Enhancement of negative hydrogen ion production at low pressure by controlling the electron kinetics property with transverse magnetic field

Abstract

In a volume production H− ion source, independent control of electron energy distribution between the driver region and the extraction region is crucial for the efficient production of H− ions due to its unique volume production mechanism. However, at the low pressure regime compatible to ITER operation, it is difficult to control electron energy distribution separately because the nonlocal property dominates the electron kinetics. In this work, we suggest a new method to control the locality of electron kinetics. In this method, an additional pair of permanent magnets is introduced in the vicinity of the skin layer, differently from the conventional method in which the magnetic filter field was strengthened in the extraction region. This magnetic field shortens the energy relaxation length and changes the electron kinetics from nonlocal to local even for low pressure discharges. In this paper, we show that the locality of electron kinetics can be effectively controlled by the additional magnetic field near the skin layer by measuring the electron temperature profile along the center of the discharge chamber as well as by comparing electron energy probability function shapes for different strengths of magnetic field. Using this new method, we demonstrate that control of locality of electron kinetics can greatly enhance the production of H− ions in the extraction region by measuring H− ion beam current extracted from the plasma source.