Characterization of volume type ion source for p, H2+ and H3+ beams

Recently, there is an increasing need for H2+ and H3+ ion sources. One example is ion therapy facilities, where C4+ and H3+ ion beams along the linac are of great interest. Another example is a H2+ test beam for linacs finally operated with intense deuteron beams. At Frankfurt, a simple proton ion source is needed to test a new kind of beam injection into a magnetic storage ring [N. Joshi, et al., Beam transport in toroidal magnetic field, EPAC'08, Genoa, June 2008 〈http://www.jacow.org〉, to be published [1]; M. Droba, et al., Design studies on a novel stellarator type high current ion storage ring, EPAC'06, Edinburgh, June 2006, pp. 297-299 〈http://www.jacow.org〉[2]]. This article describes a volume type ion source which can deliver up to 3.05mA beam current at 10keV in stable dc operation. It is a hot filament driven ion source which can provide high fractions of p, H2+ or H3+, depending on the operation settings.