Hefei utility negative ions test equipment with RF source: commissioning and first results

In order to study the key technology and physics of RF driven negative ion source for neutral beam injector in China, the Hefei utility negative ions test equipment with RF source was developed at Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP). Its negative ion source can be equipped with single or double RF drivers. There is a plasma expansion chamber with depth of 19 mm and an enhanced filter field. A three electrodes negative ion accelerator was employed to extract and accelerate the negative ions, which are plasma grid, extraction grid and ground grid. And there are several diagnostic tools for the plasma and beam parameters measurement. The characteristics of plasma generation, negative ion production and extraction were studied on the test equipment. The negative ion beam was extracted from the RF driven negative ion source for the first time. The detailed structure and main results are presented in this article.     

Design of the Prototype Negative Ion Source for Neutral Beam Injector at ASIPP

In order to support the design,manufacture and commissioning of the negativeion-based neutral beam injection(NBI) system for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor(CFETR),the Hefei utility negative ion test equipment with RF source(HUNTER) was proposed at ASIPP.A prototype negative ion source will be developed at first.The main bodies of plasma source and accelerator of the prototype negative ion source are similar to that of the ion source for EAST-NBI.But instead of the filament-arc driver,an RF driver is adopted for the prototype negative ion source to fulfill the requirement of long pulse operation.A cesium seeding system and a magnetic filter are added for enhancing the negative ion density near the plasma grid and minimizing co-extracted electrons.Besides,an ITER-like extraction system is applied inside the accelerator,where the negative ion beam is extracted and accelerated up to 50 kV.     

高性能全永磁ECR离子源LAPECR2的研制

研制了一台体积和重量都较大、设计性能较高的全永磁电子回旋共振(Electron cyclotron resonance,ECR)离子源LAPECR2(Lanzhou all permanent magnetic ECRion source No.2 ).该离子源将用于中国科学院近代物理研究所320 kV高压平台,为其提供强流高电荷态离子束流.LAPECR2的研制采用全新的全永磁磁体结构设计,通过采用高性能的NdFeB永磁材料、优化的磁结构设计以及精确的计算,实测源体的磁场参数能达到高性能ECR离子源的设计要求.离子源采用较高频率的14.5 GHz微波馈入加热等离子体,波导直接馈入离子源以增强馈入微波的稳定性与效率.此外,还大量采用了一些有利于提高离子源高电荷态离子产额的关键技术,如铝内衬等离子体弧腔、负偏压盘、铝制等离子体电极、三电极引出系统、辅助掺气等.     

Negative ion beam extraction in ROBIN

The RF based single driver ?ve ion source experiment test bed ROBIN (Replica Of BATMAN like source in INDIA) has been set up at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), India in a technical collaboration with IPP, Garching, Germany. A hydrogen plasma of density 5 × 10¹² cm^?3 is expected in driver region of ROBIN by launching 100 kW RF power into the driver by 1 MHz RF generator. The cesiated source is expected to deliver a hydrogen negative ion beam of 10 A at 35 kV with a current density of 35 mA/cm² as observed in BATMAN.In first phase operation of the ROBIN ion source, a hydrogen plasma has been successfully generated (without extraction system) by coupling 80 kW RF input power through a matching network with high power factor (cos θ > 0.8) and different plasma parameters have been measured using Langmuir probes and emission spectroscopy. The plasma density of 2.5 × 10¹¹ cm^?3 has been measured in the extraction region of ROBIN. For negative hydrogen ion beam extraction in second phase operation, extraction system has been assembled and installed with ion source on the vacuum vessel. The source shall be first operated in volume mode for negative ion beam extraction. The commissioning of the source with high voltage power supply has been initiated.     

