Research and development activities to increase the performance of the CAPRICE ECRIS at GSI

Abstract At GSI the CAPRICE ECRIS is in operation to deliver high charge state ion beams from gaseous and metallic elements to the accelerator facility. A test campaign has been carried out at the ECR test bench to fulfill the demand for higher intensity and stability of high charge state ions and for mixed ion beams. The ion beam stability has been monitored by an Optical Emission Spectrometer (OES), which has been already used to check the plasma and the temperature of the resistively heated oven during metal ion beam operation, particularly for Ca ion beams. During the test campaign, it was investigated that the OES can be used for monitoring the stability of ion beams from gaseous elements and mixed ion beams, and the main achieved results are reported. The ion beams extracted from the ECRIS have been simulated with a particle tracking code in order to study and improve the beam matching into the RFQ. The preliminary results of the study together with possible modifications of the extraction column are presented.