The Superconducting Proton Linac plasma generator and Linac4 H-Ion source

Full text: In the course of the sLHC project, CERN is studying a new plasma generator for the Superconducting Proton Linac (SPL) similar to the RF driven volume H- source of Linac4. The new plasma generator has been designed for a higher duty factor of up to 6% and has therefore been equipped with several cooling systems for the ceramic plasma chamber, ignition element, extraction area, RF antenna and matching network. This resulted in a redesign of the magnetic cusp configuration which had to be displaced and reinforced by the use of Halbach magnets which are now protected against heating due to RF induced eddy currents by an effective copper shielding. The Teststand of the plasma generator and its RF generator have been commissioned and thorough measurements are performed, including the plasma's light spectrum, thermal imaging of the source, RF-plasma coupling characterisation and Langmuir probe measurements of the plasma. (author)