Production of molecular ion beams using an electron cyclotron resonance ion source

An all-permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source is tuned to create a variety of intense molecular ion beams for basic research. Based on simultaneous injection of several gases with spectroscopic high purity or enriched isotope content (e.g., H 2, D 2, N 2, O 2 or CO) and low power microwave heating, the ECR ion source produces diatomic molecular ion beams of H 2 +, D 2 +, HD +, HO +, DO +, NH +, ND + and more complex polyatomic molecular ions such as H 3 +, D 3 +, HD 2 +, H 2O +, D 2O +, H 3O +, D 3O +, and NH n +, ND n + with n=2,3,4 and possibly higher. Molecular ion beams have been produced with very high current intensities compared to other molecular beam sources. The recorded molecular ion beam spectra are discussed.