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.     

Experimental investigations of enhanced glow based on a pulsed hollow-cathode discharge

In this work, the pulsed hollow cathode discharges at low pressure argon with an axial magnetic field were studied. The results indicate that the pulsed discharge is operated in an enhanced glow(EG) mode. Under the same conditions, the discharge current of the pulsed discharge is two or three orders higher than that of the direct current discharge. The spatial and temporal evolution of the light emission shows that, the current fluctuation at the rising edge of the pulse plays an important role for the EG discharge of pulsed hollow cathode, which forms a high-density, highcurrent and long-distance plasma column outside the cavity.     

Influence of heating on the discharge characteristics of a hollow cathode

Hollow cathodes are widely used as electron sources and neutralizers in ion and Hall electric propulsion. Special applications such as commercial aerospace and gravitational wave detection require hollow cathodes with a very wide discharge current range. In this paper, a heater is used to compensate for the temperature drop of the emitter at low current. The self-sustained current can be extended from 0.6 to 0.1 A with a small discharge oscillation and ion energy when the flow rate is constant. This is also beneficial for long-life operation. However, when the discharge current is high(1 A), heating can cause discharge oscillation, discharge voltage and ion energy to increase. Further, combined with a rapid decline of pressure inside the cathode and an increase in the temperature in the cathode orifice plate, electron emission in the orifice and outside the orifice increases and the plasma density in the orifice decreases. This leads to a change in the cathode discharge mode.     

磁过滤等离子体沉积和注入技术

利用阴极真空弧放电技术能够产生高密度的金属等离子体。经过90度的磁过滤器，可以除去金属等离子体中的大颗粒微粒，从而为制备高质量的、致密的各种薄膜提供了一种全新的技术。利用该技术制备薄膜具有非常广泛的应用。本文介绍了阴极真空弧放电技术的应用，以及磁过滤等离子体沉积和注入装置及其应用。     

真空弧离子源脉冲工作瞬间的放电行为

采用高速摄影和光谱诊断的方法研究了真空弧离子源脉冲工作瞬间的放电行为。拍摄了离子源放电瞬间吸氢电极上阴极斑的形成过程，分析了不同放电电流时阴极斑的发射光谱。实验结果表明，当脉冲工作电流为10^1—10^2A时，真空弧离子源放电区一般只有单个阴极斑，阴极斑的位置在同一次放电中的变化很小；较大的脉冲工作电流有利于提高阴极斑的温度，并最终导致氢离子浓度的增加，但也会使阴极材料的溅射更加严重，造成离子源等离子体品质下降。     

Best Magnetic Condition to Generate Hollow Cathode Glow Plasma in High Vacuum简

Based on magnetron hollow cathode discharge, the magnetic condition of glow plasma generation in high vacuum, including both direction and magnitude of the applied mag- netic field, is theoretically derived and experimentally evaluated in this paper. Single particle orbital theory is introduced to discuss the possibilities to generate glow plasma at gas pressure under 10-2 Pa when the magnetic field direction is parallel or perpendicular or oblique to the electric field direction. A quantitative estimation criterion of magnetic induction intensity is also proposed in theory. The comparison with experiments suggests that glow plasma in high vacuum will form more easily in oblique magnetic field condition and that the criterion is accurate enough to estimate magnetic induction intensity at a certain gas pressure.     

Effect of vacuum backpressure on discharge characteristics of hollow cathode

A hollow cathode is the electronic source and neutralizer of the Hall thruster and an ion thruster.When the orbit of an all-electric propulsion satellite changes from 100 km to 36 000 km, the backpressure changes by two to three orders of magnitude. In this paper, the influence of the backpressure on the discharge characteristics of the hollow cathode has been studied experimentally in the so-called diode configuration. With the increase in the backpressure, the anode voltage decreases gradually, and the amplitude of the current oscillation decreases significantly. Additionally, the plasma is relatively stable, the most probable ion energy and the width of the ion energy distribution reduces, and the electron distribution function inclines toward the Maxwell distribution under high backpressure. The analysis results show that the backpressure affects the gas ionization and the ionic acoustic turbulence, which also affects the discharge characteristics of the hollow cathode.     

IMPROVEMENT ON PROPERTY AND WORKING LIFE OF FREEMAN SOURCE

The magnetic mirror field caused by a pair of mild steel circular in 15mm diameter,2mm thickness placed outside the discharge chamber can increase the atom ion ratio of nitrogen from 66% to 81% ,and the heating filament current can be decreased from 130A down to 100A for a new filament of 2mm in diameter,The Mo shield cylinders in 14mm diameter put behind the reflect cathode surrounding the BN insulator prevent the metallization of BN insulators,and result in increasing the stability of arc discharge till to the end of filament working life.Because it restricts the deposition of the sputtered W and Mo atoms on the BN insulator,and maintains a high resistance of 70 MΩ between the anode and cathode.The combination of cathode shield cylinder and forming magnetic mirror field improves the running property,life of the Freeman source being about 40h.     

