Cesium dynamics in long pulse operation of negative hydrogen ion sources for fusion

Large scale negative hydrogen ion sources operating stable for 1 h (cw mode) are required for the neutral beam heating system of the fusion experiment ITER. The formation of negative hydrogen ions relies on the surface effect for which cesium is evaporated into the source. In order to monitor the cesium dynamics the laser absorption spectroscopy technique is applied to the long pulse test facility MANITU. In the vacuum phase, without plasma operation the evaporation of cesium and the built-up of the cesium in the source are measured. Typical neutral cesium densities are 10(15) m(-3). During plasma operation and after the plasma phase a high cesium dynamics is observed, showing also depletion of cesium during long pulses with low cesium amount. The co-extracted electron current decreases with the cesium amount to a certain level whereas the ion current indicates an optimum density range.     

The development of the radio frequency driven negative ion source for neutral beam injectors (invited)

Large and powerful negative hydrogen ion sources are required for the neutral beam injection (NBI) systems of future fusion devices. Simplicity and maintenance-free operation favors RF sources, which are developed intensively at the Max-Planck-Institut fu?r Plasmaphysik (IPP) since many years. The negative hydrogen ions are generated by caesium-enhanced surface conversion of atoms and positive ions on the plasma grid surface. With a small scale prototype the required high ion current density and the low fraction of co-extracted electrons at low pressure as well as stable pulses up to 1 h could be demonstrated. The modular design allows extension to large source dimensions. This has led to the decision to choose RF sources for the NBI of the international fusion reactor, ITER. As an intermediate step towards the full size ITER source at IPP, the development will be continued with a half-size source on the new ELISE testbed. This will enable to gain experience for the first time with negative hydrogen ion beams from RF sources of these dimensions.     

Design of a cavity ring-down spectroscopy diagnostic for negative ion rf source SPIDER

The rf source test facility SPIDER will test and optimize the source of the 1 MV neutral beam injection systems for ITER. Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) will measure the absolute line-of-sight integrated density of negative (H(-) and D(-)) ions, produced in the extraction region of the source. CRDS takes advantage of the photodetachment process: negative ions are converted to neutral hydrogen atoms by electron stripping through absorption of a photon from a laser. The design of this diagnostic is presented with the corresponding simulation of the expected performance. A prototype operated without plasma has provided CRDS reference signals, design validation, and results concerning the signal-to-noise ratio.     

Thermal and electrostatic simulations of the diagnostic calorimeter for the source for production of ion of deuterium extracted from RF plasma beam

To study and optimise negative ion production for the ITER neutral beam injectors, a test facility is under construction in Padova with the aim of testing beam characteristics and to verify the source proper operation. The instrumented calorimeter STRIKE (short-time retractable instrumented kalorimeter experiment) is being developed to characterise the SPIDER (Source for Production of Ion of Deuterium Extracted from RF plasma) beam during short operations. The paper presents an investigation of the response of STRIKE measurement systems. It results that biasing is necessary to cope with the influence of secondary electrons on current measurements; moreover, despite the discretisation of the recorded thermal patterns introduced by the pixels of thermal cameras, a sufficient spatial resolution is expected.     

Surface plasma source with anode layer plasma accelerator

Proposed plasma generation system can be used for high current negative ion beam production and for directed deposition by flux of sputtered neutrals and negative ions. The main mechanism of negative ion formation in surface plasma sources is the secondary emission from low work function surface bombarded by a flux of positive ion or neutrals. The emission of negative ions is enhanced significantly by introducing a small amount of cesium or other substance with low ionization potential. In the proposed source are used positive ions generated by Hall drift plasma accelerator (anode layer plasma accelerator or plasma accelerator with insulated channel, with cylindrical or race track configuration of emission slit). The target-emitter is bombarded by the ion beam accelerated in crossed ExB fields. Negative ions are extracted from the target surface with geometrical focusing and are accelerated by negative voltage applied between emitter and plasma, contacting with the plasma accelerator. Hall drift ion source has a special design with a space for passing of the emitted negative ions and sputtered particles through the positive ion source.     

