Design and fabrication of a Transverse Field Focussing (TFF) 180 keV negative ion accelerator

The 180 keV Transverse Field Focussing (TFF) negative ion accelerator described is the final component of a negative ion based neutral beam acceleration system which is being developed as proof-of-principle demonstration of a radiation hardened neutral beamline. The 180 keV beamline consists of: a surface conversion negative ion source, a 80 keV pre-accelerator, a TFF pumping, matching, and transport section, and the 180 keV TFF accelerator presented. This beamline is expected to provide 1 A of H- at 180 keV. In the design of the accelerator, particular importance was given to the rigidity of the accelerator electrode mounting structures and to the electrical isolation of the electrodes along with their related cooling lines. An optical alignment scheme was developed to assemble and to insure precision alignment of the electrodes