2 cm电子回旋共振离子推力器离子源中磁场对等离子体特性与壁面电流影响的数值模拟

电子回旋共振离子推力器(electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster,ECRIT)离子源内等离子体分布会影响束流引出,而磁场结构决定的ECR区与天线的相对位置共同影响了等离子体分布.在鞘层作用下,等离子体中的离子或电子被加速对壁面产生溅射,形成壁面离子或电子电流,造成壁面磨损和等离子体损失,因此研究壁面电流与等离子体特征十分重要.为此本文建立2 cm ECRIT的粒子PIC/MCC(particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision)仿真模型,数值模拟研究磁场结构对离子源内等离子体与壁面电流特性的影响.计算表明,当ECR区位于天线上游时,等离子体集中在天线上游和内外磁环间,栅极前离子密度最低,故离子源引出束流、磁环端面电流和天线壁面电流较低.ECR区位于天线下游时,天线和栅极上游附近的等离子体密度较高,故离子源引出束流、天线壁面电流和磁环端面电流较高.腔体壁面等离子体分布与电流受磁场影响最小.     

ECR离子源束流发射度的实验研究

利用最新自行研制的电扫描发射度探测系统, 在ECR离子源上进行了一系列关于ECR离子源引出束流发射度的研究. 这套电扫描发射度探测系统安装在中国科学院近代物理研究所(兰州)的LECR3试验平台的束运线上. 试验中, 通过测量相关参数, 研究了磁场、微波、掺气效应及负偏压效应等对引出束流发射度的影响. 利用实验所得的结果与关于ECR等离子体和离子源束流发射度的半经验理论, 分析推导了离子源各可调参数与ECR等离子体的直接关系, 这为分析探索ECR离子源的工作机制提供了一定的参考依据.     

微型电子回旋共振离子推力器离子源结构优化实验研究

微型电子回旋共振(ECR)离子推力器可满足微小航天器空间探测的推进需求. 为此, 本文开展直径20 mm的微型ECR离子源结构优化实验研究. 根据放电室内静磁场和ECR谐振区的分布特点, 研究不同微波耦合输入位置对离子源性能的影响, 结果表明环形天线处在高于ECR谐振强度的强磁场区域时, 微波与等离子体实现无损耦合, 电子共振加热效果显著, 引出离子束流较大. 根据放电室电磁截止特性, 结合微波电场计算, 研究放电容积对离子源性能的影响, 实验表明过长或过短的腔体长度会导致引出离子束流下降甚至等离子体熄灭. 经优化后离子源性能测试表明, 在入射微波功率2.1 W、氩气流量14.9 μg/s下, 可引出离子束流5.4 mA, 气体放电损耗和利用率分别为389 W/A和15%.     

不同磁路电子回旋共振离子源引出实验

空间推进所用的电子回旋共振离子源(ECRIS)应具有体积小、效率高的特点. 本文研究的ECRIS使用永磁体环产生磁场, 有效减小了体积, 该离子源利用微波在磁场中加热电子, 电子与中性气体发生电离碰撞产生等离子体. 磁场在微波加热电子的过程中起关键作用, 同时影响离子源内等离子体的约束和输运. 通过比较四种磁路结构离子源的离子电流引出特性来研究磁场对10 cm ECRIS性能的影响. 实验发现: 在使用氩气的条件下, 特定结构的离子源可引出160 mA的离子电流, 最高推进剂利用率达60%, 最小放电损耗为120 W·A^-1; 所有离子源均存在多个工作状态, 工作状态在微波功率、气体流量、引出电压变化时会发生突变. 离子源发生状态突变时的微波功率、气体流量的大小与离子源内磁体的位置有关. 通过比较不同离子源的引出离子束流、放电损耗、气体利用率、工作稳定性的差异, 归纳了磁场结构对此种ECRIS引出特性的影响规律, 分析了其中的机理. 实验结果表明: 保持输入微波功率、气体流量、引出电压不变时, 增大共振区的范围、减小共振区到栅极的距离, 离子源能引出更大的离子电流; 减小共振区到微波功率入口、气体入口的距离能降低维持离子源高状态所需的最小微波功率和最小气体流量, 提高气体利用率, 但会导致放电损耗增大. 研究结果有助于深化对此类离子源工作过程的认识, 为其设计和性能优化提供参考.     

