An ion source utilizing a cathode and anode for producing an electric arc therebetween. The arc is sufficient to vaporize a portion of the cathode to form a plasma. The plasma leaves the generation region and expands through another regon. The density profile of the plasma may be flattened using a magnetic field formed within a vacuum chamber. Ions are extracted from the plasma to produce a high current broad on beam.

High current ion source

The beam from an EHD ion source using liquid gallium has been shown to have a brigtness of 0.9×105 A cm−2 sr−1 at 21 kV and an energy spread of 12 eV at 10‐μA total current. The effective source diameter was 0.2 μm as imaged by a 2‐cm‐long Einzel lens with a 0.12‐mm aperture. Cesium was significantly poorer and mercury much poorer than gallium.

Ion source of high brightness using liquid metal

A high‐current ion source is described in which a metal vapor vacuum arc is used to create the plasma from which the ion beam is extracted. An ion beam current of up to about 1 A has been measured at an extraction voltage of 25 kV for a range of metallic species spanning the periodic table from lithium to uranium. Multiply ionized charge states are seen up to as high as Q=6+ in the case of uranium. In the metal vapor vacuum arc, regions of intense current concentration are formed at the cathode, and it is at these regions, the cathode spots, that the cathode material is vaporized and ionized to form a dense, quasi‐neutral plasma which plumes away from the cathode surface. The plasma plume is caused to impinge upon a set of extractor grids, and the ion beam is extracted from the streaming metal plasma. A preliminary survey of the performance of the source has been made. We describe here the principle of operation of the source, the source design, and the results of those measurements that we have made to date.

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Metal vapor vacuum arc ion source

The positive or negative ion sources which form the primary components of neutral beam injection systems used in controlled nuclear fusion using magnetic confinement have to meet simultaneously several demanding requirements. This paper describes the underlying physics of modern positive ion sources, which provide the required high proton fraction (>90%) and high current density (/spl ap/2 kA/m/sup 2/) at a low source pressure (0.4 Pa) with a high electrical efficiency and uniformity across the accelerator grids. The development of negative ion sources, which are required if high energy neutral beams are to be produced, is described, and the present understanding of the physics of negative ion production in sources is explained. The paper reports that negative ion sources have achieved many of the parameters required of sources for the neutral beam injectors of future fusion devices and reactors, >200 A/m/sup 2/ of D/sup -/ at low source pressure, <0.3 Pa, with a low co-extracted electron content. The development needed to meet all the requirements of future systems is briefly discussed.

Positive and negative ion sources for magnetic fusion

The high-current low-emittance microwave proton source introduced two years ago act the Chalk River Laboratories has been extensively redesigned. The 2.45 GHz microwave line was modified to incorporate a 50 kV dc break and a rectangular-to-ridged waveguide transition. The layered microwave window has been replaced by a single plate of aluminum nitride. The solenoids were electrically isolated from the plasma chamber. Only the plasma chamber remains at the extraction potential. The total beam current and the proton beam current have been measured as a function of the microwave power, the hydrogen mass flow and the solenoid positions and currents. More than 95 mA dc of hydrogen ions with a proton fraction in excess of 85% were extracted from a single 2.5 mm radius aperture with only 500 W of microwave power and 2.0 sccm (3 μg/s) of hydrogen mass flow. The perveance at minimum divergence and the minimum emittance have been determined for various extraction geometries. The variation of the perveance with the aspect ratio of the extraction system was found to be virtually identical for microwave and arc discharge ion sources. The normalized rms emittance was less than 0.13 p mm mrad whatever the extraction geometry.

An advanced high-current low-emittance dc microwave proton source

Experimental results are given for the perveance and beam divergence of a single aperture three electrode extraction system using helium ions at energies between 10 and 30 keV. The aperture radii, the electrode thicknesses, and the spacings were varied and from the results a preferred design was obtained for use in a multiaperture array. The most critical parameter was the ratio (S) of the radius of the first aperture to the distance between the first and second electrodes, the highest current density being obtained at values of this ratio less than 0.5. The optimum beam divergence observed corresponded to a Gaussian beam profile with a width (ω) of ± 1.2° at 2 m from the source. The measured perveance at small values of S and at minimum ω lay between 75% and 90% of the value predicted on the basis of a simple model using the Langmuir‐Blodgett formula for the spherical diode.

J. R. Coupland

Papers

A Study of the Ion Beam Intensity and Divergence Obtained from a Single Aperture Three Electrode Extraction System

Fast-neutral injectors for the Culham superconducting Levitron.