In this paper we report the results of production of ions of solids from the PIG source with an additional anode and solid material feed by cathode sputtering. The investigations were performed at the test bench and at the U‐400 cyclotron. Two versions of the ion source with different dispositions of the sputtering electrode were studied. In the first version the sputtering electrode is introduced into the discharge chamber through the wall opposite to the emission slit, the second version has lateral disposition of the sputtering electrode. The influence of the potential of an additional anode on the total extracted current and charge state distribution was studied at the test bench for both versions. The results of the test of the ion source with lateral disposition of the sputtering electrode at the U‐400 cyclotron are reported. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.