Diagnostics of the ITER neutral beam test facility

The ITER heating neutral beam (HNB) injector, based on negative ions accelerated at 1 MV, will be tested and optimized in the SPIDER source and MITICA full injector prototypes, using a set of diagnostics not available on the ITER HNB. The RF source, where the H(-)∕D(-) production is enhanced by cesium evaporation, will be monitored with thermocouples, electrostatic probes, optical emission spectroscopy, cavity ring down, and laser absorption spectroscopy. The beam is analyzed by cooling water calorimetry, a short pulse instrumented calorimeter, beam emission spectroscopy, visible tomography, and neutron imaging. Design of the diagnostic systems is presented.     

An alpha particle measurement system using an energetic neutral helium beam in ITER (invited)

An energetic helium neutral beam is involved in the beam neutralization measurement system of alpha particles confined in a DT fusion plasma. A full size strong-focusing He(+) ion source (2 A, the beam radius of 11.3 mm, the beam energy less than 20 keV). Present strong-focusing He(+) ion source shows an emittance diagram separated for each beamlet of multiple apertures without phase space mixing, despite the space charge of a beamlet is asymmetric and the beam flow is non-laminar. The emittance of beamlets in the peripheral region was larger than that of center. The heat load to the plasma electrode was studied to estimate the duty factor for the ITER application.     

Investigation of ISIS and Brookhaven National Laboratory ion source electrodes after extended operation

Linac4 accelerator of Centre Europe?en de Recherches Nucle?aires is under construction and a RF-driven H(-) ion source is being developed. The beam current requirement for Linac4 is very challenging: 80 mA must be provided. Cesiated plasma discharge ion sources such as Penning or magnetron sources are also potential candidates. Accelerator ion sources must achieve typical reliability figures of 95% and above. Investigating and understanding the underlying mechanisms involved with source failure or ageing is critical when selecting the ion source technology. Plasma discharge driven surface ion sources rely on molybdenum cathodes. Deformation of the cathode surfaces is visible after extended operation periods. A metallurgical investigation of an ISIS ion source is presented. The origin of the deformation is twofold: Molybdenum sputtering by cesium ions digs few tenths of mm cavities while a growth of molybdenum is observed in the immediate vicinity. The molybdenum growth under hydrogen atmosphere is hard and loosely bound to the bulk. It is, therefore, likely to peel off and be transported within the plasma volume. The observation of the cathode, anode, and extraction electrodes of the magnetron source operated at BNL for two years are presented. A beam simulation of H(-), electrons, and Cs(-) ions was performed with the IBSimu code package to qualitatively explain the observations. This paper describes the operation conditions of the ion sources and discusses the metallurgical analysis and beam simulation results.     

H- beam extraction from a cesium seeded field effect transistor based radio frequency negative hydrogen ion source

H(-) beam was successfully extracted from a cesium seeded ion source operated using a field effect transistor inverter power supply as a radio frequency (RF) wave source. High density hydrogen plasma more than 10(19) m(-3) was obtained using an external type antenna with RF frequency of lower than 0.5 MHz. The source was isolated by an isolation transformer and H(-) ion beam was extracted from a single aperture. Acceleration current and extraction current increased with the increase of extraction voltage. Addition of a small amount of cesium vapor into the source enhanced the currents.     

A close-coupling multi-antenna type radio frequency driven ion source

A newly close coupling multi-antenna type radio frequency driven ion source is tested for the purpose of essentially improving plasma coupling on the basis of our old type ion source, which reuses a NNBI (negative ion source for neutral beam injection) ion source used in 1∕5th scale of the Large Helical Device NNBI. The ion source and the antenna structure are described, and the efficient plasma production in terms of the positive ion saturation current (the current density) is studied. The source is made of a metal-walled plasma chamber which is desirable from the point of view of the structural toughness for fusion and industrial application, etc. At around 160 kW of rf input power, the ion saturation current density successfully reaches the 5 A∕cm(2) level with a gas pressure of 0.6-2 Pa in hydrogen for 10 ms pulse duration. The rf power efficiency of the plasma production with a close coupling configuration of the antenna is improved substantially compared to that with the previous antenna unit in the old type ion source. The power efficiency is assessed as competing with that of other types of sources.     

