High brightness 3He ion source and plasma target for nuclear astrophysical applications

The design of a compact low-energy, high-current accelerator for the study of fusion reactions in the field of nuclear astrophysics is reported. The accelerator can produce an intense beam of several ion species, including proton, deuteron, and helium isotopes, of more than 1 mA. In order to provide extremely fine, cross-sectional measurements for fusion reactions at 40 to 50 keV, analyses of ion beam production, extraction and transport to a windowless gas target are made using the GIOS and FUGUN computer codes. The use of multielectrodes for the ion extraction and the application of these electrodes to the NANOGUN ion source is expected to improve the beam quality and to raise the luminosity for the beam-to-gas-target interaction. To study the electron screening effects, an experimental apparatus is proposed and constructed. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.