The project is intended to make complex studies (experimental, numerical and theoretical) of still unexplained phenomena occurring in Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources (ECRIS). Five teams, each highly specialised, will contribute to this multidisciplinary project. It is believed that the understanding of ECR Ion Sources will be a key issue for the future development of the next generation of ECRIS.

For that purpose, the following objectives should be reached:
1. To investigate several important phenomena in ECR plasmas for Multiply Charged Ion (MCI) production:
a) the afterglow effect;
b) the gas mixing effect;
c) the occurrence of very low frequency oscillations during the discharge (in the Hz range);
2. To study how the magnetic configuration (minimum-B, mirror type) affects the production of MCI. The following processes will be taken into consideration:
a) influence of the High Frequency (HF) wave damping on the electron heating;
b) HF wave decay and appearance of low frequency noises leading to turbulent transport;
c) possible influence of hydrodynamic plasma instabilities;
d) near wall phenomena (sheaths, secondary emission).
3. To master HF injection and coupling to the plasma, and the mode excited in the plasma.

The following work will be performed:
Development of a self consistent computer code on the basis of the Fokker-Planck kinetic equations. The code will use real experimental parameters as input parameters and it is expected to help in further design of ECRIS.
The processes of HF wave damping in the ECR zone and the broadening of its spectra will be studied theoretically, which will lead to an increase of the understanding of the ECR discharge in plasmas. The results will serve for possible modification of heating term used in numerical modelling.
The transmission line from the HF transmitter to the plasma will be studied. This design will be based on rigorous numerical models and optimisation of chosen configurations and will permit to excite several different electromagnetic modes in the plasma chamber.
Systematic experimental studies will be carried out: gas mixing effect, afterglow effect, plasma oscillations, will be analysed. Comparisons with theoretical codes will be performed.