The development of an ECR charge breeder for KEK-JAERI joint RNB project

For the construction of an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) charge breeder (CB) at KEK-JAERI radioactive nuclear beam facility, we have made a pilot charge breeding system consisting of two compact-sized ECR ion sources. In order to find the necessary conditions for an ECRCB with high efficiency, the charge breeding efficiency for Ar ions in nitrogen plasma has been measured and compared with the results from the simulation of the trajectories of the ions in the plasma. By explicitly taking into account the cumulative small angle scattering of charged ions as well as the confinement magnetic field of the pilot CB, the simulation predicts the stopping efficiency. This is defined as a probability that the injected ions are still within the plasma volume when their initial directional motions have become randomized. Incorporating the ionization efficiency for the ions, the overall breeding efficiency has been estimated. Finally, the characteristics of the ECRCB recently installed for tests at KEK is described