METHODS FOR PREPARING IONS OF SHORT-LIVED ISOTOPES

In this paper we discuss methods for obtaining ions, in which the main role is played by thermal-equilibrium processes of emission of ions from the surface, based on the evaporation of atoms of the emitter itself and desorption of foreign atoms, both diffusing to the surface from the volume of the irradiated emitter and adsorbed by the surface from the plasma phase. In addition to this, processes occurring in the plasma-filled cavity, bounded by the emitting walls, could be significant from the viewpoint of the ion yield. In particular, the interaction of laser radiation with the plasma gives rise to nonequilibrium ionization in the cavity. In this paper, the authors employ the standard terminology used in solid-state and plasma physics.