Billy Mathis

Leitner’s research has focused on the development of high-performance electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources and heavy ion accelerators. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the Vienna Technical University in 1995 and first came to Berkeley Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in the Accelerator and Fusion Research Division (now the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics (ATAP) Division) in 1996. Her work in superconducting electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source development led to a position with the Nuclear Science Division’s 88-Inch Cyclotron, where she developed and commissioned the VENUS Ion Source, the first superconducting ECR ion source optimized for operation at 28 GHz. The VENUS ECR Ion Source continues to be one of the world’s most powerful heavy ion injectors and a standard for most new ECR ion sources being built today.