FUSION TECHNOLOGY
3
A Vacuum Arc Ion Source for Heavy Ion Fusion Applications
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-98ER86071
Amount: $500,000
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Small Business |
Research Institution |
Thermionic ion sources have been the workhorse for the Department of Energy's heavy ion fusion (HIF) program. However, they suffer from heating problems for large areas, are limited to low (contact) ionization potential elements, and offer relatively low ion fluxes with a charge state limited to 1+. This project will develop a prototype high current vacuum arc ion source for HIF research and other applications such as space propulsion or ion implantation. In Phase I, an approximately 6 cm diameter, 0.5 A Gadolinium (A.158) ion beam was produced, with a beam energy of 120 keV. More than 85% of the Gd ions were in the 3+ charge state, the beam current fluctuation level (rms.) was #3%, pulse-to-pulse variation of the beam (rms.) was #3%, the uniformity of the beam density (over 6 cm diameter) was $98%, and the ion longitudinal energy spread was #1%. Phase II will develop, test, and validate a prototype vacuum arc ion source (0.5 A/500 keV) which meets the general requirement for HIF accelerators.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The ion source should find application in the HIF research community as well as in materials surface characterization, space propulsion, atomic physics, and nuclear physics.