Upgrading a Duoplasmatron ion source to produce high brightness beam for nuclear microprobe applications with a tandem accelerator

Development of stable high brightness ion sources with accelerators will enhance the capabilities for micro-analysis as well as the micro-fabrication. Recently we have upgraded a Duoplasmatron ion source associated with a 1.7 MV tandem (NEC, Pelletron) accelerator to produce high brightness proton beam for nuclear microprobe application at the Louisiana Accelerator Center. This has substantially increased the ion source life time as well as the accelerator beam brightness. The beam brightness was found to be highly heterogeneous, with paraxial rays about an order of magnitude brighter than surrounding rays.