宽带微波馈入对于具有常规磁场构型的ECR离子源性能的提高

As clearly demonstrated at several laboratories,the performances of electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR)ion sources can be enhanced by increasing the physical sizes(volumes)of embedded ECR zones.En- larged ECR zones have been achieved by engineering the central magnetic field region of these sources so they are uniformly-distributed"volumes"in resonance with single-frequency rf power.Alternatively,the number of ECR surfaces in conventional minimum-B geometry sources can be increased by heating their plasmas with multiple,discrete frequency microwave radiation.Broadband rf power offers a simple,low cost and arguably more effective means for increasing the physical sizes of the ECR zones within the latter source type.In this article,theoretical arguments are made in support of the volume effect and the charge-state enhancing ef- fects of broadband microwave radiation(bandwidth:200MHz)plasma heating are demonstrated by comparing the high-charge-states of Ar ion beams,produced by powering a conventional minimum-B geometry,6.4GHz ECR ion source,equipped with a biased disk,with those produced by conventional bandwidth(bandwidth:～1.5MHz)radiation.     

6.4 GHz ECR ion source at VECC

The 6.4 GHz ECR ion source that was indigenously developed a few years ago has been operating continuously for injecting oxygen and neon beams to the cyclotron since 1997. VEC-ECR is a single stage high magnetic field ion source provided with a negatively biased electron repeller placed on the axis, near the injection mirror point. The supply of cold electrons and use of low mass mixing gas improve the stability of ECR plasma. Very recently, the effect of aluminum oxide coating on the copper plasma chamber wall has been studied. The plasma chamber wall was coated with aluminum by vacuum evaporation method and then exposed to oxygen gas to form aluminum oxide. It was noticed that the process substantially shifts the charge state distribution to the higher charge state with an enhancement of ion current by an order of magnitude. With the aluminized plasma chamber, the VEC-ECR can now produce 12 μA of O⁷⁺, 6.5 μA of Ar¹²⁺, 1.5 μA of Kr²⁰⁺ and 1.0 μA of Xe³¹⁺.     

RIKEN超导ECR离子源磁体系统的设计

Superconducting magnet system for a 28GHz ECR ion source has been designed.The maximum axial magnetic fields are 4T at the rf injection side and 2T at the beam extraction side,respectively.The hexapole magnetic field is about 2T on the inner surface of the plasma chamber.The superconducting coils consist of six solenoids and six racetrack windings for a hexapole field.Two kinds of coil arrangements were investigated:one is an arrangement in which the hexpole coil is located in the bore of the solenoids,and another is the reverse of it.The coils use NbTi-Copper conductor and are bath-cooled in liquid helium.The six solenoids are excited with individual power supplies to search for the optimal axial field distribution.The current leads use high Tc material and the cryogenic system is operated in LHe re-condensation mode using small refrigerators.The thermal insulated supports of the cold mass have also been designed based on the calculated results of the magnetic force.The heat loads to 70K and LHe stages were estimated from the design of the supports,the current leads and so on.     

一台14.5GHz新型高磁场高电荷态ECR离子源

自行研制成功一台14.5GHz新型高磁场高电荷态电子回旋共振(ECR)离子源.描述了该离子源结构特点、参数优化及其磁场分布,并给出了调试测量结果.该离子源轴向磁镜场在轴线上的最高磁场可达1.5T,六极永磁体在弧腔内表面磁场可达1.0T.经初步调试,可得到0⁷+140eμA,Ar¹¹+185eμA,Xe²⁶⁺50eμA.所得结果与1998年国际上最好的ECR离子源进行了比较.     

2.45GHz ECR 强流等离子体源核心部件设计与实验研究

电子回旋共振(Electron Cyclotron Resonance,ECR)等离子体源能产生高电荷态离子、高流强的单电荷态离子，提供稳定的束流和良好的重复性.核心部件的设计对ECR等离子体源是至关重要的，磁场对等离子体的生成和分布有直接影响，良好的磁场可以提高等离子体的性能和效率.采用有限元分析方法对ECR等离子体源磁场进行分析与设计，得到了满足设计需求与目标的磁场位形，通过高斯计对设计的永磁环轴向磁场精确测量，发现磁场仿真结果与实验结果吻合比较好，只是轴向磁场最大值及对应位置上有点偏差.通过集成实验，研究核心部件对离子源引出束流强度的影响，引出束流稳定且强度达到7 m A.     

