The Electron String Ion Source (ESIS) is type of electron beam ion source working in a reflex mode under specific conditions [1]. The operation is based on step-by-step ionization of the ions by hitting with electrons of an electron string. ESIS is a complex facility and ion trap control system is its important part. It affects ion beam formation process and transfer to NICA HILAC. The version, which is under operation now is based on resistance divider. The new system is based on independent modules and could make operation process more flexible. The paper describes development of the ESIS ion trap control system electronics, its modifications and operation process.

The Krion-6T Electron string ion source (ESIS) is the main device for heavy ion production for the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) injector. The ion source was created at Laboratory of High Energy Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), and it has been used several times for heavy ion beams production at the Nuclotron injector. Recently, Ar13+ and Xe28+ ion beams produced with the Krion-6T ESIS have been accelerated in the Heavy Ion Linac (HILAC) Booster (booster synchrotron) Nuclotron session in framework of the 4th stage of commissioning of the NICA complex. Further development of the ion source requires the production of Xe32+–34+ and Bi35+–37+ ion beams and their multiple injection through RFQ-HILAC into Booster and Nuclotron. Currently, Xe28+ ion beams have been produced in the Krion-6T ESIS in a multipulse mode (up to ten pulses per series), extracted from the ion source with an interval of 100 ms between pulses. In the near future, the accumulation and electronic cooling of this series of the ion pulses in the Booster synchrotron is proposed. This should make it possible to increase the intensity of the ion beam in the Booster by an order of magnitude. The time of the acceleration cycle is the NICA complex is assumed to be 4–6 s. An approved technology for the injection of bismuth atoms into the Krion-6T ion source is reported; the first stand results of Bi37+ ion beams production are briefly presented and discussed.

Electron String Ion Source (ESIS) is a type of ion source, which is under development since 1994 [1], when the electron string phenomenon was first observed at VBLHEP JINR. ESIS is a sophisticated modification of Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) working in a reflex mode of operation under specific conditions, when emitted electrons are multiply used for electron impact ionization, being transformed to a new steady state of a hot magnetically compressed plasma, called an “electron string”. ESIS is a complex facility consisting of several systems: the superconducting solenoid, the cryogenic and vacuum systems, the electron gun, the electron reflector, the beam drift structure, the locking system, etc. To ensure the operation of these systems a special electronics and control systems developed by the engineers of the ESIS group are used. The article describes electron string ion sources measurement and control electronics and basic principles of their work.

The NICA accelerator complex includes beam transfer lines and stations for applied research. The first commissioning of the Station of Chip Irradiation (SOCHI) was performed at the end of 2021with С4+ heavy ions extracted from the linear accelerator (HILAC) at an energy of 3.2 MeV/n. The new SOCHI beam transfer line is integrated in the existing HILAC-Booster beamline. The Irradiation Setup for Components of Radioelectronic Apparatus (ISCRA) with ion energy ranging from 150 to 500 MeV/n and the Setup for Investigation of Medical Biological Objects (SIMBO) with the ion energy ranging from 400 to1100 MeV/n are based on the beams extracted from Nuclotron. The equipment of ISCRA and SIMBO stations has been manufactured and is planned to mount in the end of 2022. The beamlines are being designed now. The technical parameters of the beamlines and stations and the results of the first run of the SOCHI station are presented in this study.

Ionization of working species up to high charge states in Electron Beam/String Ion Sources (EBIS/ESIS) is provided by electron impact; a primary electron beam of a corresponding energy, compressed in a strong external solenoidal magnetic field, is produced by an immersed electron gun containing a thermionic electron emitter assembly as its key element. Control and monitoring of parameters in cathode assembly are provided by special electronics designed by the JINR NICA [1] accelerator division engineers. In this report we describe Electron String Ion Sources (ESIS) development short history and its main working principles as a basic start point. The designed new cathode assembly electronics development and production as well as its operational principles are described and discussed in some details.

The Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) is under construction at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), with commissioning of the facility expected in late 2022. The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) has been designed to operate at NICA and its components are currently in production. The detector is expected to be ready for data taking with the first beams from NICA. This document provides an overview of the landscape of the investigation of the QCD phase diagram in the region of maximum baryonic density, where NICA and MPD will be able to provide significant and unique input. It also provides a detailed description of the MPD set-up, including its various subsystems as well as its support and computing infrastructures. Selected performance studies for particular physics measurements at MPD are presented and discussed in the context of existing data and theoretical expectations.

A mono-ion source of single-charged helium of high intensity has been created to confirm the declared parameters of Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC) [1, 2] and for the injection into superconducting synchrotron (SC) Booster during the first run. The paper presents the design of the He+ ion source, test bench for the TOF measurements and acceleration beam developed at VBLHEP, JINR. The results of the tests of the source are presented. During the tests the intense beams of ions 50 mA of He+ were produced.

Injector of NICA accelerating facility based on the Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC) is aimed to inject the heavy ions having atomic number A≈200 and ratio A/Z ≤ 6.25 produced by ESIS ion source accelerated up to the 3.2 MeV for the injection into superconducting synchrotron (SC) Booster. The project output energy of HILAC was verified on commissioning in 2018 using the beams of carbon ions produced with the Laser Ion Source and having ratio A/Z=6 that is close to the project one. Beams of He1+ ions were injected into Booster in its first run and accelerated in 2020. In 2021 ions of Fe14+ produced with the LIS were injected and accelerated up to 200 MeV/u. Beam formation of Fe ions and perspectives of using LIS for the production the ions with high atomic mass A and ratio A/Z matching to HILAC input parameters are described. HEAVY ION LINEAR INJECTOR Heavy ion injector of the NICA project is based on the heavy ion linear accelerator (HILAC) and aimed to be injector of gold ions into SC Booster synchrotron of the NICA facility. The main features of it are presented in the Table 1. Table 1: Main Features of HILAC

Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC) is designed to accelerate the heavy ions with ratio A/Z ≤ 6.25 produced by ESIS ion source up to the 3.2 MeV for the injection into superconducting synchrotron (SC) Booster. HILAC was commissioned in 2018 using the carbon beams from Laser Ion Source (LIS). The project output energy was verified. Transmission could be estimated only for DTL structure because of the presence at the RFQ input the mixture of ions with different charge states extracted from laser plasma. To estimate transmission through the whole linac the ion source producing the only species He+ was designed. The beams of He+ ions were used for the first run of SC Booster. Design of the helium ion source and results of the He+ beam acceleration and injection are described. HEAVY ION LINEAR INJECTOR Heavy ion linear accelerator (HILAC) is proposed to be injectors for SC Booster synchrotron of the NICA facility. The main features of it are presented in the Table 1. Table 1: Main Features of HILAC HILAC Species of ions Au31+ Z/A ≥ 0.16 Input energy 17 keV/u Output energy 3.2 MeV/u Beam current, mA 10 Operating frequency, MHz 100.625 Beam transmission rate, % 98 The accelerator is based on 4-rod RFQ [1] and IH DTL cavities with the KONUS accelerating structure inside [2]. The Heavy Ion Linear accelerator (HILAC) is to inject the gold ions into the superconducting synchrotron Booster and designed to accelerate particles with a ratio A/Z ≤ 0.16 up to energy 3.2 MeV/u. In 2015-2018, HILAC commissioning had been done [3, 4]. The carbon beams С2+, С3+, С4+, С5+ и С6+ were accelerated and measured energy of accelerated carbon ions was in good agreement with the design value of 3.2 MeV/u. Beams transmission through DTL structure was estimated ~65% [3, 4]. To estimate transmission through the whole linac the only species of ions should be injected in RFQ. On that reason the ion source producing the only He+ ions was developed and assembled.

The NICA accelerator complex in JINR consist of two linear injector chains, a 578 MeV/u superconducting (SC) Booster synchrotron, the existing SC synchrotron Nuclotron, and a new SC collider that has two storage rings. The construction of the facility is based on the Nuclotron technology of SC magnets with an iron yoke and coil with SC hollow cable. Assembly of the Booster synchrotron was finished in autumn of 2020 and first machine run and experiments with ion beams were successfully done in December 2020. The results of this run are discussed in this paper.

