Novel Approaches for Intensifying Negative C60 Ion Beams Using Conventional Ion Sources Installed on a Tandem Accelerator

Abstract

We developed novel methods for producing negative C60 ion beams at the accelerator facility Takasaki Ion Accelerators for Advanced Radiation Application (TIARA) to increase the current intensity of swift C60 ion beams accelerated to the MeV energy region using a tandem accelerator. We produced negative C60 ion beams with an intensity of 1.3 µA, which is several tens of thousands of times greater than the intensity of beams produced using conventional methods based on the Cs sputtering process. These beams were obtained by temporarily adding an ionization function based on electron attachment to an existing ion source that is widely used in tandem accelerators. The high-intensity swift C60 ion beams can be made available relatively easily to institutes that have tandem accelerators and ion sources of the type used at TIARA because there is no need to change existing ion sources or install new ones.