Factors influencing the fluctuation amplitude of the H ion beam extracted from an RF wave excited ion source plasma

Wada, Motoi*; Shibata, Takanori*; Shinto, Katsuhiro   

An internal antenna type RF driven negative hydrogen (H) ion source supplies beams to the J-PARC accelerator facility. The H ion beam current exhibits high stability, while it fluctuates with less than 5% amplitude of the DC current when a Faraday cup measures the current extracted from the source mounted on a test stand. Two frequencies are identified as the main oscillation components, 2 MHz and 4 MHz which are the driving RF frequency and the second harmonics, respectively. The amplitude levels of these components appear larger as parts of the beam directing specific angles passing through a slit are detected. A possible reason for observing a small amplitude oscillation in the total beam intensity is the averaged phase-shift of the local beam depending upon the position of the H ion production and the succeeding trajectory reaching the Faraday cup. To confirm if the phase-shift is the main reason for diminishing the oscillation amplitude for the total beam, the phase-shift between the 2 MHz and 4 MHz components were measured for beams passing through a 0.1 mm slit coupled to a Faraday cup having a 0.1 mm entrance slit. The result indicated the phase-shift changed substantially depending upon the position, but no simple model can explain the measured spatial distribution of the phase-shift. Further attempts will be made to clarify the beam dynamics relevant to the H ion beam transport including the measurements of the beam current phase-shift with respect to the RF antenna current, and the time evolution of Balmer- light emission.