In the frame of the NICA (Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility) ion collider upgrade a new light ion LINAC for protons and ions will be built in collaboration between JINR and BEVATECH GmbH. While ions with a mass-to-charge ratio up to 3 will be fed into the NUCLOTRON ring with an energy of 7 MeV/u, protons are supposed to be accelerated up to an energy of 13 MeV using a third IH structure. This energy upgrade comprises a third IH structure, a dual-use Debuncher cavity as well as an extension of the LLRF control system built on MicroTCA technology.

In the framework of the NICA project for the development of an accelerator collider facility at the LHEP JINR, Dubna, the design and commissioning of two injectors are under way. The Heavy Ion Linear accelerator (HILAC) is intended to inject the gold ions into the superconducting synchrotron Booster and designed to accelerate particles with a charge-mass ratio Z/A >= 0.16 up to an energy of 3.2 MeV u(-1). HILAC in 2015 installed in the workplace in the hall of the injection facility. In 2018, a series of tests on HILAC commissioning had been done to measure the energy and estimate transmission of accelerated beams of the carbon ions from the laser ion source. The Light Ion Linear accelerator (LILAC) is intended for injection into the superconducting synchrotron Nuclotron the polarized deuterons and protons, as well as the light ions from LIS and is in the design stage for accelerating particles with a charge-mass ratio of Z/A >= 0.33 to 7 MeV/u. The stable beam intensity from LIS is strongly desirable for the tasks listed above. The article describes the use of the beams from a laser ion source based on an Nd:YAG laser in the injection facility and presents a method for solving the problem of beam instability due to uncontrolled emission caused by reflected radiation.

A joint team from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) (Dubna, Russia) and Bevatech GmbH (Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany) has been developing a new light-ion linac LILac as part of the NICA project. The resonator design and the beam dynamics calculations are presented.

Within the upgrade scheme of the injection complex of the NICA project and after a successful beam commissioning of a heavy ion linac, Bevatech GmbH will build a first part of a new light ion linac as an injector for the Nuclotron ring. The linac will provide a beam of polarised protons and light ions with a mass to charge ratio up to 3 and an energy of 7 MeV/u. The mandate of the Linac does not only include the hardware for the accelerating structures, focusing magnets and beam diagnostic devices, but also the LLRF control softand hardware based on the MicroTCA.4 standard in collaboration with the MicroTCA Technology Lab at DESY. An overview of the Linac is presented in this paper.

The ion-production efficiency of a newly developed singly charged ion source (SCIS) has been investigated to discuss the possibility of it being used in an isotope separation on-line system that provides 11C ions for heavy-ion cancer therapy with simultaneous verification of the irradiation field using positron emission tomography. The SCIS uses a low-energy hollow electron beam to produce singly charged carbon ions efficiently. To deliver sufficient 11C ions to the treatment room from a limited amount of 11C molecules, which are produced from a boron compound target and proton-beam irradiation via the 11B(p,n)11C reaction, the SCIS must have high ion-production efficiency. To realize this high efficiency, the SCIS was designed using a three-dimensional particle-in-cell code in previous work. With the fabricated SCIS, we performed experiments to measure the efficiency of producing CO2+ ions from nonradioactive 12CO2 molecules and C+ ions from nonradioactive 12CH4 molecules. We found that the SCIS achieved efficiencies of εC+=4×10−3 (0.4%) for C+ production and εCO2+=0.107 (10.7%) for CO2+ production.

Electron string ion source (ESIS) KRION-6T is one of the main parts of the NICA injection complex [1]. During the work on creation of a new ion source for the NICA/MPD project the new ion motion control system was developed, produced and successfully put into operation. Modules development process and operation results are described.

In the frame of the NICA ion collider upgrade a new light ion frontend linac (LILac) for protons and ions with a mass to charge ration of up to 3 will be built. LILac will consist out of 3 parts: 1. a normal conducting Linac up to 7 AMeV, 2. a normal conducting proton energy upgrade up to 13 AMeV, 3. a superconducting section. The normal conducting Linac up to 7 AMeV will be built in collaboration between JINR and Bevatech GmbH. The technical design of LILac up to 7 AMeV is discussed in this paper.