Analysis of the Effect of Beam Divergence Angle on Back-Streaming Electron Region in Ion Source for EAST-Neutral Beam Injection

During the process of beam extraction in positive ion source under high voltage region, a large number of electrons are produced in the gaps of grids. After back-streaming acceleration, these electrons go back to arc chamber or impinge grids and then heat back plate or grids, which are harmful for the safety of ion source. Under the situation of poor beam extraction optics, a large part of the primary beam ions bombard the surface of suppressor grid (SG). And this process produces a large number of electrons. Due to the huge extracted voltage, the secondary electron emission coefficient of the SG surface is also high. As a result, the grids' current grows. According to the measurement of the current of SG and the calculation of the perveance of the corresponding shoot, the effect of ion beam divergence angle on back-streaming electrons can be analyzed. When the beam divergence angle increases, the number of back-streaming electrons increases rapidly, and grids' current changes significantly, especially the current of gradient grid and SG. The results can guide the parameters operating on the ion source for Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak-neutral beam injection (EAST-NBI) and find the reasonable operation interval of perveance and to ensure the safety and stable running of the ion source, which has great significance on the development of long pulse, high power ion source.

Analysis of the Effect of Beam Divergence Angle on Back-Streaming Electron Region in Ion Source for EAST-NBI

During the process of beam extraction in positive ion source under high voltage region, a large number of electrons are produced in the gaps of grids. After back-streaming acceleration, these electrons go back to arc chamber or impinge grids and heat electron dump or grids, which are harmful for the safety of ion source. Under the situation of poor beam extraction optics, a large part of the primary beam ions bombard the surface of suppressor grid. And this process produces a large number of electrons. Due to the huge extracted voltage, the secondary electron emission coefficient of the suppressor grid surface is also great, when beam ions bombard on it. As a result, the grids’ current grows. The curvature of ion emission surface and equipotential surface nearby are mainly connected to the perveance and plasma grid geometry. In order to optimize the beam performance of high current ion source and increase the mean arc efficiency, the plasma grid of accelerator is already replaced from circular cross section grid to diamond cross section grid. As a result, the shape of ion emission surface is only connected to the perveance. According the measurement of the current of suppressor grid and the calculation of the perveance of the corresponding shoot, we can analyze the effect of beam divergence angle on back-streaming electron. When the beam divergence angle increases, the number of back-streaming electrons increases rapidly, and grids current changes significantly, especially the current of gradient grid and suppressor grid. The results can guide the parameters operating on the ion source for EAST-NBI and find the reasonable operation interval of perveance and the best one to ensure the safety and stable running of the ion source, which has great significance on the development of long pulse, high power ion source.