Design of an Ion Source for {sup 3}He Fusion in a Low Pressure IEC Device

Journal Article · Sun May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2005 · Fusion Science and Technology

OSTI ID:20854082

Piefer, Gregory R; Santarius, John F; Ashley, Robert P; Kulcinski, Gerald L ^[1]

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1. University of Wisconsin-Madison (United States)

Recent developments in helicon ion sources and Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) device performance at UW-Madison have enabled low pressure (< 50 {mu}torr, 6.7 mPa) operating conditions that should allow the {sup 3}He-{sup 3}He fusion reaction to be observed in an IEC device. An ion source capable of delivering a {approx} 10 mA {sup 3}He ion beam into an IEC device with minimal neutral gas flow has been designed and tested. Furthermore, a new IEC device that has never been operated with deuterium has been constructed to avoid D-{sup 3}He protons from obstructing the {sup 3}He-{sup 3}He reaction product spectrum, and to minimize Penning ionization of deuterium by excited helium, which in the past is suspected to have limited the ionized density of He. These developments make it possible to study beam-background {sup 3}He-{sup 3}He fusion reactions with > 300 mA recirculating ion currents.

• OSTI ID: 20854082
• Journal Information: Fusion Science and Technology, Journal Name: Fusion Science and Technology Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 47; ISSN 1536-1055
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
DESIGN
DEUTERIUM
GAS FLOW
HELIUM
HELIUM 3
ICF DEVICES
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
ION BEAMS
ION SOURCES
IONIZATION
PERFORMANCE