A precision gas feeding system for a PIG heavy ion source

A precision gas feeding system aiming at stable and efficient operation of a small, cold-cathode PIG heavy ion source for the K = 50 MeV AVF cyclotron is described in detail. The system can regulate the supply gas pressure with a precision of 0.6 Torr and keep a constant gas flow rate with a stability of 0.010 ± 0.003 cm³/min. The ion source operating parameters such as the arc current, the arc voltage and the gas flow rate remain fairly constant through the lifetime of the source. By adopting this system in the routine accelerations of carbon or oxygen ions, the average beam current was increased by a factor of 2–3.