THE TITAN ION-SOURCE

TITAN is a new type of ion source capable of generating high current, wide aperture beams of gas and metal ions from a broad range of elemen ts: Mg, Al, Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Sm, Zn, W, Pb, Ta, Re, Y, C, He, N, Ar , and Xe. A specific feature of the TITAN ion source is the use of two kinds of arc discharges, each with cold cathodes, to produce plasma f or ion beam extraction. Metal ions are generated by means of the vacuu m arc in the metal vapor formed in cathode spots. Gas ions, on the oth er hand, are provided by a low-pressure constricted arc discharge. In a pulsed mode of operation the extraction voltage of the source ranges from 10 to 100 kV. The pulsed beam current for gas and metal ions is on the order of 1 A at pulse repetition rates up to 50 pulses per seco nd and pulse duration of approximately 400 mus. For dc operation and a t an extraction voltage up to 10 kV, the ion current is as high as hun dreds of milliamperes. This work outlines briefly the ion source, its design, and certain physical peculiarities observed when a high curren t ion beam is generated and transported.