Development of a plasma generator for a long pulse ion source for neutral beam injectors

A plasma generator for a long pulse H(+)/D(+) ion source has been developed. The plasma generator was designed to produce 65 A H(+)/D(+) beams at an energy of 120 keV from an ion extraction area of 12 cm in width and 45 cm in length. Configuration of the plasma generator is a multi-cusp bucket type with SmCo permanent magnets. Dimension of a plasma chamber is 25 cm in width, 59 cm in length, and 32.5 cm in depth. The plasma generator was designed and fabricated at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Source plasma generation and beam extraction tests for hydrogen coupling with an accelerator of the KSTAR ion source have been performed at the KSTAR neutral beam test stand under the agreement of Japan-Korea collaborative experiment. Spatial uniformity of the source plasma at the extraction region was measured using Langmuir probes and ±7% of the deviation from an averaged ion saturation current density was obtained. A long pulse test of the plasma generation up to 200 s with an arc discharge power of 70 kW has been successfully demonstrated. The arc discharge power satisfies the requirement of the beam production for the KSTAR NBI. A 70 keV, 41 A, 5 s hydrogen ion beam has been extracted with a high arc efficiency of 0.9 -1.1 A/kW at a beam extraction experiment. A deuteron yield of 77% was measured even at a low beam current density of 73 mA/cm(2).     

Analysis of H atoms in a negative ion source plasma with the non-equilibrium electron energy distribution function

In negative ion sources for the neutral beam injection, it is important to calculate H atom flux onto the plasma grid (PG) surface for the evaluation of H(-) production on the PG surface. We have developed a neutral (H(2) molecules and H atoms) transport code. In the present study, the neutral transport code is applied to the analysis of the H(2) and H transport in a NIFS-R&D ion source in order to calculate the flux onto the PG surface. Taking into account non-equilibrium feature of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF), i.e., the fast electron component, we have done the neutral transport simulation. The results suggest that the precise evaluation of the EEDF, especially in the energy range 15 eV < E < 30 eV is important for the dissociation rate of H(2) molecules by the electron impact collision and the resultant H atom flux on the PG.     

Optics of ion beams for the neutral beam injection system on HL-2A Tokamak

The ion beam optics for the neutral beam injection system on HL-2A Tokomak is studied by two- dimensional numerical simulation program firstly, where the emitting surface is taken at 100 Debye lengths from the plasma electrode. The mathematical formulation, computation techniques are described. Typical ion orbits, equipotential contours, and emittance diagram are shown. For a fixed geometry electrode, the effect of plasma density, plasma potential and plasma electron temperature on ion beam optics is examined, and the calculation reliability is confirmed by experimental results. In order to improve ion beam optics, the application of a small pre-acceleration voltage (～100 V) between the plasma electrode and the arc discharge anode is reasonable, and a lower plasma electron temperature is desired. The results allow optimization of the ion beam optics in the neutral beam injection system on HL-2A Tokomak and provide guidelines for designing future neutral beam injection system on HL-2M Tokomak.     

Fast ion beam-plasma interaction system

A device has been constructed for the study of the interaction between a fast ion beam and a target plasma of separately controllable parameters. The beam of either hydrogen or helium ions has an energy of 1-4 keV and a total current of 0.5-2 A. The beam energy and beam current can be varied separately. The ion source plasma is created by a pulsed (0.2-10-ms pulse length) discharge in neutral gas at up to 3 x 10(-3) Torr. The neutrals are pulsed into the source chamber, allowing the neutral pressure in the target region to remain less than 5 x 10(-5) Torr at a 2-Hz repetition rate. The creation of the source plasma can be described by a simple set of equations which predict optimum source design parameters. The target plasma is also produced by a pulsed discharge. Between the target and source chambers the beam is neutralized by electrons drawn from a set of hot filaments. Currently under study is an unstable wave in a field-free plasma excited when the beam velocity is nearly equal to the target electron thermal velocity (v(beam) approximately 3.5 x 10(7) cm/s, Te = 0.5 eV).     

