Speaker
Description
A laser ion source is well-known as a high current and high charge state heavy ion source using laser ablation of solid materials. This is the only type of an ion source capable of producing ampere-class heavy ion beam using compact and simple ion source structure. However, it is difficult to transport and inject such a high current beam into the first stage accelerator, typically a radio frequency quadrupole linear accelerator (RFQ linac) due to space charge effect. BNL is a pioneering laboratory for the laser ion source development. We have studied the Direct Plasma Injection Scheme (DPIS) to accelerate high current heavy ion beams by an RFQ linac. For example, we achieved 35 mA of Li3+ beam after an RFQ linac with laser power density on a target about 10^12 W/cm^2. A laser ion source can also generate a pulsed singly charged heavy ions by reducing laser power density just above threshold of plasma generation (~10^8 W/cm^2). At BNL, a laser ion source (LION) has been providing multiple species of heavy ions to an electron beam ion source for further ionization. The resulting highly charged ion beams have been used by NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The LION is a key device to realize a galactic cosmic ray study at NSRL and quasi-simultaneous operation of these two user facilities. An overview of the technology and recent developments of the laser ion source development at BNL will be presented.
