Li+ alumino-silicate ion source development for the neutralized drift compression experiment

We report results on lithium alumino-silicate ion source development in preparation for warm dense matter heating experiments on the new neutralized drift compression experiment II. The practical limit to the current density for a lithium alumino-silicate source is determined by the maximum operating temperature that the ion source can withstand before running into problems of heat transfer, melting of the alumino-silicate material, and emission lifetime. Using small prototype emitters, at a temperature of ≈1275 °C, a space-charge limited Li(+) beam current density of J ≈1 mA/cm(2) was obtained. The lifetime of the ion source was ≈50 h while pulsing at a rate of 0.033 Hz with a pulse duration of 5-6 μs.