Status of high performance ECR ion sources: achievements and perspectives

Production of 0.5~1.0 emA highly charged heavy ion beams has been requested by worldwide next generation heavy ion facilities, but remains big challenge to the community. Regarded as the most powerful machine to produce high intensity heavy ion beams, ECR ion sources have been used by most of the heavy ion accelerator facilities in the world, which have also greatly boosted their continuous development over the years. Even after more than 50 years since the first prototype ECR ion source was demonstrated, it still retains its vitality in terms of extracted ion beam intensities and charge states. This paper will present the latest progresses of worldwide high performance ECR ion sources. The main contents will focus on new ion source development, high performance operation, new technology research and the perspectives on high beam intensity operation for heavy ion accelerators.