Interaction between plasma and electromagnetic field in ion source of 10 cm ECR ion thruster

Through diagnosing the plasma density and calculating the intensity of microwave electric field, four 10 cm electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources with different magnetic field structures are studied to reveal the inside interaction between the plasma, magnetic field and microwave electric field. From the diagnosing result it can be found that the plasma density distribution is controlled by the plasma generation and electron loss volumes associated with the magnetic field and microwave power level. Based on the cold plasma hypothesis and diagnosing result, the microwave electric field intensity distribution in the plasma is calculated. The result shows that the plasma will significantly change the distribution of the microwave electric field intensity to form a bow shape. From the boundary region of the shape to the center, the electric field intensity varies from higher to lower and the diagnosed density inversely changes. If the bow and its inside lower electric field intensity region are close to the screen grid, the performance of ion beam extracting will be better. The study can provide useful information for the creating of 10 cm ECR ion source and understanding its mechanism.     

近物所在产生金属离子束方面的研究

Since 1998,many experiments for metallic ion production have been done on LECR2(Lanzhou ECR ion source NO.2),LECR3(Lanzhou ECR ion source NO.3)and SECRAL(Superconductiong ECB ion source Advanced design in Lanzhou)at Institute of Modern Physics.The very heavy metallic ion beams such as those of uranium were also produced by the plasma sputtering method,and supplied for HIRFL(Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou)accelerators successfully.During the test,11.SeμAU~(28 ),9eμAU~(24 ) were obtained.Some ion beams of the metal having lower melting temperature such as Ni and Mg ion beams were produced by oven method on LECR3 too.The consumption rate was controlled to be lower for ~(26)Mg ion beams production,and the minimum consumption was about 0.3mg per hour.In this paper,the main experimental results are given.Some discussions are made for some experimental phenomena and results,and some conclusions are drawn.     

受空间电荷效应影响的离子束流从等离子体边界的最佳引出的一阶理论

The problem of extracting space-charge-limited ion beams from spherical emission boundaries is analyzed for simple,two electrode,parallel-plate and spherical sector electrode systems by application of Langmuir-Blodgett theory with account taken for the divergent lens effect caused by the aperture in the extraction electrode.Results derived from simulation studies for the three electrode system,designed for use with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory ECR ion source,complement predictions made from elementary analytical theory with or without magnetic field in the extraction region of the source.Under minimum half- angular divergence(minimum emittance)conditions,the plasma emission boundary has an optimum curvature and the perveance,P,(i.e,current density,j and extraction gap,d),has an optimum value for a given charge- state.From these studies,we find that the optimum perveance for any electrode system can be determined from the Child-Langmuir relation for the parallel-plate electrode system multiplied by a factor,F with value 0.49≤F≤1.     

NSCL/MSU ECR离子源项目进展报告

Since the last ECR Workshop,NSCL/MSU has been involved in a vigorous ECR ion source R&D program,which resulted in the construction of an off-line test ECR ion source(ARTEMIS-B)for new beam development and ion optics studies.Also the design and partial completion of a 3rd generation,fully superconducting ECR ion source,SuSI has been accomplished.This paper is an overview of the construction projects and the different R&D activities performed with the existing ion sources.These activities include development of metallic ion beam production methods using evaporation with resistive and inductive ovens and sputtering of very refractory metals.Ion optics developments include testing different focusing elements(magnetic solenoid lens,electrostatic quadrupole triplet lens,Einzel lens,electrostatic double doublet quadrupole combined with an octupole lens),and different beam forming and diagnostics devices.The detailed results will be presented at the workshop in separate talks and posters.     

ECR离子源中的微波功率在线测量

 在中子发生器中采用ECR离子源是一种新技术。由于受结构的限制，ECR离子源不能像高频源离子源那样通过观察气体放电的颜色判断其工作状态，所以在运行中调节状态非常困难。解决这个问题的方法是：用定向耦合器加微波小功率计的方法在线测量ECR离子源的微波入射功率，通过微波入射功率可以直接得到ECR离子源引出离子束流的大小，从而推断微波信号源的放电过程是否正常,然后调整ECR离子源，最终使中子发生器工作在最佳状态。从ECR离子源后面的引出电极测得的最大束流为20 mA，且工作长时间稳定，当微波功率在160 W~500 W之间时，放电效果较好，离子束流随微波功率的增加而增加。     

