Paper | Title | Page |
---|---|---|
TUPAS064 | Helicon Plasma Generator-assisted H- Ion Source Development at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center | 1802 |
|
||
Funding: Work supported by the US Department of Energy under contract DE-AC52-06NA25396 The aim of the helicon plasma generator-assisted negative ion source development at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) is to use high-density helicon plasmas for producing intense beams of H- ions. Our work consists of two development paths, construction of a hybrid ion source and replacement of the LANSCE surface converter ion source filaments by helicon plasma generators. The hybrid ion source is a combination of a long-life plasma cathode, sustained by a helicon plasma generator, with a stationary, pulsed main discharge (multi-cusp H- production chamber) directly coupled to each other. The electrons are transferred from the helicon plasma to the cusp-chamber by thermal flow process to ignite and sustain the main discharge. Replacing the filaments of the surface converter source by two helicon plasma generators is a low-cost solution, building upon the well-proven converter-type ion sources. Both development paths are aimed at meeting the beam production goals of the LANSCE 800 MeV linear accelerator refurbishment project. The design and status of both ion source types is discussed. |