Measurement of the high energy component of the X-ray spectra in the VENUS electron cyclotron resonance ion source

High performance electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources, such as VENUS (versatile ECR for nuclear science), produce large amounts of x rays. By studying their energy spectra, conclusions can be drawn about the electron heating process and the electron confinement. In addition, the bremsstrahlung from the plasma chamber is partly absorbed by the cold mass of the superconducting magnet adding an extra heat load to the cryostat. Germanium or NaI detectors are generally used for x-ray measurements. Due to the high x-ray flux from the source, the experimental setup to measure bremsstrahlung spectra from ECR ion sources is somewhat different than for the traditional nuclear physics measurements these detectors are generally used for. In particular, the collimation and background shielding can be problematic. In this paper we will discuss the experimental setup for such a measurement, the energy calibration and background reduction, the shielding of the detector, and collimation of the x-ray flux. We will present x-ray energy spectra and cryostat heating rates in dependence of various ion source parameters such as confinement fields, minimum B-field, rf power, and heating frequency. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.