Negative Hydrogen Ions in a Helicon Plasma Source

There is nowadays a large interest to employ helicon plasmas as sources of negative ions for Neutral Beam Injectors (NBIs). Helicon plasma sources offer a number of advantages compared to current Inductive Couple Plasma (ICP) negative ions source, such as high energy efficiency, high plasma density production, low electron temperature and a considerable amount of H- and D- produced through volumetric processes, without caesium. Therefore, helicon plasma sources are promising candidates to be employed as a negative ion source for future NBIs, such as in DEMO, a next generation tokamak closer to commercial devices. However, many physics and technical aspects of helicon plasmas have to be deeply investigated, before their possible integration in future NBIs. The goal of this thesis is to advance the understanding of the physics of helicon-based negative ion sources in the helicon plasma source RAID (Resonant Antenna Ion Device) at the Swiss Plasma Center of Ecole Polytéchnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland. The investigations are carried out by employing a variety of plasma diagnostics, and the results are interpreted and compared to numerical models.

A novel helicon plasma source for negative ion beams for fusion

Riccardo Agnello, Basil Duval, Ivo Furno, Philippe Frédérique Bruno Guittienne, Alan Howling, Rémy Jacquier, Claudio Marini

In DEMO reactor to produce electricity, a total installed power up to 150 MW is considered. In the heating mix, neutral beam (NB) injectors of high neutral particle energy (0.8-1 MeV) with high wall-plug efficiency (η in the range of 50% to 60%) will be required. Present design considered a NB system delivering in total 50 MW. In the Siphore NB concept [1], one of the promising candidates to meet these challenging requirements, negative ions will be extracted from a long, thin ion source 3 m high and 15 cm wide, accelerated and subsequently photo-neutralized. This requires the development of a new generation of negative ion sources. At the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), a novel helicon plasma source, based on a resonant network antenna, is currently under study. The source delivers up to 10 kW at 13.56 MHz, and is installed on a linear (1.8 m long, 0.4 m diameter) vacuum vessel, allowing for full plasma characterization. In this work, the principles of operation of resonant antennas as helicon sources will be introduced, and absolute spectroscopic, Langmuir probe and interferometry measurements will be presented to characterize the performance of the source in terms of hydrogen/deuterium dissociation and negative ion production as a function of the input power at low gas pressure (0.3 Pa) and moderate magnetic field (~100 Gauss), as required by Siphore.

2016

Spectroscopic characterisation of H2 and D2 helicon plasmas generated by a resonant antenna for neutral beam applications in fusion

Riccardo Agnello, Basil Duval, Ivo Furno, Philippe Frédérique Bruno Guittienne, Alan Howling, Rémy Jacquier, Alexander Karpushov, Claudio Marini, Gennady Plyushchev, Kevin Henricus Annemarie Verhaegh

A new generation of neutral beam systems will be required in future fusion reactors, such as DEMO, able to deliver high power (up to 50 MW) with high (800 keV or higher) neutral energy. Only negative ion beams may be able to attain this performance, which has encouraged a strong research focus on negative ion production from both surface and volumetric plasma sources. A novel helicon plasma source, based on the resonant birdcage network antenna configuration, is currently under study at the Swiss Plasma Centre before installation on the Cybele negative ion source at the Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research, CEA, Cadarache, France. This source is driven by up to 10 kW at 13.56 MHz, and is being tested on a linear resonant antenna ion device. Passive spectroscopic measurements of the first three Balmer lines Î±, Î² and Î³ and of the Fulcher-Î± bands were performed with an f/2 spectrometer, for both hydrogen and deuterium. Multiple viewing lines and an absolute intensity calibration were used to determine the plasma radiance profile, with a spatial resolution

Iop Publishing Ltd2017

Helicon wave-generated plasmas for negative ion beams for fusion

Riccardo Agnello, Ivo Furno, Philippe Frédérique Bruno Guittienne, Alan Howling, Rémy Jacquier, Claudio Marini, Gennady Plyushchev

In the next generation of fusion reactors, such as DEMO, neutral beam injectors (NBIs) of high energy (0.8-1 MeV) deuterium atom swith high wall-plug efficiency (>50%) will be required to reach burning plasma conditions and to provide a significant amount of current drive.The present NBI system for DEMO assumes that 50 MW is delivered to the plasma by 3 NBIs. In the Siphore NBI concept, negative deuterium ions are extracted from a long, thin ion source 3 m high and 15 cm wide, accelerated and subsequently photo-neutralized. This requires the development of a new generation of negative ion sources. At the Swiss Plasma Center, a novel radio frequency helicon plasma source, based on a resonant network antenna source delivering up to 10 kW at 13.56 MHz, has been developed and is presently under study on the Resonant Antenna Ion Device (RAID). RAID is a linear device (1.9 m total length, 0.4 m diameter) and is equipped with an extensive set of diagnostics for full plasma characterization. In this work, the principles of operation of resonant antennas as helicon sources areintroduced. Wepresent absolute spectroscopy, Langmuir probe, and interferometry measurements on helicon plasmas. We characterize the performanceof the source in terms of hydrogen/deuterium dissociation and negative ion production as a function of the input power. Furthermore, first results with the helicon birdcage antenna installed on the Cybele negative ion source at CEA-IRFM arepresented, as a first step towards the validation of the Siphoreconcept.

2017