Patent ID: 8760055

Claim:
An electron cyclotron resonance ion generator comprising: a vacuum-tight chamber configured to contain a plasma, said chamber having an axial symmetry along a longitudinal axis, a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field in said chamber, said magnetic field having a symmetry of revolution with respect to said longitudinal axis, a waveguide configured to propagate a high-frequency wave inside said chamber, a first ionisation stage located at one end of said chamber, said first stage comprising an ionisation zone in which ions are generated, said magnetic field being approximately parallel to said longitudinal axis in said ionisation zone, a second magnetic confinement stage for said ions generated in said ionisation zone, said second stage using a first high-frequency wave being propagated in said chamber from said waveguide, said magnetic field being approximately parallel to said longitudinal axis between said ionisation zone and said second confinement stage, such that the ions generated in said ionisation zone migrate towards said second confinement stage and that said first and second stages contain the same continuous plasma.