Improvement of trace element analysis system using RIKEN electron cyclotron resonance ion source and linear accelerator

We have developed a new analytical system that consists of an electron cyclotron resonance ion source (RIKEN 18 GHz ECRIS) and a RIKEN heavy ion linear accelerator (RILAC). This system is called trace element analysis using electron cyclotron resonance ion source and RILAC (ECRIS-RILAC-TEA). ECRIS-RILAC-TEA has several advantages as described in the work of Kidera etal [AIP Conf. Proc. 749, 85 (2005)]. However, many experimental results during the last several years revealed a few problems: (1) large background contamination in the ECRIS, particularly at the surface of the plasma chamber wall, (2) high counting of the ionization chamber and the data taking system that is monitored by the direct beam from the accelerator, and (3) difficulty in the selection of the pilot sample and pilot beam production from the ECRIS for the purpose of normalization. In order to overcome these problems, we conducted several test experiments over the past year. In this article, we report the experimental results in detail and future plans for improving this system.