Microwave Ion Source and Beam Injection for an Accelerator-Driven Neutron Source

An over-dense microwave driven ion source capable of producing deuterium (or hydrogen) beams at 100-200 mA/cm2 and with atomic fraction > 90% was designed and tested with an electrostatic low energy beam transport section (LEBT). This ion source was incorporated into the design of an Accelerator Driven Neutron Source (ADNS). The other key components in the ADNS include a 6 MeV RFQ accelerator, a beam bending and scanning system, and a deuterium gas target. In this design a 40 mA D+ beam is produced from a 6 mm diameter aperture using a 60 kV extraction voltage. The LEBT section consists of 5 electrodes arranged to form 2 Einzel lenses that focus the beam into the RFQ entrance. To create the ECR condition, 2 induction coils are used to create ∼ 875 Gauss on axis inside the source chamber. To prevent HV breakdown in the LEBT a magnetic field clamp is necessary to minimize the field in this region. Matching of the microwave power from the waveguide to the plasma is done by an autotuner. They observed significant improvement of the beam quality after installing a boron nitride liner inside the ion source. The measured emittance data are compared with PBGUNS simulations