Determination of discharge parameters via OES at the Linac4 H⁻ ion source.

Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) measurements of the atomic Balmer series and the molecular Fulcher transition have been carried out at the Linac4 ion source in order to determine plasma parameters. As the spectroscopic system was only relatively calibrated, the data evaluation only yielded rough estimates of the plasma parameters (T(e) ≈ 1.2 eV, n(e) ≈ 1 × 10(19) m(-3), and n(H/)n(H2) ≈ 0.5 at standard operational parameters). The analysis of the Fulcher transition revealed a non-thermal "hockey-stick" rotational population of the hydrogen molecules. At varying RF power, the measurements at the on-axis line of sight (LOS) showed a peak in the rotational temperatures between 25 and 40 kW of RF power, whereas a steady decrease with power was observed at a tilted LOS, indicating the presence of strong plasma parameter gradients.

Analysis of electron energy distribution function in the Linac4 H⁻ source.

To understand the Electron Energy Distribution Function (EEDF) in the Radio Frequency Inductively Coupled Plasmas (RF-ICPs) in hydrogen negative ion sources, the detailed analysis of the EEDFs using numerical simulation and the theoretical approach based on Boltzmann equation has been performed. It is shown that the EEDF of RF-ICPs consists of two parts, one is the low energy part which obeys Maxwellian distribution and the other is high energy part deviated from Maxwellian distribution. These simulation results have been confirmed to be reasonable by the analytical approach. The results suggest that it is possible to enhance the dissociation of molecules and the resultant H(-) negative ion production by reducing the gas pressure.

Effect of high energy electrons on H⁻ production and destruction in a high current DC negative ion source for cyclotron.

Recently, a filament driven multi-cusp negative ion source has been developed for proton cyclotrons in medical applications. In this study, numerical modeling of the filament arc-discharge source plasma has been done with kinetic modeling of electrons in the ion source plasmas by the multi-cusp arc-discharge code and zero dimensional rate equations for hydrogen molecules and negative ions. In this paper, main focus is placed on the effects of the arc-discharge power on the electron energy distribution function and the resultant H(-) production. The modelling results reasonably explains the dependence of the H(-) extraction current on the arc-discharge power in the experiments.

Numerical study of plasma generation process and internal antenna heat loadings in J-PARC RF negative ion source.

A numerical model of plasma transport and electromagnetic field in the J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) radio frequency ion source has been developed to understand the relation between antenna coil heat loadings and plasma production/transport processes. From the calculation, the local plasma density increase is observed in the region close to the antenna coil. Electrons are magnetized by the magnetic field line with absolute magnetic flux density 30-120 Gauss which leads to high local ionization rate. The results suggest that modification of magnetic configuration can be made to reduce plasma heat flux onto the antenna.

Linac4 H⁻ ion sources.

CERN's 160 MeV H(-) linear accelerator (Linac4) is a key constituent of the injector chain upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider that is being installed and commissioned. A cesiated surface ion source prototype is being tested and has delivered a beam intensity of 45 mA within an emittance of 0.3 π ⋅ mm ⋅ mrad. The optimum ratio of the co-extracted electron- to ion-current is below 1 and the best production efficiency, defined as the ratio of the beam current to the 2 MHz RF-power transmitted to the plasma, reached 1.1 mA/kW. The H(-) source prototype and the first tests of the new ion source optics, electron-dump, and front end developed to minimize the beam emittance are presented. A temperature regulated magnetron H(-) source developed by the Brookhaven National Laboratory was built at CERN. The first tests of the magnetron operated at 0.8 Hz repetition rate are described.

Effect of Coulomb collision on the negative ion extraction mechanism in negative ion sources.

To improve the H(-) ion beam optics, it is necessary to understand the energy relaxation process of surface produced H(-) ions in the extraction region of Cs seeded H(-) ion sources. Coulomb collisions of charged particles have been introduced to the 2D3V-PIC (two dimension in real space and three dimension in velocity space particle-in-cell) model for the H(-) extraction by using the binary collision model. Due to Coulomb collision, the lower energy part of the ion energy distribution function of H(-) ions has been greatly increased. The mean kinetic energy of the surface produced H(-) ions has been reduced to 0.65 eV from 1.5 eV. It has been suggested that the beam optics of the extracted H(-) ion beam is strongly affected by the energy relaxation process due to Coulomb collision.

Linac4 low energy beam measurements with negative hydrogen ions.

Linac4, a 160 MeV normal-conducting H(-) linear accelerator, is the first step in the upgrade of the beam intensity available from the LHC proton injectors at CERN. The Linac4 Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) line from the pulsed 2 MHz RF driven ion source, to the 352 MHz RFQ (Radiofrequency Quadrupole) has been built and installed at a test stand, and has been used to transport and match to the RFQ a pulsed 14 mA H(-) beam at 45 keV. A temporary slit-and-grid emittance measurement system has been put in place to characterize the beam delivered to the RFQ. In this paper a description of the LEBT and its beam diagnostics is given, and the results of beam emittance measurements and beam transmission measurements through the RFQ are compared with the expectation from simulations.

