Claims
- 1. A method for enhancing the yield of atomic neutral species generated in a plasma ion source, such that ion beams comprised of essentially pure atomic ion species are available, comprising:
- a) generating a plasma by coupling electrical energy to a gas fed into the plasma ion source;
- b) controlling the generation of impure minority ion species in the plasma ion source by introducing a catalyzing agent into the plasma ion source, such that the presence of the agent causes primarily atomic neutral species to be produced in the plasma ion source;
- c) extracting essentially pure atomic ion species as an ion beam from the plasma ion source; and
- d) increasing the extracted current of the desired atomic ion species.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the gas is H.sub.2 and the catalyzing agent controls the generation of minority ion species of H.sub.2 such that primarily atomic neutral species of H exist in the plasma ion source, and essentially pure proton H.sup.+ beams are extracted from the plasma ion source.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the catalyzing agent is water (H.sub.2 O).
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the gas is D.sub.2, the catalyzing agent controls the generation of minority ion species of D.sub.2 such that primarily atomic neutral species of D exist in the plasma ion source, and essentially pure deuteron D.sup.+ beams are extracted from the plasma ion source.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the catalyzing agent is deuterated water (D.sub.2 O).
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the plasma and controlling the generation of impure ion species in the plasma ion source by introducing a catalyzing agent into the plasma ion source comprises performing the reaction:
- H.sub.2 O+�e+H.sub.2 !.fwdarw.e+H+H.fwdarw.H.sup.+
- wherein H.sub.2 O is the catalyzing agent, H.sub.2 is the gas and the extracted ion beam is comprised of essentially pure H.sup.+.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the plasma and controlling the generation of impure ion species in the plasma ion source by introducing a catalyzing agent into the plasma ion source comprises performing the reaction:
- D.sub.2 O+�e+D.sub.2 !.fwdarw.e+D+D.fwdarw.D.sup.+
- wherein D.sub.2 O is the catalyzing agent, D.sub.2 is the gas, and the extracted ion beam is comprised of essentially pure D.sup.+.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the catalyzing agent is selected from the group consisting of H.sub.2 O, D.sub.2 O, O.sub.2, and SF.sub.6.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the ratio of catalyzing agent to the gas in the plasma ion source is less than about 1:100.
- 10. A method for producing atomic ion species from a plasma ion source comprising:
- a) generating a plasma in the plasma ion source; and
- b) introducing a catalyzing agent into the plasma ion source to control the generation of impure ion species in the plasma ion source, such that the presence of the catalyzing agent causes primarily atomic neutral species to be produced in the plasma ion source, whereby essentially pure atomic ion species are extractable.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of generating the plasma includes coupling energy into a gas fed plasma ion source.
- 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the energy is electrical energy, including microwave energy.
- 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the energy is radio frequency energy.
- 14. The method of claim 11 wherein the gas is molecular and selected from the group consisting hydrogen, deuterium, oxygen, and nitrogen.
- 15. The method of claim 11 wherein the ratio of catalyzing agent to the gas in the plasma ion source is less than about 1:100.
- 16. The method of claim 11 wherein the gas is H.sub.2, the catalyzing agent is H.sub.2 O, and the extracted atomic ion species is H.sup.+.
- 17. The method of claim 11 wherein the gas is D.sub.2, the catalyzing agent is D.sub.2 O, and the extracted atomic ion species is D.sup.+.
- 18. The method of claim 10 wherein the catalyzing agent is selected from the group consisting of H.sub.2 O, D.sub.2 O, O.sub.2, and SF.sub.6.
- 19. The method of claim 10 wherein the impure ion species are H.sub.2.sup.+, H.sub.3.sup.+, or a combination thereof, and wherein the catalyzing agent converts the impure ion species into H.sup.+, thereby increasing the yield of the atomic ion species.
- 20. The method of claim 10 wherein the impure ion species are D.sub.2.sup.+, D.sub.3.sup.+, or a combination thereof, and wherein the catalyzing agent converts the impure species into D.sup.+, thereby increasing the yield of the atomic ion species.
CONTRACTUAL ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38 between the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of Chicago.
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