An ion species model for positive ion sources: II. Analysis of hydrogen isotope effects

Abstract

A one-dimensional model of the magnetic multipole volume plasma source has been developed for application to intense ion/neutral atom beam injectors. The model uses plasma transport coefficients for particle and energy flow to create a detailed description of the plasma parameters along an axis parallel to that of the extracted beam. In this paper the isotopic modelling of positive hydrogenic ions is considered and compared with experimental data from the neutral beam injectors of the Joint European Torus. The use of the code to gain insights into the processes contributing to the ratios of the ionic species is demonstrated and the conclusion is drawn that 75% of the atomic ion species arises from ionization of dissociated molecules and 25% from dissociation of the molecular ions. However, whilst the former process is independent of the filter field, the latter is sensitive to the change in distribution of fast and thermal electrons produced by the magnetic filter field and an optimum combination of field strength and depth exists. Finally, the code is used to predict the species ratios for the JET source operating in tritium and hence the neutral beam power injected into the plasma in the JET tritium campaign planned for 2016.