中子管用PIG负氢离子源及其束流引出实验研究

PIG离子源用于中子管引出正离子,但在使用过程中存在一定问题,如单原子离子比低、靶材料溅射严重及功耗大等。为解决这些问题,提高中子管的寿命和稳定性,本文设计一种中子管用PIG负氢离子源,并对其束流引出进行实验研究。分别测量了离子源的磁场、不同阴极材料及引出阴极离子发射孔径对引出负氢离子束流的影响。实验数据表明,该负氢离子源可用于制作性能指标良好的中子管。     

The Effect of Gas Flow Rate on Radio-Frequency Hollow Cathode Discharge Characteristics

It is known that gas flow rate is a key factor in controlling industrial plasma processing. In this paper, a 2D PIC/MCC model is developed for an rf hollow cathode discharge with an axial nitrogen gas flow. The effects of the gas flow rate on the plasma parameters are calculated and the results show that： with an increasing flow rate, the total ion（N＋2, N＋） density decreases, the mean sheath thickness becomes wider, the radial electric field in the sheath and the axial electric field show an increase, and the energies of both kinds of nitrogen ions increase;and, as the axial ion current density that is moving toward the ground electrode increases, the ion current density near the ground electrode increases. The simulation results will provide a useful reference for plasma jet technology involving rf hollow cathode discharges in N2.     

Duoplasmatron Ion Sources

A survey on questions related to the production of multiply charged ions with the Duoplasmatron ion source is given. In spite of differences of the multiply charged ion source and the mass separator type, design considerations show that high containment is a common feature to be attained in both subjects. Multiply charged metal ions are produced by material evaporation into the magnetically confined anodic plasma and auxiliary gas feed into the cathode discharge regions. Energy spreads of ion beams from the low and the high arc current source are compared. The Duoplasmatron ion source proves to be a hygieneous source of high containment that permits the production of medium charge states up to 9+ for xenon at modest energy spread and good brilliance of the extracted ion beam in a high current-low voltage discharge mode.     

间热式大面积六硼化镧中空阴极

介绍了适用于强流离子源的间热式大面积六硼化镧中空阴极。在１５ｃｍ双潘宁离子湖泊 上放电特性研究表明，该阴极性能良好，能可靠工作，使用过程中多次暴露于大气中，发射性能并未变坏，加热功率为１．４５ｋＷ，ＬａＢ６发射电流密度为２０Ａ／ｃｍ＾２，放电电流４００Ａ，脉冲宽度３０ｍｓ，放电波形重复性很好。使用１００ｈ后，发射体尺寸无明显变化。     

Effects of discharge parameters on the micro-hollow cathode sustained glow discharge

The effects of parameters such as pressure, first anode radius, and the cavity diameter on the micro-hollow cathode sustained glow discharge are investigated by using a two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model in pure argon. The results indicate that the three parameters influence the discharge in the regions inside and outside of the cavity. Under a fixed voltage on each electrode, a larger volume of high density plasma can be produced in the region between the first and the second anodes by selecting the appropriate pressure, the higher first anode, and the appropriate cavity diameter. As the pressure increases, the electron density inside the hollow cathode, the high density plasma volume between the first anode and second anodes, and the radial electric field in the cathode cavity initially increase and subsequently decrease. As the cavity diameter increases, the high-density plasma volume between the first and second anodes initially increases and subsequently decreases; whereas the electron density inside the hollow cathode decreases. As the first anode radius increases, the electron density increases both inside and outside of the cavity. Moreover, the increase of the electron density is more obvious in the microcathode sustained region than in the micro cavity region. The results reveal that the discharge inside the cavity interacts with that outside the cavity. The strong hollow cathode effect and the high-density plasma inside the cavity favor the formation of a sustained discharge between the first anode and the second anodes. Results also show that the radial boundary conditions exert a considerably weaker influence on the discharge except for a little change in the region close to the radial boundary.     

Generation characteristics of a metal ion plasma jet in vacuum discharge

To improve the performance of a metal ion plasma jet in vacuum discharge,an anode-insulated cone-cylinder electrode with insulating sleeve is proposed in this paper.Discharge characteristics and generation characteristics of plasma of the electrode are investigated,effects of diameter of insulating sleeve,variety of cathode material and length of the insulating sleeve on characteristics of metal ion plasma jet are discussed.Results indicate that a directional and steady plasma jet is formed by using the novel electrode with insulating sleeve under high vacuum conditions.Moreover,the properties of metal ion plasma jet are improved by using the aluminum cathode and thin and long insulating sleeve.The study provides strong support for research of vacuum metal ion plasma thruster and ion implantation technology.     