Forty years of surface plasma source development

The cesiation effect, a significant enhancement of negative ion emission from a gas discharge with decrease of co-extracted electron current below negative ion current, was observed for the first time on July 1, 1971 by placing into the discharge a compound with 1 mg of cesium. Subsequent developments of surface plasma sources (SPS) for highly efficient negative ion production caused by the interaction of plasma particles with electrodes on which the adsorbed cesium reduced the surface work function are described. In the last 40 years, the intensity of negative ion beams has increased by cesiation up to 10(4) times from 3 mA to tens of amperes. Here, the main attention is concentrated on earlier SPS developments because recent results are well known and widely available.     

Concepts for the magnetic design of the MITICA neutral beam test facility ion accelerator

The megavolt ITER injector concept advancement neutral injector test facility will be constituted by a RF-driven negative ion source and by an electrostatic Accelerator, designed to produce a negative Ion with a specific energy up to 1 MeV. The beam is then neutralized in order to obtain a focused 17 MW neutral beam. The magnetic configuration inside the accelerator is of crucial importance for the achievement of a good beam efficiency, with the early deflection of the co-extracted and stripped electrons, and also of the required beam optic quality, with the correction of undesired ion beamlet deflections. Several alternative magnetic design concepts have been considered, comparing in detail the magnetic and beam optics simulation results, evidencing the advantages and drawbacks of each solution both from the physics and engineering point of view.     

A system of distributed cesium feeding for increasing the efficiency of powerful sources of negative hydrogen ions

Injection of high-power flows of high-energy neutral atoms is often required in modern facilities designed for fusion research. At energies of several hundreds keV, obtaining neutral atom flows is ineffective and converting them from negative ion beams is expedient. The efficiency of negative-ion production increases by many times if a cesium film is applied to the surface on which negative ions are produced. An optimized system of distributed cesium feeding is described. Using this system, it is possible to transport cesium vapor through large distances and its uniform application to large-area emitting surfaces in high-power sources of negative hydrogen ions.     

New ion source for KSTAR neutral beam injection system

The neutral beam injection system (NBI-1) of the KSTAR tokamak can accommodate three ion sources; however, it is currently equipped with only one prototype ion source. In the 2010 and 2011 KSTAR campaigns, this ion source supplied deuterium neutral beam power of 0.7-1.6 MW to the KSTAR plasma with a beam energy of 70-100 keV. A new ion source will be prepared for the 2012 KSTAR campaign with a much advanced performance compared with the previous one. The newly designed ion source has a very large transparency (～56%) without deteriorating the beam optics, which is designed to deliver a 2 MW injection power of deuterium beams at 100 keV. The plasma generator of the ion source is of a horizontally cusped bucket type, and the whole inner wall, except the cathode filaments and plasma grid side, functions as an anode. The accelerator assembly consists of four multi-circular aperture grids made of copper and four electrode flanges made of aluminum alloy. The electrodes are insulated using PEEK. The ion source will be completed and tested in 2011.     

Active spectroscopic measurements using the ITER diagnostic system

Active (beam-based) spectroscopic measurements are intended to provide a number of crucial parameters for the ITER device being built in Cadarache, France. These measurements include the determination of impurity ion temperatures, absolute densities, and velocity profiles, as well as the determination of the plasma current density profile. Because ITER will be the first experiment to study long timescale (～1?h) fusion burn plasmas, of particular interest is the ability to study the profile of the thermalized helium ash resulting from the slowing down and confinement of the fusion alphas. These measurements will utilize both the 1 MeV heating neutral beams and a dedicated 100 keV hydrogen diagnostic neutral beam. A number of separate instruments are being designed and built by several of the ITER partners to meet the different spectroscopic measurement needs and to provide the maximum physics information. In this paper, we describe the planned measurements, the intended diagnostic ensemble, and we will discuss specific physics and engineering challenges for these measurements in ITER.