Main magnetic focus ion source: Basic principles, theoretical predictions and experimental confirmations

It is proposed to produce highly charged ions in the local potential traps formed by the rippled electron beam in a focusing magnetic field. In this method, extremely high electron current densities can be attained on short length of the ion trap. The design of very compact ion sources of the new generation is presented. The computer simulations predict that for such ions as, for example, Ne8+ and Xe44+, the intensities of about 109109 and 106106 ions per second, respectively, can be obtained. The experiments with pilot example of the ion source confirm efficiency of the suggested method. The X-ray emission from Ir59+, Xe44+ and Ar16+ ions was detected. The control over depth of the local ion trap is shown to be feasible.