Beam optics simulation of the ion injector for sodium Beam Emission Spectroscopy (Na-BES) on EAST

Abstract

To upgrade the Li-BES to Na-BES on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), a high-brightness and stable sodium (Na) ion source is developed, and the performance of Na ion beam optics is simulated by the COMSOL Multiphysics. The porous tungsten disk with 70% porosity and filled with albite Na2O·Al2O3·6SiO2 is successfully developed as the Na ion source. The extracted current density of the Na-beam increases with the extraction voltage, and its maximum current can reach 9 mA with the ion source diameter of 20 mm. The lifetime of the Na ion source is evaluated to be 63 mAh, which is much longer than that of the Li ion source. The simulation shows that the preferable distances among the ion source (or anode electrode), extractor and puller to get the well-focused beam are x puller - x extractor ∼ 0.06 m and x extractor - x ion source ∼ 0.02 m. Further simulation with these optimized distances determines the extraction voltage and ion source size for good beam performance. In addition, the simulation shows the beam divergence angle decreases by more than 40% by optimizing the Einzel voltage to 5 kV, suggesting an excellent focusing property of the Einzel lens. These works provide the basis and the design references for the Na-BES development on EAST.