Abstract
Fundamental processes of the ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) multiply charged ion source have been experimentally studied with a two-stage mirror field configuration. A model based on cumulative ionization processes has been proposed to investigate charge-state distributions (C.S.D.) of argon ions. Experimental results and simulations have suggested that high temperature electrons are essentially important for multicharged-ion production. Multiple-ionization processes are additionally introduced to this modelling and quantitatively assessed by using up-to-date cross section data. It is concluded that the multiple ionization has only a small effect on the C.S.D. in the low electron temperature, but a significant effect for the case including high energy component.