2.45GHz单电荷态电子回旋共振离子源

描述了一台2．45GHz单电荷态电子回旋共振（ECR）离子源的原理、结构与应用。介绍了其微波系统与磁场结构。在微波输入功率约600W,引出高压22kV,引出孔径为φ6mm时,该离子源的总束流I（H1^ H2^ H3^ )可达90mA。     

First results of negative ion extraction with Cs for CRAFT prototype negative beam source

In order to understand the physics and pre-study the engineering issues for radio frequency(RF)negative beam source, a prototype source with a single driver and three-electrode accelerator was developed. Recently, the beam source was tested on the RF source test facility with RF plasma generation, negative ion production and extraction. A magnetic filter system and a Cs injection system were employed to enhance the negative ion production. As a result, a long pulse of 105 s negative ion beam with current density of 153 A m-2 was repeatedly extracted successfully. The source pressure is 0.6 Pa and the ratio of co-extracted electron and negative ion current is around0.3. The details of design and experimental results of beam source were shown in this letter.     

Design and Development of a Power Supply System for NBI Test Stand of EAST

A neutral beam injector (NBI) test stand was constructed to develop a multi-megawatt prototype ion source as an auxiliary heating system on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. A power supply system for the NBI test stand components such as a set of dc power supplies for plasma generator, a dc high voltage power supply of a tetrode accelerator, a transmission line and a surge energy suppressor. Stable arc discharges of the plasma generator with hydrogen gases for 100 s long pulse have been produced by six Langmuir probes feedback loop regulation mode to control the arc power supply. The 4 MW hydrogen ion beam of 1 s is extracted with beam energy of 80 keV and the beam current of 52 A. The dc high voltage power supply for the plasma grid of the prototype ion source was designed to contribute maximum voltage of 100 kV and current of 100 A. The high voltage power output is continuously adjustable to satisfy with plasma physics experiment in operation frequency of 10 Hz. To prevent damage of the beam source at high voltage breakdown, core snubber using deltamax soft magnetic materials have been adopted to satisfy the input energy into the accelerator from the power supply can be reduced to about 5 J in the case of breakdown at 80 kV. For the transmission line, a disc shape multi cable coaxial configuration was adopted and which the dimension of the diameter is 140 mm at the core snubber. The major issues of discharge characteristics with long pulse and beam extraction with high power for the prototype ion source were investigated on the NBI test stand.     

Analysis of the characteristics of the plasma of an RF driven ion source for a neutral beam injector

A radio frequency(RF)driven ion source is a very important component of a neutral beam injector for large magnetic confinement fusion devices.In order to study the key technology and physics of an RF driven ion source for a neutral beam injector in China,an RF ion source test facility was developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences.In this paper,a two-dimensional fluid model is used to simulate the fundamental physical characteristics of RF plasma discharge.Simulation results show the relationship of the characteristics of plasma(such as electron density and electron temperature)and RF power and gas pressure.In order to verify the effectiveness of the model,the characteristics of the plasma are investigated using a Langmuir probe.In this paper,experimental and simulation results are presented,and the possible reasons for the discrepancies between them are given.This paper can help us understand the characteristics of RF plasma discharge,and give a basis for further R&D for an RF ion source.     

The development of data acquisition and control system for extraction power supply of prototype RF ion source

A 16 kV/20 A power supply was developed for the extraction grid of prototype radio frequency (RF) ion source of neutral beam injector.To acquire the state signals of extraction grid power supply (EGPS) and control the operation of the EGPS,a data acquisition and control system has been developed.This system mainly consists of interlock protection circuit board,photoelectric conversion circuit,optical fibers,industrial compact peripheral component interconnect (CPCI) computer and host computer.The human machine interface of host computer delivers commands and data to program of the CPCI computer,as well as offers a convenient client for setting parameters and displaying EGPS status.The CPCI computer acquires the status of the power supply.The system can turn-off the EGPS quickly when the faults of EGPS occur.The system has been applied to the EGPS of prototype RF ion source.Test results show that the data acquisition and control system for the EGPS can meet the requirements of the operation of prototype RF ion source.     

