We report on a successful test of a new method for intense ion beam formation using an extraction with inhomogeneous electric field. Its key feature is a special shape of the extraction electrodes providing a higher rate of ion acceleration. It is applicable to any ion source type and could be used to improve performance of a wide range of plasma devices. The proof of concept was carried out using a high-current electron-cyclotron resonance ion source SMIS 37. High efficiency of the new extraction and proton beam formation with a record current density of up to 1.1 A cm −2 was demonstrated.

A new experimental facility named GISMO (Gasdynamic Ion Source for Multipurpose Operation) was constructed at the IAP RAS to continue investigations in the field of gasdynamic ion sources. The source utilizes 28 GHz/10 kW gyrotron radiation for heating magnetically confined plasma. Magnetic field configuration provided by a fully permanent magnet system is much like a simple mirror trap. The GISMO source is aimed at the production of bright ion beams with hundreds of milliamperes current. The facility has been tested for continuous-wave (CW) operation with 2 kW of heating power to check durability of a microwave injection system and the plasma chamber. A 2-electrode extraction system with an integrated Einzel lens was designed for a formation of CW high current beam with up to 100 kV accelerating voltage. The first results on ion beam production at GISMO are presented together with the general progress status of the facility.

The high efficiency of a new ion beam extraction system with a strongly inhomogeneous electric field has been experimentally demonstrated. Previously, this approach was proposed and analysed numerically by the authors. The experiment was carried out using a pulsed high-current electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source SMIS 37 with high frequency (37.5 GHz) and high power (100 kW) microwave plasma heating. The accelerating field strength is increased (when compared to a flat or a quasi-pierced geometry) in the plasma meniscus region due to its inhomogeneity. It allows for the increase of the ion acceleration rate and for expansion of the available range of current densities with effective ion beam formation. The experiment demonstrated the main advantages of this approach, such as: a significant decrease in the optimal accelerating voltage for certain values of current density; a possibility of ion beam formation with previously inaccessible current densities; a significant decrease in the ion flux to the puller in non-optimal modes of ion beam formation. Proton beams with a current density of up to 1.1 A cm-2 were obtained for the first time with an ECR ion source.

The advantages of using a gasdynamic proton source based on electron cyclotron resonance in a compact neutron source with a proton accelerator of the DARIA project are discussed. A gasdynamic source of protons has been shown to provide a beam with a current of ~100 mA and a duration more than 100 μs at a repetition rate up to 1000 pulse/s. Using the "pepper-pot" method, measurements of the emittance have been performed of a beam generated by a gasdynamic source of electron cyclotron resonance with two geometric configurations of electrodes forming the beam: "spherical" and plane-parallel. It is shown that the normalized 4-rms emittance for both variants of the beam-formation system electrodes in the extraction voltage ranges from 41 to 48 kV and does not exceed 2π mm mrad.

Results of experimental investigation of the ECR discharge in a single coil magnetic field as an alternative to RF and helicon discharges for wide-aperture dense plasma fluxes production are presented. A possibility of obtaining wide-aperture high density hydrogen plasma fluxes with homogenous transverse distribution was demonstrated in such a system. The prospects of using this system for obtaining high current ion beams are discussed.