Development of a Long-Pulse (30-s), High-Energy (120-keV) Ion Source for Neutral Beam Applications

Multimegawatt neutral beams of hydrogen or deuterium atoms are needed for fusion machine applications such as MFTF-B, TFTR-U, DIII-U, and FED (INTOR or ETR). For these applications, a duoPIGatron ion source is being developed to produce high-brightness deuterium beams at a beam energy of ∼120 keV for pulse lengths up to 30 s. A long-pulse plasma generator with active water cooling has been operated at an arc level of 1200 A with 30-s pulse durations. The plasma density and uniformity are sufficient for supplying a 60-A beam of hydrogen ions to a 13- by 43-cm accelerator. A 10- by 25-cm tetrode accelerator has been operated to form 120-keV hydrogen ion beams. Using the two-dimensional (2-D) ion extraction code developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a 13- by 43-cm tetrode accelerator has been designed and is being fabricated. The aperture shapes of accelerator grids are optimized for 120-keV beam energy.