PROGRESS OF SURFACE PLASMA H-ION SOURCE WITH SADDLE RF ANTENNA PLASMA GENERATOR

Progress in development of RF H surface plasma source (SPS) with saddle (SA) RF antenna which will provide better power efficiency for high pulsed and average current, higher brightness with longer lifetime and higher reliability is considered. Several versions of new plasma generators with different antennas and magnetic field configurations were tested in the SNS small Test Stand. The efficiency of positive ion plasma generation has been improved ~4x times up to 0.18 A/cm per 1 kW of RF power 13.56 MHz. A first prototype SA SPS with AlN chamber was installed in the SNS Test that achieved current of Hions up to 67 mA with an apparent efficiency of up to 1.6 mA/kW at RF frequency 2 MHz. A new version of the RF assisted triggering plasma source (TPS) has been designed, fabricated and tested. A Saddle antenna SPS with water cooling is being fabricated for high duty factor have been tested.