Numerical research of a 2D axial symmetry hybrid model for the radio-frequency ion thruster

Since the high efficiency discharge is critical to the radio-frequency ion thruster (RIT),a 2D axial symmetry hybrid model has been developed to study the plasma evolution of RIT.The fluid method and the drift energy correction of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) are applied to the analysis of the RIT discharge.In the meantime,the PIC-MCC method is used to investigate the ion beam current extraction character for the plasma plume region.The beam current simulation results,with the hybrid model,agree well with the experimental results,and the error is lower than 11％,which shows the validity of the model.The further study shows there is an optimal ratio for the radio-frequency (RF) power and the beam current extraction power under the fixed RIT configuration.And the beam extraction efficiency will decrease when the discharge efficiency beyond a certain threshold (about 87 W).As the input parameters of the hybrid model are all the design values,it can be directly used to the optimum design for other kinds of RITs and radio-frequency ion sources.     

EAST强流离子源电源系统的初步测试运行

测试NBI大功率强流离子源的综合测试台正在建设,已研制了离子源等离子体发生器电源系统、等离子体电极高压电源及梯度极分压器、抑制极负高压电源等电源系统,以及高压传输线及缓冲器,在测试台上开展了对EAST中性束注入器第一台兆瓦级强流离子源样机进行整体电源系统测试和离子源起弧放电的初步测试,完成了离子源电源系统初步性能测试及...     

Discharge Characteristics of Large-Area High-Power RF Ion Source for Positive and Negative Neutral Beam Injectors

A large-area high-power radio-frequency(RF) driven ion source was developed for positive and negative neutral beam injectors at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI). The RF ion source consists of a driver region, including a helical antenna and a discharge chamber, and an expansion region. RF power can be transferred at up to 10 kW with a fixed frequency of 2 MHz through an optimized RF matching system. An actively water-cooled Faraday shield is located inside the driver region of the ion source for the stable and steady-state operations of high-power RF discharge. Plasma ignition of the ion source is initiated by the injection of argongas without a starter-filament heating, and the argon-gas is then slowly exchanged by the injection of hydrogen-gas to produce pure hydrogen plasmas. The uniformities of the plasma parameter,such as a plasma density and an electron temperature, are measured at the lowest area of the driver region using two RF-compensated electrostatic probes along the direction of the shortand long-dimensions of the driver region. The plasma parameters will be compared with those obtained at the lowest area of the expansion bucket to analyze the plasma expansion properties from the driver region to the expansion region.     

Oxygen ion source with plasma cathode

An ion source with a plasma cathode has been developed for long lifetime use in ion implanters. In this ion source, a plasma cathode replaces the conventional metallic filament used in a Freeman-type ion source. This ion source consists of two compartments, namely a plasma generator and an ion source chambers interconnected by a tapered narrow duct. The pressure difference between the two parts, maintained by differential pumping, prevents the feed gas from flowing into the plasma generator. With any combination of an argon plasma cathode and a feed gas of either fluoride (AsF₅, PF₅) or oxygen, the lifetime was found to be more than 90 h with an extraction voltage of 40 kV and a correspoding ion current density of 20 mA/cm², and a considerable amount of As⁺, P⁺, O⁺, and O₂⁺ ions were observed in mass spectra.     

RADI—A RF source size-scaling experiment towards the ITER neutral beam negative ion source

IPP Garching is currently developing a negative hydrogen ion RF source for the ITER neutral beam system. The source demonstrated already current densities in excess of the ITER requirements (>200 A/m² D⁻) at the required source pressure and electron/ion ratio, but with only small extraction area and limited pulse length. A new test facility (RADI) went recently into operation for the demonstration of the required (plasma) homogeneity of a large RF source and the modular driver concept.The source with the dimension of 0.8 m × 0.76 m has roughly the width and half the height of the ITER source; its modular driver concept will allow an easy extrapolation in only one direction to the full size ITER source. The RF power supply consists of two 180 kW, 1 MHz RF generators capable of 30 s pulses. A dummy grid matches the conductance of the ITER source. Full size extraction is presently not possible due to the lack of an insulator, a large size extraction system and a beam dump.The main parameters determining the performance of this “half-size” source are the negative ion and electron density in front of the grid as well as the homogeneity of their profiles across the grid. Those will be measured by optical emission and cavity ring down spectroscopy, by Langmuir probes and laser detachment. These methods have been calibrated to the extracted current densities achieved at the smaller source test facilities at IPP for similar source parameters. However, in order to get some information about the possible ion and electron currents, local single aperture extraction with a Faraday cup system is planned.     

