Nitrogen Beams with a National Electrostatics Corporation Alphatross Source and a 5SDH Accelerator

Over the past 15 years, Hope College has been producing hydrogen and helium ion beams with an Alphatross^® ion source and 5SDH Pelletron^® tandem Van de Graaff accelerator. The manufacturer stated the possibility of creating nitrogen ions from this source, but Hope College has not, up until now, attempted to do so. By mixing approximately 1% nitrogen into hydrogen source gas, imidogen (NH^-) and amidogen (NH₂^-) ions are created and accelerated through the tandem accelerator. Oxygen and hydroxide beams are also present due to residual water vapor in the source after maintenance. Post acceleration, these ion beams were directed into a scattering chamber by a dipole bending magnet for identification. Alternate beams such as these open up new possibilities for future experiments such as nitrogen implantation.