Positive hydrogen ion beam production by an RF-driven multicusp source

A 10 cm-diam RF-driven multicusp ion source has been tested for positive (H/sup +/) ion production in cw mode for future use in the 870 keV Cockcroft-Walton preinjector at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The source is optimized for the best atomic hydrogen ion species and extractable current. It is found that the porcelain coating on the antenna is very durable and stays intact after days of continuous operation. It is expected that the antenna will have a very long lifetime for an RF input power of /spl sim/6 kW.<>