Matthew Segal, UCT Physics will present the Department of Physics colloquium with a talk entitled, "External Injection of Ions into an Electron String Ion Source (ESIS)".

An external ion injection system was developed and installed for the purpose of injecting singly-charged metal ions into an Electron String Ion Source (ESIS). The ESIS increases the charge state of the ions – a process called charge-breeding. These highly-charged ions can then be further accelerated by conventional particle accelerators. This unique system was designed for the use of a Liquid Metal Ion Source (LMIS) as a primary ion source.  The system once constructed, was successfully tested by producing Ga 23+ ions in 2018 at JINR,marking the first time an externally-injected metal ion was charge-bred in an ESIS system. This work forms an essential part in the early phases of radioactive ion beam development at iThemba LABS.