Effect of gas flow rate on ionizing power characteristics of penning type ion source

Abstract

An experimental observation on the effect of hydrogen gas flow rate value on ionization power characteristics of penning type ion source has been conducted. The experiments were conducted in the range of gas flow rate values between 3 and 8 sccm, which is a range of discharge that is generally used in cyclotron operations. The characteristic of ionization power is the change in power which is determined from the cathode voltage and cathode current that occurs when the gas flow rate is varied. The fixed operating parameter is the magnetic field at a value of 1.29 T. The characteristic data is presented in graphs and analyzed theoretically. The experiment was conducted at the DECY-13 cyclotron. The results of the analysis show that the effect of increasing the gas flow rate does not significantly affect the characteristics of ionization power. However, further analysis shows that the increase in gas flow rate will have a significant effect on the increase in ion formation rate in the ionization chamber due to a significant increase in the increase in gas pressure in the chamber. The benefit of the results of this study is as an initial capital to increase ion productivity from ion sources.