Negative ion test facility ELISE—Status and first results

The new test facility ELISE (Extraction from a Large Ion Source Experiment) has been designed and installed since November 2009 at IPP Garching to support the development of the radio frequency driven negative ion source for the Neutral Beam System on ITER. The test facility is now completely assembled; all auxiliary systems have been commissioned and are operational. First plasma and beam operation is starting in October 2012.The source is designed to deliver an ion beam of 20 A of D^? ions, operating at 0.3 Pa source pressure at an electron to ion current ratio below 1. Beam extraction is limited to 60 kV for 10 s every 3 minutes, while plasma operation of the source can be performed continuously for 1 hour. The ion source and extraction system have the same width as the ITER source, but only half the height, i.e. 1 × 1 m² source area with an extraction area of 0.1 m². The aperture pattern of the extraction system and the multi driver source concept stay as close as possible to the ITER design. Easy access to the source for diagnostic tools or modifications allows to analyze and optimize the source performance. Among other possibilities many different magnetic filter field configurations inside the source can be realized to enhance the negative ion extraction and to reduce the co-extraction of electrons. Beam power and profiles are measured by calorimetry and thermography on an inertially cooled target as well as by beam emission spectroscopy. Cs evaporation into the source is done via two dispenser ovens.     

低能高束流氩离子源的结构及性能

离子源技术是等离子体研究中的一项重要内容,而低能大束流源则是离子源技术研究中的一个重要方向,因为这样的源在离子束刻蚀、离子束溅射镀膜以及荷能粒子与物质相互作用方面都有广泛的应用;本文采用空心阴极空心阳极结构,用热阴极电子发射弧放电驱动并用磁场约束产生等离子体,用曲面发射引出离子束,研制成了氩气放电溅射离子源;研究了灯丝加热电流、弧压对弧流的影响和弧流与工作气体压力对离子束引出的影响规律.离子源的引出电压在0-4.0 kV之间连续可调,最大引出束流为100 mA,束斑面积为φ6.0 cm,以Ti为溅射靶时的最大溅射沉积率为0.45 nm/s,离子源可连续工作160 h.     

A Study of a Duoplasmatron Ion Source with an Expansion Cup

This work describes a study of the Duoplasmatron ion source for the purpose of investigating the conditions necessary to improve its performance. First a general review is made of theoretical considerations involved in the source's plasma mechanism and the geometry of the extraction system. Then the experimental work deals with the arc discharge characteristics as well as the source's performance when the beam is extracted with a simple Pierce extracting electrode. Through an invar anode insert a 70 mA was obtained at 35 kV. The main improvement was then due to beam extraction from an expansion cup which rendered a 300 mA beam at a lower voltage of 18 kV. The use of different anode materials has indicated the influence of magnetic field penetration on plasma focusing within the expansion cup. A beam current reaching 1 ampere was noticed when a non-magnetic anode was used.     

中国散裂中子源快循环同步加速器射频系统的设计与研制进展

研制了大功率宽带快速扫频射频系统,其用于中国散裂中子源（CSNS）快循环同步加速器（RCS）中,主要包括铁氧体加载谐振腔、射频功率源、偏流源和低电平控制系统。射频系统工作重复频率为25 Hz,扫频范围为1.022～2.444 MHz,单个腔体（双加速间隙）可提供最大30 kV加速电压。两级的调谐控制能解决快速扫频过程中的系统失谐问题,采用束流前馈、直接反馈等多种技术手段可对束流负载效应进行补偿。