Vacuum arc ion charge-state distributions

Vacuum arc ion charge-state spectra have been measured for a wide range of metallic cathode materials. The charge-state distributions were measured using a time-of-flight diagnostic to monitor the energetic ion beam produced by a metal vapor vacuum arc ion source. Data were obtained for 48 metallic cathode elements: Li, C, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er Yb, Hf, Ta, W, Ir, Pt, Au Pb, Bi, Th, and U. The arc was operated in a pulsed mode with pulse length 0.25 ms: arc current was 100 A throughout. The measured distributions are cataloged and compared with earlier results. Some observations about the performance of the various elements as suitable vacuum arc cathode materials are also presented