High Performance Heavy-Ion Source for Cyclotrons

A cold cathode Penning discharge ion source, power supply, and its performance in the Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron (ORIC) are described. The ion source has operated at power levels as high as 8 kW and has produced a variety of particle beams, ranging from deuterium to xenon and with charge states up to +12. In particular, 20 e¿A (electrical microampere) of 05+, 5 × 104 p/sec (particle per second) of 40Ar10+, and 107 p/sec of 132Xe12+ have been extracted from ORIC. From the known intensities of accelerated ions and the calculated total ionization potential, a means of predicting particle intensity for a given charge state has been developed.