Brightness measurements of the nano-aperture ion source

A new type of ion source capable of delivering bright and monochromatic beams of various ionic species has been developed. The brightness of this source was measured using an ion focusing column in combination with a knife-edge ion transmission detector. The emission current was varied in the range 200 pA to 20 nA by varying the particle density and the in-chip electric field. Most data were obtained using argon ions, but helium and xenon ions were also produced. The setup was used to experimentally demonstrate a brightness of B ≈ 110 5 A/m 2 sr V. The measurements match reasonably well with ray-trace simulations.