Long pulse production of high current D ion beams in the JT-60 negative ion source

Hanada, Masaya; Kamada, Masaki; Akino, Noboru; Ebisawa, Noboru; Honda, Atsushi; Kawai, Mikito; Kazawa, Minoru; Kikuchi, Katsumi; Komata, Masao; Mogaki, Kazuhiko; Noto, Katsuya; Oshima, Katsumi; Takenouchi, Tadashi; Tanai, Yutaka; Usui, Katsutomi; Yamazaki, Haruyuki; Ikeda, Yoshitaka; Grisham, L. R.*

A long pulse production of high-current, high-energy D ion beams was studied in the JT-60U negative ion source that was designed to produce 22 A, 500 keV D ion beams. Prior to the long pulse production, the short pulse beams were produced to examine operational ranges for a stable voltage holding capability and an allowable grid power loading. From a correlation between the voltage holding capability and a light intensity of cathodoluminescence from the insulator made of Fiber Reinforced Plastic insulator, the voltage holding was found to be stable at 340 kV where the light was sufficiently suppressed. The grid power loading for the long pulse operation was also decreased to the allowable level of 1 MW without a significant reduction of the beam power by tuning the extraction voltage (Vext) and the arc power (Parc). These allow the production of 30 A D ion beams at 340 keV from two ion sources at Vacc = 340 kV. The pulse length was extended step by step, and finally reached up to 21 s, where the beam pulse length was limited by the surface temperature of the beam scraper without water cooling. The D ion beams were neutralized to via a gas cell, resulting in a long pulse injection of 3.2 MW D beams for 21 s. This is the first long injection of 20 s in a power range of 3 MW.