Experimental Study of the Effect of Applied Magnetic Field on Plasma Properties of Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering

An experimental study of the effect of applied magnetic field on the properties of the plasma and electrostatic oscillations in an unbalanced magnetron sputtering discharge was carried out. The apparatus consists of a magnetron sputtering target, using the conventional magnetic field configuration, and a coaxial coil around the target for an applied axial magnetic field. The dependencies of plasma parameters on the coil current were studied by two Langmuir probes. The resonance properties of electrostatic oscillations were observed. The results indicate that the applied magnetic field affects the plasma properties for the coil current in a range of 0 to 8 A. The frequency bandwidth of the electrostatic oscillations in the unbalanced magnetron sputtering plasma is in a range of 0 to 300 kHz. From the spectrum analysis, the eigenfrequency near the target is in a range of 20 to 50 kHz under typical experimental conditions where all the magnetic field, pressure, and power etc are able to have full impact on the spectrum characteristics. The calculated value of the electron temperature as per an ion acoustic standing wave pattern inside the magnetic trap is in good agreement with the experimental result.     

Study the Characteristic of the Hot Cathode of High Current Ion Source

The difference of hot cathode operation mode has great influence on the arc discharge of high current ion source. Based on the analysis of the theory of hot filament with two operation modes and combined with ion source experiments, the paper studies the effects of hot filament operation modes on ion source arc discharge.     

Analysis of Effects of the Arc Voltage on Arc Discharges in a Cathode Ion Source of Neutral Beam Injector

A hot cathode bucket ion source is used for the EAST(experimental advanced superconducting tokamak)neutral beam injector.The thermal electrons emitted from the surface of the cathode are extracted and accelerated by the electric field formed by the arc voltage,which is applied between the arc chamber of the ion source and the cathode.This paper analyzes the effects of arc voltage on the arc discharge in a hot cathode high current ion source.     

Plasma characteristics in the discharge region of a 20A emission current hollow cathode

Numerical calculation and fluid simulation methods were used to obtain the plasma characteristics in the discharge region of the LIPS-300 ion thruster’s 20 A emission current hollow cathode and to verify the structural design of the emitter.The results of the two methods indicated that the highest plasma density and electron temperature,which improved significantly in the orifice region,were located in the discharge region of the hollow cathode.The magnitude of plasma density was about 10~(21)m~(-3)in the emitter and orifice regions,as obtained by numerical calculations,but decreased exponentially in the plume region with the distance from the orifice exit.Meanwhile,compared to the emitter region,the electron temperature and current improved by about 36%in the orifice region.The hollow cathode performance test results were in good agreement with the numerical calculation results,which proved that that the structural design of the emitter and the orifice met the requirements of a 20 A emission current.The numerical calculation method can be used to estimate plasma characteristics in the preliminary design stage of hollow cathodes.     

Effects of Gas Flow Rate on the Discharge Characteristics of a DC Excited Plasma Jet

A direct current(DC) source excited plasma jet consisting of a hollow needle anode and a plate cathode has been developed to form a diffuse discharge plume in ambient air with flowing argon as the working gas.Using optical and electrical methods,the discharge characteristics are investigated for the diffuse plasma plume.Results indicate that the discharge has a pulse characteristic,under the excitation of a DC voltage.The discharge pulse corresponds to the propagation process of a plasma bullet travelling from the anode to the cathode.It is found that,with an increment of the gas flow rate,both the discharge plume length and the current peak value of the pulsed discharge decrease in the laminar flow mode,reach their minima at about1.5 L/min,and then slightly increase in the turbulent mode.However,the frequency of the pulsed discharge increases in the laminar mode with increasing the argon flow rate until the argon flow rate equals to about 1.5 L/min,and then slightly decreases in the turbulent mode.     

Zinc Oxide Surface Flashover Triggering of Pseudospark Switch

Accurate and reliable triggering is one of the most important issues with high power pseudospark switch,because it not only has an impact on the design of discharge chamber of switch,but also has an influence on the dynamic range of operation voltage,repetition frequencies and lifetime of switch.The unique feature of pseudospark switch is its hollow cathode geometry.The hollow cathode effect produced by the hollow cathode provides the protection of the swithch for the triggering unit from erosion by high discharge plasma.In this paper,a zinc oxide(ZnO) surface flashover triggering is presented.This trigger unit possesses an excellent time delay(80ns-360ns) and jitter (20ns-50ns)at the switch voltage of 30kV-2kV.The emitted plasma electron density is high enough to trigger switch reliably down to switch voltage of 440V.