• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.719-720
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• 2004

A multi-megawatt long pulse ion source (LPIS) of neutral beam injector was developed for the KSTAR. Beam extraction experiments of the LPIS were carried out at the neutral beam test stand (NBTS). Design requirements for the ion source were 120 kV/65 A deuterium beam and a 300 s pulse length. A maximum ion density of $9.1310^{11}$ $cm^{-3}$ was measured by using electric probes, and an optimum arc efficiency of 0.46 A/kW was estimated with ion saturation current of the probes, arc power, and total beam area. An arcing problem, caused by the structural defect of decelerating grid supporter, in the third gap was solved by the blocking of backstream ion particles, originated from the plasma in the neutralizer duct, through the unnecessary spaces on the side of grid supporter. A maximum drain power of 1.5 MW (i.e. 70 kV/21 A) with hydrogen was measured for a pulse duration of 0.5 s. Optimum beam perveance was ranged from 0.75 to 0.85. An improved design of accelerator for the effective control of beam particle trajectory should provide higher beam perveance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.357-363
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• 2004

A prototype long pulse ion source was developed, and the beam extraction experiments of the ion source were carried out at the Neutral Beam Test Stand (NBTS) of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR). The ion source consists of a magnetic bucket plasma generator, with multi-pole cusp fields, and a set of tetrode accelerators with circular apertures. Design requirements for the ion source were a 120kV/65A deuterium beam and a 300 s pulse length. Arc discharges of the plasma generator were controlled by using the emission-limited mode, in turn controlled by the applied heating voltage of the cathode filaments. Stable and efficient arc plasmas with a maximum arc power of 100 kW were produced using the constant power mode operation of an arc power supply. A maximum ion density of $8.3{\times}10^{11}\;cm^{-3}$ was obtained by using electrostatic probes, and an optimum arc efficiency of 0.46 A/kW was estimated. The accelerating and decelerating voltages were applied repeatedly, using the re-triggering mode operation of the high voltage switches during a beam pulse, when beam disruptions occurred. The decelerating voltage was always applied prior to the accelerating voltage, to suppress effectively the back-streaming electrons produced at the time of an initial beam formation, by the pre-programmed fast-switch control system. A maximum beam power of 0.9 MW (i.e. $70\;kV{\times}12.5\;A$) with hydrogen was measured for a pulse duration of 0.8 s. Optimum beam perveance, deduced from the ratio of the gradient grid current to the total beam current, was $0.7\;{\mu}perv$. Stable beams for a long pulse duration of $5{\sim}10\;s$ were tested at low accelerating voltages.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2024

A low energy ion irradiation system based on the deuterium arc ion source with a high perveance of 1 µP for a single extraction aperture has been successfully developed for the investigation of ion irradiation on plasma-facing components including the first mirror of plasma optical diagnostics system. Under the optimum operating condition for mirror testing, the ion source has a beam energy of 200 eV and a current density of 3.7 mA/cm². The ion source comprises a magnetic cusp-type plasma source, an extraction system, a target system with a Faraday cup, and a power supply control system to ensure stable long time operation. Operation parameters of plasma source such as pressure, filament current, and arc power with D₂ discharge gas were optimized for beam extraction by measuring plasma parameters with a Langmuir probe. The diode electrode extraction system was designed by IGUN simulation to optimize for 1 µP perveance. It was successfully demonstrated that the ion beam current of ~4 mA can be extracted through the 10 mm aperture from the developed ion source. The target system with the Faraday cup is also developed to measure the beam current. With the assistance of the power control system, ion beams are extracted while maintaining a consistent arc power for more than 10 min of continuous operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.269-269
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• 2012

A new ion source has been designed, fabricated, and installed at the NBTS (Neutral Beam Test Stand) at the KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) site. The goalis to provide a 100 keV, 2MW deuterium neutral beam injection as an auxiliary heating of KSTAR (Korea Super Tokamak Advanced Research). To cope with power demand, an ion current of 50 A is required considering the beam power loss and neutralization efficiency. The new ion source consists of a magnetic cusp bucket plasma generator and a set of tetrode accelerators with circular copper apertures. The plasma generator for the new ion source has the same design concept as the modified JAEA multi-cusp plasma generator for the KSTAR prototype ion source. The dimensions of the plasma generator are a cross section of $59{\times}25cm^2$ with a 32.5 cm depth. The anode has azimuthal arrays of Nd-Fe permanent magnets (3.4 kG at surface) in the bucket and an electron dump, which makes 9 cusp lines including the electron dump. The discharge properties were investigated preliminarily to enhance the efficiency of the beam extraction. The discharge of the new ion source was mainly controlled by a constant power mode of operation. The discharge of the plasma generator was initiated by the support of primary electrons emitted from the cathode, consisting of 12 tungsten filaments with a hair-pin type (diameter = 2.0 mm). The arc discharge of the new ion source was achieved easily up to an arc power of 80 kW (80 V/1000 A) with hydrogen gas. The 80 kW capacity seems sufficient for the arc power supply to attain the goal of arc efficiency (beam extracted current/discharge input power = 0.8 A/kW). The accelerator of the new ion source consists of four grids: plasma grid (G1), gradient grid (G2), suppressor grid (G3), and ground grid (G4). Each grid has 280 EA circular apertures. The performance tests of the new ion source accelerator were also finished including accelerator conditioning. A hydrogen ion beam was successfully extracted up to 100 keV /60 A. The optimum perveance is defined where the beam divergence is at a minimum was also investigated experimentally. The optimum hydrogen beam perveance is over $2.3{\mu}P$ at 60 keV, and the beam divergence angle is below $1.0^{\circ}$. Thus, the new ion source is expected to be capable of extracting more than a 5 MW deuterium ion beam power at 100 keV. This ion source can deliver ~2 MW of neutral beam power to KSTAR tokamak plasma for the 2012 campaign.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.240-240
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• 2011

The first neutral beam injector (NBI-1) has been developed for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) tokamak. A first long pulse ion source (LPIS-1) has been installed on the NBI-1 for an auxiliary heating and current drive of KSTAR core plasmas. Performance of ion and neutral beam extractions in the LPIS-1 was investigated initially on the KSTAR NBI-1 system, prior to the neutral beam injection into the main plasmas. The ion source consists of a JAEA magnetic bucket plasma generator with multi-pole cusp fields and a set of KAERI prototype-III tetrode accelerators with circular apertures. The inner volume of plasma generator and accelerator column in the LPIS-1 is approximately 123 liters. Final design requirements for the ion source were a 120 kV/ 65 A deuterium beam and a 300 s pulse length. The extraction of ion beams was initiated by the formation of arc plasmas in the LPIS-1, called as an arc-beam extraction method. A stable ion beam extraction of LPIS-1 has been achieved up to an 100 kV/42 A for a 4 s pulse length and an 80 kV/25 A for a 14 s pulse length. Optimum beam perveance of 1.21 microperv has been found at an accelerating voltage of 80 kV. Neutralization efficiency has been measured by using a water flow calorimetry (WFC) method of calorimeter and an operation of bending magnet. The full-energy species of ion beams have been detected by using the diagnostic method of optical multichannel analyzer (OMA). An arc efficiency of the LPIS was 0.6~1.1 A/kW depending on the operating conditions of arc discharge.