Magnetic field design for miniature pulse Penning ion source

Abstract Magnetic field configuration for a miniature pulse Penning ion source was designed in this work. The amplitude-time characteristics of discharge and extracted currents were investigated as a function of gas pressure for various magnetic field magnitude and configuration An effect of magnetic field configuration on the Penning’s discharge modes and characteristics of the extraction current impulse were experimentally shown. Stable operation modes of the ion source were found in this work. Also the appropriate ranges of working gas pressure and magnetic field configuration were demonstrated, at which the current pulse of the extracted ions had a quasi-rectangular form. For better understanding real magnetic fields distributions of within the discharge cell magnetic field have been calculated in COMSOL software.