Recent developments and upgrades in ion source technology and ion beam systems at HVE

In this paper we discuss various ion sources used in particle accelerator systems dedicated to ion beam analysis techniques. Key performance and characteristics of some ion sources are discussed: emittance, brightness, gas consumption, sample consumption efficiency, lifetime, etc. For negative ion sources, we focus on the performance of volume H− ion sources (e.g. HVE model 358), the duoplasmatron negative ion source and the magnetically filtered multicusp volume sources (e.g. HVE model SO-120). The duoplasmatron ion source has been recently upgraded with a Ta filament to deliver up to 150 μA H− ion beams and in conjunction with the Na charge exchange canal up to 20 μA of He−. The available brightness from the duoplasmatron increased from 2 to 6 A m−2 rad−2 eV−1. The ion source has been incorporated in a stand-alone light ion injector, well suited to deliver 20–30 keV negative ion beams of H−, He−, C−, NHx− and O− to accelerate for most ion beam analysis techniques.