Enhancement of ion beam charge states by adding a second anode to the metal-vapor vacuum-arc ion source

We report detailed investigations of ion charge state enhancement in an alternative metal-vapor-vacuum arc ion source configuration, consisting of two anodes with staggered (but partially overlapping) high current discharges in axial high magnetic field gradients. The experiments demonstrated that driving an additional current in a vacuum arc in a magnetic mirror configuration resulted in substantial ion charge state enhancement. Maximum ion charge states of Pb6+ and U8+ were extracted. Results are presented for high charge state uranium beam generation and acceleration in the 27MHz heavy-ion RFQ LINAC TIPr-1.