Effects of a dielectric material in an ion source on the ion beam current density and ion beam energy.
To understand a strong focusing phenomenon that occurs in a low-energy hydrogen ion beam, the electron temperature, the electron density, and the space potential in an ion source with cusped magnetic fields are measured before and after the transition to the focusing state using an electrostatic probe. The experimental results show that no significant changes are observed before or after the transition. However, we found unique phenomena that are characterized by the position of the electrostatic probe in the ion source chamber. Specifically, the extracted ion beam current density and energy are obviously enhanced in the case where the electrostatic probe, which is covered by a dielectric material, is placed close to an acceleration electrode.
Magnetic multipole line-cusp plasma generator for neutral beam injectors.
The magnetic multipole line-cusp device developed by MacKenzie and associates has been adapted for use as a neutral beam ion source. It has produced high-density, large volume, quiescent, uniform hydrogen plasmas, which makes it a potential candidate for use as a plasma generator for neutral beam injectors. The device is a water-cooled cylindrical copper discharge chamber (25 cm in diameter by 36 cm long) with one end enclosed by a set of extraction grids with a 15-cm-diam multi-aperture pattern. The chamber wall serves as an anode and is surrounded by an external system of rare-earth cobalt magnets arranged in a line-cusp geometry of 12 cusps; plasma is produced by electron emission from a hot cathode assembly. This source has achieved extracted beam currents of 12 A at 18.5 kV, radial plasma density uniformities of +/-5% over a 15-cm diameter, noise levels of less than +/-0.5%, and arc efficiencies (beam current/arc power) of 0.6 A/kW.
Optics of single-stage accelerated ion beams extracted from a plasma
A new iteration scheme for numerical solution of the Poisson–Vlasov system of equations is used to investigate parametric dependence of optics in single‐stage ion sources with fixed or similar geometry. Ion optics is found always to be aberration dominated for any reasonable low emittance. Ion temperatures strongly affect the transparency and the optics. The electron temperature has little effect, meaning that out of six physical parameters governing the ion optics only two combinations are important—an ion temperature parameter and the perveance.