullerene-He, Ar or Xe mixed plasmas were observed with a Faraday cup. From the results, the He gas mixing technique is effective against fullerene destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular and negative ion beams, usually produced in special ion sources, play an increasingly important role in fundamental and applied atomic physics. The ATOMKI-ECRIS is a standard ECR ion source, designed to provide highly charged ion (HCI) plasmas and beams. In the present work, H-, O-, OH-, O2-, C-, C60- negative ions and H2+, H3+, OH+, H2O+, H3O+, O2+ positive molecular ions were generated in this HCI-ECRIS. Without any major modification in the source and without any commonly applied tricks (such as usage of cesium or magnetic filter), negative ion beams of several μA and positive molecular ion beams in the mA range were successfully obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ECR ion source has been operating in ATOMKI (Debrecen) since 1996. During the past 15 years lots of minor and numerous major technical modifications have been carried out on the ECRIS. Many of these changes aimed the increasing of beams charge, intensity, and the widening of the ion choice. Another group of the modifications were performed to develop special, non-standard operation modes or to produce peculiar plasmas and beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed an electron cyclotron resonance ion source apparatus, which is designed for the production of endohedral fullerene. In this study, we irradiated the Fe+ beam to the C60 thin film. We changed the experimental condition of the dose and the ion energy. We could observe the Fe + C60 peak by analysis of the time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The highest intensity of the Fe + C60 peak was observed at the ion energy of 200 eV. The Fe + C60 peak intensity tended to become high in the case of long irradiation time and large dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to observe and study systematically the plasma of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources (ECRIS) we made a high number of high-resolution visible light plasma photos and movies in the ATOMKI ECRIS Laboratory. This required building the ECR ion source into an open ECR plasma device, temporarily. An 8MP digital camera was used to record photos of plasmas made from Ne, Ar, and Kr gases and from their mixtures. We studied and recorded the effect of ion source setting parameters (gas pressure, gas composition, magnetic field, and microwave power) to the shape, color, and structure of the plasma. The analysis of the photo series gave us many qualitative and numerous valuable physical information on the nature of ECR plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 3000 cancer patients have already been treated by the heavy-ion medical accelerator in Chiba at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences since 1994. The clinical results have clearly verified the effectiveness and safety of heavy-ion radiotherapy. The most important result has been to establish that the carbon ion is one of the most effective radiations for radiotherapy. The ion source is required to realize a stable beam with the same conditions for daily operation. However, the deposition of carbon ions on the wall of the plasma chamber is normally unavoidable. This causes an “anti-wall-coating effect,” i.e., a decreasing of the beam, especially for the higher charge-state ions due to the surface material of the wall. The ion source must be required to produce a sufficiently intense beam under the bad condition. Other problems were solved by improvements and maintenance, and thus we obtained enough reproducibility and stability along with decreased failures. We summarize our over 13 years of experience, and show the scope for further developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fullerene plasmas and beams have been produced in our electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRIS) originally designed for other purposes. The ATOMKI-ECRIS is a traditional ion source with solenoid mirror coils to generate highly charged ions. The variable frequencies NIRS-KEI-1 and NIRS-KEI-2 are ECR ion sources built from permanent magnets and specialized for the production of carbon beams. The paper summarizes the experiments and results obtained by these facilities with fullerenes. Continuous effort has been made to get the highest C60 beam intensities. Surprisingly, the best result was obtained by moving the C60 oven deep inside the plasma chamber, very close to the resonance zone. Record intensity singly and doubly charged fullerene beams were obtained (600 and 1600 nA, respectively) at lower C60 material consumption. Fullerene derivatives were also produced. We mixed fullerenes with other plasmas (N, Fe) with the aim of making new materials. Nitrogen encapsulated fullerenes (mass: 720+14=734) were successfully produced. In the case of iron, two methods (ferrocene, oven) were tested. Molecules with mass of 720+56=776 were detected in the extracted beam spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray plasma images were made at the 14.5 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source of ATOMKI using a pinhole and a high resolution CCD camera. This method has good spatial resolution as well as the capability of postprocessed energy filtering of the images. During the measurements low and high charge state Ar, Xe, and Fe plasmas were produced with simultaneous beam extraction. Full-size and selected region images were recorded and analyzed. Full-size x-ray images show the spatial positions of different sources of x rays (bremsstrahlung, characteristic lines of plasma and wall ions) within low-charged ECRIS plasmas. Images of selected plasma regions (extraction slit, magnet pole, magnet gap) offer a better understanding of the effect of important tuning parameters (bias disk voltage, gas mixing, microwave power, magnetic field strength, etc.) commonly used to produce highly charged plasmas and beams. