The main objective of this work was the characterization and optimization of the brightness and stability of a Cs+ beam generated by a surface ionization source recently developed by the “Unité d’Instrumentation Scientifique” (UIS) team at the Centre de Recherche Public – Gabriel Lippmann (CRPGL). The particular design of this ion source should enable the generation of positive or negative ion beams  with high brightness for challenging surface analysis...