Response of beam focusing to plasma fluctuation in a filament-arc-type negative ion source

Abstract

Beam focusing is one of the most important elements for the stable and safe operation of high power negative ion beams, such as neutral beam injection into magnetically confined fusion plasmas. In order to investigate impacts of the source plasma fluctuation on beam focusing, a simultaneous measurement of the source plasma fluctuation and the beam current profile has been carried out in the research-and-development negative ion source at the National Institute for Fusion Science. The responses of beam width and of the beam centre deviation are observed for the first time, indicating the importance of the source plasma stability for the negative ion beam focusing.