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) is the first heavy-ion accelerator complex dedicated to cancer therapy. Over 1600 patients have already been treated with 140–400 MeV/amu carbon beams since 1994. The production of carbon ions for medical applications has been established. It is quite obvious from our experiences that the ECR ion source is an extremely suitable type of ion source for this purpose. An 18 GHz ECR ion source is mainly operated to offer various heavy-ion beams for basic experiments of biomedical science, physics, chemistry, etc. The results of recent developments, a thermal-controlled MIVOC system, and an electron bombardment evaporator are also reported. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion sources for the medical facilities should have the following characteristics of easy maintenance, low electric power, good stability, and long operation time without trouble (1 year or longer). For this, a 10 GHz compact electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) with all permanent magnets was developed. The beam intensity and stability for C4+ were 280 e μA and better than 6% during 20 h with no adjustment of any source parameters. These results were acceptable for the medical requirements. Recently, many plans were proposed to construct the next generation cancer treatment facility. For such a facility we have designed an all permanent magnet ECRIS, in which a high magnetic field is chosen for increasing the beam intensity. The maximum mirror magnetic fields on the beam axis are 0.59 T at the extraction side and 0.87 T at the gas injection side, while the minimum B strength is 0.25 T. The source has a diameter of 32 cm and a length of 29.5 cm. Details of the design of this source and its background are described in this article. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report our first results on the study of normal and endohedral fullerene plasmas and beams produced by a 14.5 GHz electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source (ECRIS). A mixed plasma of mainly N, N[sub 2], C, C[sub 2], and C[sub 60] was produced in the plasma chamber. Formation of caged nitrogens in the fullerene balls requires a careful, unusual tuning of the 14.5 GHz ECRIS. We deposited macroscopic quantities of the solid solution of N@C[sub 60] in C[sub 60] within the ECRIS. The N@C[sub 60]/C[sub 60] ratio measured off-line using electron-spin-resonance spectroscopy may exceed typical values using conventional, non-ECR techniques. High intensities of C[sub 60, sup Q+] ions (Q = 1-5) were recorded in the extracted beam spectra. The highest measured C[sub 60]+ beam current was 410 nA at 700 V extraction voltage. The method may be applied to produce carbon cluster beams from fullerenes, as well. We produced C[sub n, sup Q+] ions (n=2-15, Q=1,2) with intensities of 10-100 nA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dedicated experiments have been carried out at the Frankfurt 14 GHz electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) by using a special double biased-electrode assembly, which consists of a conventional disk electrode and a separately biased ring electrode installed in front of it. In this assembly, the ring can be used to modulate the fluxes to the disk and allows a detailed study of the role of secondary electron fluxes in ECRIS operation. It was found that these fluxes contribute more than 50% to the total disk currents. However, blocking them did not result in a drop in the extracted ion currents. Instead, it was observed that, under certain operational conditions, the injection of secondary electrons results in a decrease in the extracted currents by up to 20%. Parallel to the double disk measurements, Langmuir probe measurements have been performed close to the position of B[sub max]. From the probe characteristics, plasma potentials were determined to be about +30 V at the conditions of the experiment. Applying a negative voltage to the double disk electrodes leads to a decrease of the plasma potential by approximately 5 V. Changes in the plasma shape were observed when the biased electrode voltage was changed. We conclude that the main effect of the biased electrode is a decrease of the plasma potential by reflecting a sufficient amount of electrons back to plasma, which otherwise would have been lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a model to describe ion source extraction optics. Design and optimization of the beam extraction optics; Final optimization of the optics; Optimization of the electrode potentials.

Reports on the design and construction of the Debrecen electron cyclotron resonance ion source. Functions of the coil and hexapole of the magnetic system; Function of the independent cooling system; Functions of the extraction-focusing electrode system; Capabilities of the TrapCAD code.

An injector with a PIG ion source has been designed for the axial injection system of the U200 cyclotron. An accel-decel electrode system and Wien filter are used for extraction of the ion beam. Some results of computer simulations of the ion trajectories in such an ion optical system and the experimental results of the ion beam formation and transport are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In dentistry, it is necessary to increase the bonding strength between various bioinert zirconia ceramics and the luting cement in order to extend the lifetime of the restoration. As a new method, an ion source was used to implant silicon ions close to the surface of the zirconium-dioxide on nanoscale to improve chemical bonding in between the bonding agent and the zirconium-dioxide. This paper summarizes the main results of a unique technique to functionalize biomaterial surfaces with silicon ions produced by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS). Highlights • Surface modification has an important role in the field of dentistry • ECR ion source was used to implant silicon ions into zirconia to modify its surface • Implantation resulted strong bond strength between the bonding agent and zirconia implant [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]