Ion charge-state distribution in a high-power pulsed electron cyclotron resonance discharge sustained by millimeter-wavelength radiation

Measurements have been made of the ion charge-state distribution in a high-power, pulsed, electron-cyclotron discharge in argon sustained by millimeter radiation. It has been observed that the maximum of the distribution is shifted toward higher charge states compared with the distributions in conventional cw sources of multiply charged ions pumped by centimeter radiation. This shift of the distribution maximum evidently occurs because a so-called quasigasdynamic plasma confinement regime can be established in a magnetic trap when higher-power, shorter-wavelength gyrotron radiation is used, and in this regime, an increase in plasma density is accompanied by an increase in the confinement parameter Nτ, which determines the ion charge distribution.