Neutralization of negative hydrogen and deuterium ion beams using non-resonance adiabatic photon trap

Abstract

Experimental results on neutralization of negative ion beams in a photon stripping target are presented. For the energy of beams used in these studies (6–10 keV), the maximum neutralization efficiency is 95%. In contrast with gas or plasma neutralizers, the generation of positive ions from the negative ion beam was negligible. A non-resonance photon trap with highly reflecting mirrors of special shape was used as a stripping target. Due to a special mirror shape, in the process of photons reflections and propagation inside the trap there are some adiabatically conserved invariants that limits the volume accessible for photon motion even if the mirror surface is not closed. This approach makes it possible to overcome limitations typical for the Fabry–Perot cells, which require high radiation quality, high quality of the optical elements, and very high mechanical stability of the cell. The trap was pumped by commercially available fiber laser (λ = 1070 nm, Δλ = 7 nm, P = 2.1 kW) through a small hole in the mirror. The experiments were carried out with H- and D-beams. The observed neutralization efficiency depended mainly on the reflectivity of the mirrors, on defects on their surface, and on the laser pumping power.