Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources produce low-energy, highly charged ions. A new 14.5 GHz ECR-based low-energy ion accelerator facility has been developed. The ion source involves a plasma chamber ('supernanogan') surrounded by permanent magnets that provide a suitable magnetic field. The entire assembly including the ion source and the analyzing magnet is mounted on a 400 kV deck. A LabVIEW-based command and control system has been developed for the beamline. In addition, wireless communication has been installed to operate the machine in high voltage. The charge state distribution of several ions (He, N 2 , O 2 , Ne, Ar and Xe) has been measured. For Ar and Xe, the maximum charge states measured were 16 + and 29 + , respectively. A direct x-ray measurement for plasma diagnostics was also initiated.

The x-ray bremsstrahlung spectrum emitted by the electron population in a 14.5 GHz ECR plasma source has been measured using a NaI(Tl) detector, and hence the electron temperature of the higher energy electron population in the plasma has been determined. The x-ray spectra for Ne and Ar gases have been systematically studied as a function of inlet gas pressure from 7 × 10(-7) mbar to 7 × 10(-5) mbar and for input microwave power ∼1 W to ∼300 W. At the highest input power and optimum pressure conditions, the end point bremsstrahlung energies are seen to reach ∼700 keV. The estimated electron temperatures (T(e)) were found to be in the range 20 keV-80 keV. The T(e) is found to be peaking at a pressure of 1 × 10(-5) mbar for both gases. The T(e) is seen to increase with increasing input power in the intermediate power region, i.e., between 100 and 200 W, but shows different behaviour for different gases in the low and high power regions. Both gases show very weak dependence of electron temperature on inlet gas pressure, but the trends in each gas are different.

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