Construction and study of a magnetoactive plasma ion source

The interaction of intense electron beams with plasmas in a nonuniform magn etic field is studied for the purpose of obtaining a magnetoactive plasma i on source. The resulting experimental data are used to trace the dynamics o f the changes in the basic parameters of the source, both during the stage where it interacts with the beam and in the cooling stage. It is found that the charged particles are contained for a long time and that the efficienc y of energy transfer from the beam to the source is high. This source is in tended to be used for shaping and accelerating multiampere ion beams. (C) 1 999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(99)00804-1].