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The production and transport processes of H0 atoms are numerically simulated using a three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport code. The code is applied to the large JAEA 10 ampere negative ion source under the Cs-seeded condition to obtain a spatial distribution of surface-produced H- ions. In this analysis, the amount of H0 atoms produced through dissociation processes of H2 molecules is calculated from the electron temperature and density obtained by Langmuir probe measurements. The high-energy tail of electrons, which greatly affects H0 atom production, is taken into account by fitting a single-probe characteristic as a two-temperature Maxwellian distribution. In the H0 atom transport process, the energy relaxation of the H0 atoms, which affects the surface H- ion production rate, is taken into account. The result indicates that the surface H- ion production is enhanced near the high-electron-temperature region where H0 atom production is localized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modeling and analysis of a negative ion source is proceeding by using a 2D particle-in-cell simulation. The effect of the H- ion production on the plasma grid (PG) surface is investigated. It is shown that with the increase of H- ions per time step, the H- ion current density is enhanced, while the electron current density decreases with increasing the H- production rate on the PG surface. These results agree well with the experimental results observed in typical negative ion sources. Moreover, it is found that plasma quasi-neutrality is held mainly by both H+ and H- ions in the bulk plasma around the PG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The origin of the beam non-uniformity, that is one of the key issues in JT-60 negative ion sources, was experimentally examined by measuring correlations between the intensity of the H− ion beam and plasma parameters, such as an electron temperature and plasma density in the JAERI 10 A negative ion source. The ion source was operated without cesium. Although a uniform filter field was applied, the electron temperature near plasma grid (PG) was higher than 1eV in the upper half region of the longitudinal direction, where the spatial beam intensity decreased rapidly. This indicates that the beam non-uniformity is caused by a higher electron temperature than 1eV, namely, by a leakage of the high-energy electrons toward the PG. To investigate the path of high-energy electrons leaking into the PG, a metal plate of 50mm×50mm was placed in the plasma. By placing the plate in a weak magnetic field of <30G leading to a driver region near the upper wall, the electron temperature near the PG was sufficiently reduced to 1eV in the upper half region, where the beam intensity was simultaneously increased. As a result, a 20% gain of the beam current was obtained. Further, the source of the high-energy electrons leaking toward the PG was examined by changing the relative filament position to the upper wall. It is found that the filaments closest to the upper wall, i.e., at 80mm from the upper wall is one of the sources of the high-energy electrons leaking into the PG. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

High power and long-pulse negative ion extractor, which is composed of the plasma grid (PG) and the extraction grid (EXG), is newly developed toward the neutral beam injector for heating and current drive of future fusion machines such as ITER, JT-60 Super Advanced and DEMO reactor. The PG is designed to enhance surface production of negative ions efficiently by applying the chamfered aperture. The efficiency of the negative ion production for the discharge power increased by a factor of 1.3 against that of the conventional PG. The EXG is also designed with the thermal analysis to upgrade the cooling capability for the long pulse operation of >1000 s required in ITER. Though the magnetic field for electron suppression is reduced to 0.75 of that in the conventional EXG due to this upgrade, it was experimentally confirmed that the extracted electron current can be suppressed to the allowable level for the long pulse operation. These results show that newly developed extractor has the high potential for the long pulse extraction of the negative ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of magnetic filter configuration on the beam uniformity was examined to improve beam uniformity in a large Cs-seeded negative-ion source. By reducing the filter strength of the transverse magnetic field used in a typical negative-ion source, the beam uniformity was largely improved with the improvement of the plasma uniformity while the beam intensity was kept to be nearly constant. However, the coextracted electron current greatly increased. To suppress the coextracted electron current, a tent-shaped magnetic filter was applied together with modifications in the cusp magnets to form a typical multicusp positive-ion source arrangement. The uniformity in longitudinal beam profile was improved with the deviation of local beam intensity within 16% that was nearly equal to the deviation obtained at 50 G cm of the transverse filter strength. In the meantime, the coextracted electron current was kept to be the same as the H- ion current. The present result suggests that the uniformity of H- ion-beam profile is affected by the uniformity of atoms or protons in the source plasma, which are the primary species of negative ions under Cs-seeded surface production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the JT-60U negative-ion-based neutral beam injection system, the effect of negative ion and electron deflection by the plasma grid (PG) magnetic filter was studied. After a long-pulse operation of up to 19 s, a local melting was observed on the beamline near the ion source, facing the electron drift side of the PG magnetic field. It is confirmed that the experimental deflection of the negative-ion beam agrees well with the three-dimensional beam simulation result by taking account of the measured magnetic field. By using the code, it is found that some stripped electrons produced in the first acceleration gap pass through the down pitch of the multiple apertures in the next stage of acceleration grids, and then collide on the beamline around the melted location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The H- ion production and transport processes are numerically simulated to clarify the origin of H- beam nonuniformity. The three-dimensional transport code using the Monte Carlo method has been applied to H0 atoms and H- ions in the large “JAERI 10A negative ion source” under the Cs-seeded condition, in which negative ions are dominantly produced by the surface production process. The results show that a large fraction of hydrogen atoms is produced in the region with high electron temperature. This leads to a spatial nonuniformity of H0 atom flux to the plasma grid and the resultant H- ion surface production. In addition, most surface-produced H- ions are extracted even through the high Te region without destruction. These results indicate a correlation between the production process of the H- ion and the spatial nonuniformity of the H- ion beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the physical mechanism of the plasma spatial nonuniformity observed in tandem-type negative-ion sources, the primary electron-transport process has been analyzed by a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation code. In the model, equations of motion for electrons are numerically solved. The realistic geometry and magnetic-field configuration are taken into account. Various collision processes with neutral particles are also included in the model. The simulation results show that (1) the primary electrons have been lost from the source region to the extraction region due to the magnetic drift in the filter magnetic region and (2) the magnetic drift velocities have opposite directions near the sidewalls. The effect of the magnetic drift is one of the possible causes to explain the spatial nonuniformity observed in the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]