Ion Source Test Facility

De-Risk Your Project with Ion Source Testing

Reduce technical risk and accelerate development by leveraging one of our advanced ion source test stands at the D-Pace Ion Source Center (DISC). Work directly with our experienced ion source physicists in a collaborative, hands-on environment to validate your specific application.

Our fully instrumented facilities enable you to evaluate a wide range of ion species, kinetic energies, and operating parameters. Test stands are available for flexible rental—daily, weekly, or monthly—allowing you to gain real-time operational experience while confirming performance for your use case.

If an on-site visit to beautiful Nelson, BC is not feasible, our team can execute testing on your behalf. We will collaborate with you to design a customized experimental plan, carry out the tests, and deliver a comprehensive report with clear results and recommendations. That said, we strongly encourage in-person engagement to maximize insight and knowledge transfer.

DISC has supported customers across scientific research, energy systems, and medical radioisotope production. Whether you need to evaluate an ion source independently or integrate it with your own beamline or equipment, our applications engineers are ready to assist with seamless system integration.

“From concept to validation, our team works with you to prove performance—before it matters most.”

We have two ion source tests stands – one for ECR Ion Sources and a second for our Volume-Cusp Negative Ion Sources. The following tables provide their highlights.

Test Stand 1: ECR Ion Source

Our ECR test stand is predominantly used for customer application testing of our 2.45 GHz ECR Ion Source (ECRIS), and for ion source development. We originally used it for testing Bernas-type ion sources.

Test Stand 2: Volume-Cusp Negative Ion Source

Our Negative Ion Source (NIS) test stand was originally commissioned at Buckley Systems in New Zealand in 2016. Now it resides at our research center, in Nelson. We use this stand for our development work on Negative Ion Sources, including our filament-powered NIS and our 13.56 GHz RF powered NIS. Customers use it for validating concepts and equipment.

Visiting the D-Pace Ion Source Center

Nelson is reputed to have more restaurants per capita than Manhattan or San Francisco. Ski Whitewater Mountain Resort in the winter or go mountain biking in the summer. It’s also home to multiple coffee roasters, sourdough bakeries, and a thriving cafe scene. 

Places to stay include:

• Prestige Lakeside Resort
• Hume Hotel
• Cloudside Hotel

Travel options include:

• Fly to Castlegar (25 min from Nelson). Rent a car or we’ll pick you up.
• Fly to Kelowna (4 hours from Nelson). Rent a car.
• Fly to Spokane, USA (3 hours from Nelson). Rent a car.
• Fly to Vancouver (8 hours from Nelson). Rent a car.