Study of pulsed discharge operation of volume H- ion source.

The pulsed operation of a negative ion volume source has been investigated, both with and without a magnetic filter present, under conditions of full-scale acceleration of the extracted negative hydrogen ion beam. This investigation is relevant to the temporal filter concept, which was recently proposed. The observation of three afterglow negative ion peaks is reported. As the negative ion current during the discharge pulse, each of the afterglow peaks can be optimized by varying the pressure, the plasma electrode bias, and the extraction voltage. Under optimum conditions, the negative ion current during the discharge pulse exceeds the afterglow peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]