Compact electron beam ion source with high-TC bulk superconductors

We have developed an electron beam ion source (EBIS) assembling three rings made of high-TC superconductor as a solenoid coil, which enables us to construct a “table-top” EBIS operated at the liquid N2 temperature with a strong magnetic field. Optimizing a pulse field magnetization procedure, the assembly yielded a magnetic field as high as 0.8 T under a persistent mode, which stably lasted more than two days. An electron beam of 12 keV-50 mA was compressed to a current density of about 300 A/cm2 and guided by the magnetic field along the axis of the drift tube. After exiting the drift tube, the electron beam was decelerated to 2 keV and collected with an electron collector with an efficiency of more than 99%. We have succeeded in extracting highly charged ions such as Ar17+ and Xe42+. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1786336]