DECRIS-4离子源的初步测试结果

The ECR ion source DECRIS-4 has been designed and constructed at the FLNR JINR to be used as a second injector of heavy multiply charged ions for the U-400 cyclotron.The design of the magnetic structure of the source was based on the idea of the so-called"magnetic plateau".The axial magnetic field is formed by three independent solenoids enclosed in separated iron yokes.As a result the superposition of the coils and hexapole magnetic fields creates the enlarged resonance volume.The first experiments showed that the source was able to produce more than 300eμA of Ar~(8 ) when only 100W of microwave power was used. During the last experiment almost 500eμA of Ar~(8 ) was extracted with the same power.In this paper we will present the preliminary results with other gaseous ions,such as oxygen,krypton and xenon.     

NIRS的ECR离子源现状

Four ECR ion sources have been operated in National Institute of Radiological Sciences(NIRS). Two ECR ion sources supply various ion species for the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba(HIMAC). The 10GHz NIRS-ECR ion source mainly produces C~(2 ) ions for the heavy-ion therapy.Ions of Si,Ar,Fe,Kr and Xe are usually produced by the 18GHz NIRS-HEC ion source for physical and biological experiments.The other two compact ECR ion sources with all permanent magnet configuration have been developed for the new generation carbon therapy facility.One of these,the Kei-source,is a prototype which has been installed to the NIRS-930 cyclotron for axial injection.The other source,Kei2-source,is a demonstration source and utilized for the new generation Linac.In addition,both Kei sources have been used to study fundamental properties. In this paper,present status of the ion sources and recent developments are reported.     

超导ECR离子源DECRIS-SC2

A new compact version of the"liquid He-free"superconducting Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source,to be used as an injector for the U-400M cyclotron,is presently under construction at the FLNR in collaboration with LHE(JINR).The axial magnetic field of the source is created by the superconducting magnet,and the NdFeB hexapole is used for the radial plasma confinement.The microwave frequency of 14GHz will be used for ECR plasma heating.The DECRIS-SC2 superconducting magnet is designed for the induction of a magnetic field on the axis of the source of up to 1.4T(extraction side)and 1.9T(injection side) at nominal current of 75A.Cooling of the coils is carried out by CM cryocooler with cooling power of 1W at the temperature 4.5K.The basic design features of the superconducting magnet and of the ion source are presented.The main parts of the source are in production.The first beam test of the source is expected in the beginning of 2007.     

Afterglow工作模式下ECR离子源脉冲束的产生

为满足国家大科学工程兰州重离子冷却储存环的要求,在14.5GHz ECR 离子源上进行afterglow工作模式的实验,首次产生了高电荷态脉冲束流Ar¹¹⁺和Ar¹²⁺,给出了初步实验结果,并对结果进行了分析和解释.     

Design Calculation of a Improved ECR Ion Source

The design of a ECR ion source in a working mode with a ω_ecr resonance surfaces and a 2ω_rf enclosed surface is presented.The 0.8T axial mirror field and 0.8T radial hexapole field are introduced with detailed discussions.The computational results show that the axial length of the ω_ecr resonance surface in the improved ECR ion source is extended significantly compared with the original CAPRICE one and a closed 2ω_rf equigauss surface is also formed.The new topology of the magnetic field in the improved ECR ion source will largely raise the intensity of high charged ion on the basis of the analysis of ionization mechanism.     

LECR2离子源的改造及初步运行结果

The Latest developed LECR2M (Lanzhou ECR No.2 Modified)source is the updated one of LECR2(Lanzhou ECR No.2)source at IMP.It has been assembled on the low energy ion beam experimental platform to produce MCI beams for atomic physics and material pllysics experimental research.In our updating program,the structure of injection and extraction components has been modified to make the source structure more simple and effective.The hexapole magnet has also been replaced by a new hexapole magnet with higher radial field and larger inner diameter.With this updating,stronger magnetic field confinement of the ECR plasma is possible and better base vacuum condition is also achieved.LECR2M was designed to be operated at 14.5GHz.During the preliminary test.1.3emA O6 beam was extracted with the injected rf power of 1.1kW.The source has been used to deliver intense MCI beams for different experiments.After some discussion of the main features of this newly updated source,some of the typical commissioning test results of LECR2M will be presented.