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Title: A revisit to self-excited push pull vacuum tube radio frequency oscillator for ion sources and power measurements

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4944943· OSTI ID:22597141

Self-excited push-pull vacuum tube oscillator is one of the most commonly used oscillators in radio frequency (RF)-ion plasma sources for generation of ions using radio frequency. However, in spite of its fundamental role in the process of plasma formation, the working and operational characteristics are the most frequently skip part in the descriptions of RF ion sources in literatures. A more detailed treatment is given in the present work on the RF oscillator alone using twin beam power tetrodes 829B and GI30. The circuit operates at 102 MHz, and the oscillation conditions, stability in frequency, and RF output power are studied and analyzed. A modified form of photometric method and RF peak voltage detection method are employed to study the variation of the oscillator output power with plate voltage. The power curves obtained from these measurements are quadratic in nature and increase with increase in plate voltage. However, the RF output power as measured by photometric methods is always less than the value calculated from peak voltage measurements. This difference is due to the fact that the filament coil of the ordinary light bulb used as load/detector in photometric method is not a perfect inductor. The effect of inductive reactance on power transfer to load was further investigated and a technique is developed to estimate the amount of power correction needed in the photometric measurement result.

OSTI ID:
22597141
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 87, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English