Optical diagnostics of negative ion beam transport.

A diagnostic complex for monitoring the position, propagation direction, and angular distribution dispersion of a particle beam planned for application in the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy facility is described in this paper. For the beam position and direction, the precision is, respectively, 0.1 mm and 1 mrad at 10 mA CW H- beam with energy of about 35 keV and a diameter of the order of 10 mm. The energy spread and angular divergence were measured within the accuracy of about 100 eV and 3 mrad, respectively. The acceptable precision of about 1 mm for the beam position is obtained at a relatively short exposure to 10 ms. To increase the radiation intensity of the beam, the addition of various gases was studied. The addition of gas decreases the beam width and increases the negative ions stripping.

Study of continuous wave 33 keV H- beam transport through the low energy beam transport section.

The transport of a continuous wave 33 keV negative ion beam through the low energy beam transport section, designed for beam injection into the tandem accelerator, was studied. The continuous wave H- beam, produced by the Penning surface-plasma source with hollow cathodes and cesium addition, was separated and focused by the 90° bending magnet and then transported through the 0.8 m long transport tube, equipped with beam electrical and optical diagnostics. The beam current was measured by a water-cooled Faraday cup at the transport tube exit. Beam sizes and profiles were measured by CCD cameras looking into the beam from the back and sides. The additions of hydrogen, argon, and xenon to the transport tube and to the bending magnet chamber in the pressure range of 10-6 to 10-4 Torr were tested. The influence of gas addition on the beam space charge compensation and beam transport was studied. A mechanism for the H- beam focusing due to space charge overcompensation and beam compression by the positive charge, produced with positive ion accumulation in the beam, is discussed.

Development of continuous wave high voltage negative ion beam injector for tandem accelerator.

A vacuum-insulated tandem accelerator, delivering the continuous wave 8 mA, 2 MeV proton beam, is operated regularly at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, where a 10 mA, 25 keV negative ion injector is used. Recently, a new injector with an upgraded negative ion source and beam preacceleration has been developed to increase the tandem accelerated current. The transport line of the new injector is composed of a bending magnet with 90° ion beam turn, an acceleration tube for negative ion acceleration to the energy up to 150 keV, and a 0.6 m long transport section. The H- ion beam production, its acceleration, and transport were studied at a test stand, which is equipped with electrical and optical diagnostics. The data on 14 mA, 133 keV continuous wave negative ion beam production and transport are presented. The undesirable coacceleration of secondary electrons, produced in the acceleration tube, was recorded as well. The coaccelerated electrons' current contributed up to 2% of the total accelerated beam at the operational vacuum in the low energy beam transport. The coaccelerated electrons were removed from the beam with a magnetic filter. The numerical modeling of the beam transport was carried out. A reasonable agreement between the modeled and experimental data was obtained.

Effect of plasma grid bias on extracted currents in the RF driven surface-plasma negative ion source.

Extraction of negative ions from the large inductively driven surface-plasma negative ion source was studied. The dependencies of the extracted currents vs plasma grid (PG) bias potential were measured for two modifications of radio-frequency driver with and without Faraday screen, for different hydrogen feeds and for different levels of cesium conditioning. The maximal PG current was independent of driver modification and it was lower in the case of inhibited cesium. The maximal extracted negative ion current depends on the potential difference between the near-PG plasma and the PG bias potentials, while the absolute value of plasma potential in the driver and in the PG area is less important for the negative ion production. The last conclusion confirms the main mechanism of negative ion production through the surface conversion of fast atoms.

High voltage holding in the negative ion sources with cesium deposition.

High voltage holding of the large surface-plasma negative ion source with cesium deposition was studied. It was found that heating of ion-optical system electrodes to temperature >100 °C facilitates the source conditioning by high voltage pulses in vacuum and by beam shots. The procedure of electrode conditioning and the data on high-voltage holding in the negative ion source with small cesium seed are described. The mechanism of high voltage holding improvement by depletion of cesium coverage is discussed.

Efficient cesiation in RF driven surface plasma negative ion source.

Experiments on hydrogen negative ions production in the large radio-frequency negative ion source with cesium seed are described. The system of directed cesium deposition to the plasma grid periphery was used. The small cesium seed (∼0.5 G) provides an enhanced H(-) production during a 2 month long experimental cycle. The gradual increase of negative ion yield during the long-term source runs was observed after cesium addition to the source. The degraded H(-) production was recorded after air filling to the source or after the cesium washing away from the driver and plasma chamber walls. The following source conditioning by beam shots produces the gradual recovery of H(-) yield to the high value. The effect of H(-) yield recovery after cesium coverage passivation by air fill was studied. The concept of cesium coverage replenishment and of H(-) yield recovery due to sputtering of cesium from the deteriorated layers is discussed.

