High-current caesium sputter ion source with planar ionizer for accelerator mass spectrometry

A new caesium sputter negative ion source with planar ionizer for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) is being built, regarding quantifying the ratios of long-lived cosmogenic radionuclides in micrometeorites.
The focus of the ion source is on an optimal ion-optics design, together with a realization of new concepts for the construction and function of the ionizer, with the possibility of the precise in-situ adjustment of the ion-optical components, and optimization of the caesium ion beam and ion transport. In addition, the source is designed for operation with higher cathode voltage (up to 20 kV), which aims to increase the sputter rate of the sample, and in turn to increase the extracted negative current. Higher ion currents and better ion yields mean shorter measuring times, higher precision due to higher counting statistics and/or higher throughput of samples in an AMS runs.
The authors would like to thank the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany for its financial support (project 05K2016), and the HZDR’s Ion Beam Center for its essential contribution to the realization of this project.