Numerical study of the inductive plasma coupling to ramp up the plasma density for the Linac4 H(-) ion source.

In the Linac4 H(-) ion source, the plasma is generated by an RF antenna operated at 2 MHz. In order to investigate the conditions necessary for ramping up the plasma density of the Linac4 H(-) ion source in the low plasma density, a numerical study has been performed for a wide range of parameter space of RF coil current and initial pressure from H2 gas injection. We have employed an Electromagnetic Particle in Cell model, in which the collision processes have been calculated by a Monte Carlo method. The results have shown that the range of initial gas pressure from 2 to 3 Pa is suitable for ramping up plasma density via inductive coupling.

Plasma ignition and steady state simulations of the Linac4 H(-) ion source.

The RF heating of the plasma in the Linac4 H(-) ion source has been simulated using a particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision method. This model is applied to investigate the plasma formation starting from an initial low electron density of 10(12) m(-3) and its stabilization at 10(18) m(-3). The plasma discharge at low electron density is driven by the capacitive coupling with the electric field generated by the antenna, and as the electron density increases the capacitive electric field is shielded by the plasma and induction drives the plasma heating process. Plasma properties such as e(-)/ion densities and energies, sheath formation, and shielding effect are presented and provide insight to the plasma properties of the hydrogen plasma.

Equivalent circuit of radio frequency-plasma with the transformer model.

LINAC4 H(-) source is radio frequency (RF) driven type source. In the RF system, it is required to match the load impedance, which includes H(-) source, to that of final amplifier. We model RF plasma inside the H(-) source as circuit elements using transformer model so that characteristics of the load impedance become calculable. It has been shown that the modeling based on the transformer model works well to predict the resistance and inductance of the plasma.

Modeling of neutrals in the Linac4 H(-) ion source plasma: hydrogen atom production density profile and Hα intensity by collisional radiative model.

To control the H(0) atom production profile in the H(-) ion sources is one of the important issues for the efficient and uniform surface H(-) production. The purpose of this study is to construct a collisional radiative (CR) model to calculate the effective production rate of H(0) atoms from H2 molecules in the model geometry of the radio-frequency (RF) H(-) ion source for Linac4 accelerator. In order to validate the CR model by comparison with the experimental results from the optical emission spectroscopy, it is also necessary for the model to calculate Balmer photon emission rate in the source. As a basic test of the model, the time evolutions of H(0) production and the Balmer Hα photon emission rate are calculated for given electron energy distribution functions in the Linac4 RF H(-) ion source. Reasonable test results are obtained and basis for the detailed comparisons with experimental results have been established.

Status and operation of the Linac4 ion source prototypes.

CERN's Linac4 45 kV H(-) ion sources prototypes are installed at a dedicated ion source test stand and in the Linac4 tunnel. The operation of the pulsed hydrogen injection, RF sustained plasma, and pulsed high voltages are described. The first experimental results of two prototypes relying on 2 MHz RF-plasma heating are presented. The plasma is ignited via capacitive coupling, and sustained by inductive coupling. The light emitted from the plasma is collected by viewports pointing to the plasma chamber wall in the middle of the RF solenoid and to the plasma chamber axis. Preliminary measurements of optical emission spectroscopy and photometry of the plasma have been performed. The design of a cesiated ion source is presented. The volume source has produced a 45 keV H(-) beam of 16-22 mA which has successfully been used for the commissioning of the Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT), Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) accelerator, and chopper of Linac4.

Numerical simulation of electromagnetic fields and impedance of CERN LINAC4 H(-) source taking into account the effect of the plasma.

Numerical simulation of the CERN LINAC4 H(-) source 2 MHz RF system has been performed taking into account a realistic geometry from 3D Computer Aided Design model using commercial FEM high frequency simulation code. The effect of the plasma has been added to the model by the approximation of a homogenous electrically conducting medium. Electric and magnetic fields, RF power losses, and impedance of the circuit have been calculated for different values of the plasma conductivity. Three different regimes have been found depending on the plasma conductivity: (1) Zero or low plasma conductivity results in RF electric field induced by the RF antenna being mainly capacitive and has axial direction; (2) Intermediate conductivity results in the expulsion of capacitive electric field from plasma and the RF power coupling, which is increasing linearly with the plasma conductivity, is mainly dominated by the inductive azimuthal electric field; (3) High conductivity results in the shielding of both the electric and magnetic fields from plasma due to the skin effect, which reduces RF power coupling to plasma. From these simulations and measurements of the RF power coupling on the CERN source, a value of the plasma conductivity has been derived. It agrees well with an analytical estimate calculated from the measured plasma parameters. In addition, the simulated and measured impedances with and without plasma show very good agreement as well demonstrating validity of the plasma model used in the RF simulations.

Status of the plasma generator of the superconducting proton linac.