Inductively driven surface-plasma negative ion source for N-NBI use (invited).

The long-pulse surface-plasma source prototype is developed at Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics for negative-ion based neutral beam injector use. The essential source features are (1) an active temperature control of the ion-optical system electrodes by circulation of hot thermal fluid through the channels, drilled in the electrode bodies, (2) the concaved transverse magnetic field in the extraction and acceleration gaps, preventing the electrons trapping and avalanching, and (3) the directed cesium deposition via distribution tubes adjacent to the plasma grid periphery. The long term effect of cesium was obtained just with the single cesium deposition. The high voltage strength of ion-optical system electrodes was improved with actively heated electrodes. A stable H(-) beam with a current ∼1 A and energy 90 keV was routinely extracted and accelerated.

Development of a negative ion-based neutral beam injector in Novosibirsk.

A 1000 keV, 5 MW, 1000 s neutral beam injector based on negative ions is being developed in the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk in collaboration with Tri Alpha Energy, Inc. The innovative design of the injector features the spatially separated ion source and an electrostatic accelerator. Plasma or photon neutralizer and energy recuperation of the remaining ion species is employed in the injector to provide an overall energy efficiency of the system as high as 80%. A test stand for the beam acceleration is now under construction. A prototype of the negative ion beam source has been fabricated and installed at the test stand. The prototype ion source is designed to produce 120 keV, 1.5 A beam.

The 25 mA continuous-wave surface-plasma source of H(-) ions.

The ion source with the Penning geometry of electrodes producing continuous-wave beam of H(-) ions with current up to 25 mA was developed. Several improvements were introduced to increase source intensity, reliability, and lifetime. The collar around the emission aperture increases the electrons filtering. The apertures' diameters of the ion-optical system electrodes were increased to generate the beam with higher intensity. An optimization of electrodes' temperature was performed.

Comparative analysis of continuous-wave surface-plasma negative ion sources with various discharge geometry.

Negative ion extraction from continuous-wave (CW) magnetron and semiplanotron discharges was studied and it was compared with that for the source with Penning electrode geometry. The CW negative ion beam up current to 13 mA was extracted from the magnetron source with emission aperture of 3.5 mm in diameter, while the beam with current up to 8 mA was obtained from the semiplanotron source modification. Characteristics of CW magnetron and semiplanotron sources are presented and analyzed.

Arc plasma generator of atomic driver for steady-state negative ion source.

The paper reviews the results of development of steady-state arc-discharge plasma generator with directly heated LaB6 cathode. This arc-discharge plasma generator produces a plasma jet which is to be converted into an atomic one after recombination on a metallic plate. The plate is electrically biased relative to the plasma in order to control the atom energies. Such an intensive jet of hydrogen atoms can be used in negative ion sources for effective production of negative ions on a cesiated surface of plasma grid. All elements of the plasma generator have an augmented water cooling to operate in long pulse mode or in steady state. The thermo-mechanical stresses and deformations of the most critical elements of the plasma generator were determined by simulations. Magnetic field inside the discharge chamber was optimized to reduce the local power loads. The first tests of the steady-state arc plasma generator prototype have performed in long-pulse mode.

Direct current H(-) source for boron neutron capture therapy tandem accelerator.

One year experience of dc H(-) source operation at 2 MeV tandem accelerator is described. The source delivers H(-) ion beams with controlled current in the range of 1-8 mA and energy up to 25 keV. Normalized 1 rms emittance for 8 mA beam is less than 0.2 pi mm mrad. Negative ions are produced on the cesiated anode of the Penning discharge, driven by plasma injection from the hollow cathode inserts.

First experimental results from 2 MeV proton tandem accelerator for neutron production.

A 2 MeV proton tandem accelerator with vacuum insulation was developed and first experiments are carried out in the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Novosibirsk). The accelerator is designed for neutron production via reaction (7)Li(p,n)(7)Be for the boron neutron-capture therapy of the brain tumors, and for explosive detection based on 9.1724 MeV resonance gamma, which are produced via reaction (13)C(p,gamma)(14)N, absorption in nitrogen.