Production of low energy, high intensity metal ion beams by means of a laser ion source

The ECLISSE (ECR coupled to Laser Ion Source for charge State Enhancement) project started in 1999 with the aim to obtain an intense beam of highly charged ions (pulsed mode) by means of the coupling between a laser ion source (LIS) and an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. The major points to be investigated appeared to be the coupling efficiency between the ion beam produced by the LIS and the ECR plasma, as well as the possibility to enhance the available charge state by an ECRIS with respect to the standard methods which are used to produce ion beams from solid samples (e.g., evaporation, sputtering). The calculations have confirmed that this concept may be effective, provided that the ion energy from the LIS is lower than a few hundred eV. The main features of the calculations will be shown, along with the results obtained in the off-line test facility at laser power densities below 10(11) W/cm(2). (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.