In the framework of the superconducting proton linac (SPL) study at CERN, a new non-cesiated H(-) plasma generator driven by an external 2 MHz RF antenna has been developed and successfully operated at repetition rates of 50 Hz, pulse lengths of up to 3 ms, and average RF powers of up to 3 kW. The coupling efficiency of RF power into the plasma was determined by the cooling water temperatures and the analysis of the RF forward and reflected power and the antenna current and amounts to 50%-60%. The plasma resistance increases between 10 kW and 40 kW RF power from about 0.45 Ω to 0.65 Ω. Measurements of RF power dissipated in the ferrites and the magnets on a test bench show a 5-fold decrease of the power losses for the magnets when they are contained in a Cu box, thus validating the strategy of shielding the magnets with a high electrical conductivity material. An air cooling system was installed in the SPL plasma generator to control the temperatures of the ferrites despite hysteresis losses of several Watts.

Plasma characterization of the superconducting proton linear accelerator plasma generator using a 2 MHz compensated Langmuir probe.

The CERN study for a superconducting proton Linac (SPL) investigates the design of a pulsed 5 GeV Linac operating at 50 Hz. As a first step towards a future SPL H(-) volume ion source, a plasma generator capable of operating at Linac4 or nominal SPL settings has been developed and operated at a dedicated test stand. The hydrogen plasma is heated by an inductively coupled RF discharge e(-) and ions are confined by a magnetic multipole cusp field similar to the currently commissioned Linac4 H(-) ion source. Time-resolved measurements of the plasma potential, temperature, and electron energy distribution function obtained by means of a RF compensated Langmuir probe along the axis of the plasma generator are presented. The influence of the main tuning parameters, such as RF power and frequency and the timing scheme is discussed with the aim to correlate them to optimum H(-) ion beam parameters measured on an ion source test stand. The effects of hydrogen injection settings which allow operation at 50 Hz repetition rate are discussed.

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

Linac4 accelerator of Centre Européen de Recherches Nucléaires 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.

Optical emission spectroscopy of the Linac4 and superconducting proton Linac plasma generators.

CERN's superconducting proton Linac (SPL) study investigates a 50 Hz high-energy, high-power Linac for H(-) ions. The SPL plasma generator is an evolution of the DESY ion source plasma generator currently operated at CERN's Linac4 test stand. The plasma generator is a step towards a particle source for the SPL, it is designed to handle 100 kW peak RF-power at a 6% duty factor. While the acquisition of an integrated hydrogen plasma optical spectrum is straightforward, the measurement of a time-resolved spectrum requires dedicated amplification schemes. The experimental setup for visible light based on photomultipliers and narrow bandwidth filters and the UV spectrometer setup are described. The H(α), H(ß), and H(γ) Balmer line intensities, the Lyman band and alpha transition were measured. A parametric study of the optical emission from the Linac4 ion source and the SPL plasma generator as a function of RF-power and gas pressure is presented. The potential of optical emission spectrometry coupled to RF-power coupling measurements for on-line monitoring of short RF heated hydrogen plasma pulses is discussed.

A new extraction system for the Linac4 H- ion source.

As part of the CERN accelerator complex upgrade, a new linear accelerator for H(-) (Linac4) is under construction. The ion source design is based on the non-caesiated DESY RF-driven ion source, with the goal of producing an H(-) beam of 80 mA beam current, 45 keV beam energy, 0.4 ms pulse length, and 2 Hz repetition rate. The source has been successfully commissioned for an extraction voltage of 35 kV, corresponding to the one used at DESY. Increasing the extraction voltage to 45 kV has resulted in frequent high voltage breakdowns in the extraction region caused by evaporating material from the electron dump, triggering a new design of the extraction and electron dumping system. Results of the ion source commissioning at 35 kV are presented as well as simulations of a new pulsed extraction system for beam extraction at 45 kV.

Ion sources for MedAustron.

The MedAustron Ion therapy center will be constructed in Wiener Neustadt (Austria) in the vicinity of Vienna. Its accelerator complex consists of four ion sources, a linear accelerator, a synchrotron, and a beam delivery system to the three medical treatment rooms and to the research irradiation room. The ion sources shall deliver beams of H(3)(1+), C(4+), and light ions with utmost reliability and stability. This paper describes the features of the ion sources presently planned for the MedAustron facility, such as ion source main parameters, gas injection, temperature control, and cooling systems. A dedicated beam diagnostics technique is proposed in order to characterize electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion beams; in the first drift region after the ion source, a fraction of the mixed beam is selected via moveable aperture. With standard beam diagnostics, we then aim to produce position-dependant observables such as ion-current density, beam energy distribution, and emittance for each charge states to be compared to simulations of ECR e-heating, plasma simulation, beam formation, and transport.

Commissioning of the new H- source for Linac4.

As part of the CERN accelerator complex upgrade, a new linear accelerator for H(-) (Linac4) will start its operation in 2014. The source for this linac will be a 2 MHz rf driven H(-) source which is a copy of the very successful source from DESY. In this paper the design and the first results of the commissioning are reported. The commissioning has progressed successfully, and no major obstacles have been identified which will prevent reaching the goal of 80 mA H(-) beam current, 45 keV beam energy, 0.4 ms pulse length, and 2 Hz repetition rate. The source is producing up until now a stable beam of 23 mA, 35 keV, and with a repetition rate of 0.83 Hz.