Production of hydrogen and deuterium negative ions in an electron cyclotron resonance driven plasma

An electron cyclotron resonance source with driven plasma rings for hydrogen isotope ion production is studied. Extracted currents of positive and negative ions depending on gas pressure, microwave power value and extraction voltage are obtained. The study shows that the negative ion yield is an order of magnitude higher than the yield of positive particles when a driven ring is in contact with the surface of the plasma electrode. The production of negative ions of deuterium, D-, is close to the production of negative ions of light hydrogen isotope, H-. The comparison of the experimental data with the calculated ones shows that the most probable process of the H- and D- ion formation in the electron cyclotron driven plasma is dissociative attachment of electrons to molecules in high Rydberg states. For hydrogen ions and ions of deuterium, the negative current at a microwave power of 200 W through a 3-mm aperture and 8 kV extraction voltage are 4.7 mA and 3.1 mA respectively. (orig.)