Production of high current proton beams using complex H-rich molecules at GSI.

In this contribution, the concept of production of intense proton beams using molecular heavy ion beams from an ion source is described, as well as the indisputable advantages of this technique for operation of the GSI linear accelerator. The results of experimental investigations, including mass-spectra analysis and beam emittance measurements, with different ion beams (CH3(+),C2H4(+),C3H7(+)) using various gaseous and liquid substances (methane, ethane, propane, isobutane, and iodoethane) at the ion source are summarized. Further steps to improve the ion source and injector performance with molecular beams are depicted.

Experimental proof of adjustable single-knob ion beam emittance partitioning.

The performance of accelerators profits from phase-space tailoring by coupling of degrees of freedom. Previously applied techniques swap the emittances among the three degrees but the set of available emittances is fixed. In contrast to these emittance exchange scenarios, the emittance transfer scenario presented here allows for arbitrarily changing the set of emittances as long as the product of the emittances is preserved. This Letter is the first experimental demonstration of transverse emittance transfer along an ion beam line. The amount of transfer is chosen by setting just one single magnetic field value. The envelope functions (beta) and slopes (alpha) of the finally uncorrelated and repartitioned beam at the exit of the transfer line do not depend on the amount of transfer.