Time profile of ion pulses produced in a hot-cavity laser ion source

The time spreads of Mn ions produced by three-photon resonant ionization in a hot-cavity laser ion source are measured. A one-dimensional ion-transport model is developed to simulate the observed ion time structures. Assuming ions are generated with a Maxwellian velocity distribution and are guided by an axial electric field, the predictions of the model agree reasonably well with the experimental data and suggest that the ions are radially confined in the ion source and a substantial fraction of the ions in the transport tube are extracted.