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Title: Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities

Abstract

Electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasmas are prone to kinetic instabilities due to anisotropy of the electron energy distribution function stemming from the resonant nature of the electron heating process. Electron cyclotron plasma instabilities are related to non-linear interaction between plasma waves and energetic electrons resulting to strong microwave emission and a burst of energetic electrons escaping the plasma, and explain the periodic oscillations of the extracted beam currents observed in several laboratories. It is demonstrated with a minimum-B 14 GHz ECRIS operating on helium, oxygen, and argon plasmas that kinetic instabilities restrict the parameter space available for the optimization of high charge state ion currents. The most critical parameter in terms of plasma stability is the strength of the solenoid magnetic field. It is demonstrated that due to the instabilities the optimum B{sub min}-field in single frequency heating mode is often ≤0.8B{sub ECR}, which is the value suggested by the semiempirical scaling laws guiding the design of modern ECRISs. It is argued that the effect can be attributed not only to the absolute magnitude of the magnetic field but also to the variation of the average magnetic field gradient on the resonance surface.

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2];  [2]
  1. Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, 40500 Jyväskylä (Finland)
  2. Institute of Applied Physics, RAS, 46 Ul‘yanova St., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22392353
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 86; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; BEAM CURRENTS; ECR ION SOURCES; ENERGY SPECTRA; GHZ RANGE; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MICROWAVE RADIATION; PERIODICITY; PLASMA INSTABILITY; PLASMA WAVES; SOLENOIDS; TAIL ELECTRONS

Citation Formats

Tarvainen, O., E-mail: olli.tarvainen@jyu.fi, Laulainen, J., Komppula, J., Kronholm, R., Kalvas, T., Koivisto, H., Izotov, I., Mansfeld, D., Skalyga, V., and Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4906804.
Tarvainen, O., E-mail: olli.tarvainen@jyu.fi, Laulainen, J., Komppula, J., Kronholm, R., Kalvas, T., Koivisto, H., Izotov, I., Mansfeld, D., Skalyga, V., & Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4906804
Tarvainen, O., E-mail: olli.tarvainen@jyu.fi, Laulainen, J., Komppula, J., Kronholm, R., Kalvas, T., Koivisto, H., Izotov, I., Mansfeld, D., Skalyga, V., and Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. 2015. "Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4906804.
@article{osti_22392353,
title = {Limitations of electron cyclotron resonance ion source performances set by kinetic plasma instabilities},
author = {Tarvainen, O., E-mail: olli.tarvainen@jyu.fi and Laulainen, J. and Komppula, J. and Kronholm, R. and Kalvas, T. and Koivisto, H. and Izotov, I. and Mansfeld, D. and Skalyga, V. and Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod},
abstractNote = {Electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) plasmas are prone to kinetic instabilities due to anisotropy of the electron energy distribution function stemming from the resonant nature of the electron heating process. Electron cyclotron plasma instabilities are related to non-linear interaction between plasma waves and energetic electrons resulting to strong microwave emission and a burst of energetic electrons escaping the plasma, and explain the periodic oscillations of the extracted beam currents observed in several laboratories. It is demonstrated with a minimum-B 14 GHz ECRIS operating on helium, oxygen, and argon plasmas that kinetic instabilities restrict the parameter space available for the optimization of high charge state ion currents. The most critical parameter in terms of plasma stability is the strength of the solenoid magnetic field. It is demonstrated that due to the instabilities the optimum B{sub min}-field in single frequency heating mode is often ≤0.8B{sub ECR}, which is the value suggested by the semiempirical scaling laws guiding the design of modern ECRISs. It is argued that the effect can be attributed not only to the absolute magnitude of the magnetic field but also to the variation of the average magnetic field gradient on the resonance surface.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4906804},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22392353}, journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
issn = {0034-6748},
number = 2,
volume = 86,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}