PLASMA NEUTRALIZER CELL FOR NEGATIVE ION BEAM SYSTEMS

HIGH ENERGY (APPROXIMATELY 1 MEV) NEGATIVE ION-BASED SYSTEMS MUST BE DEVELOPED TO EXTEND THE PRACTICABILITY OF NEUTRAL BEAM INJECTORS TO THE NEXT GENERATION MFE EXPERIMENTAL DEVICES AND COMMERCIAL FUSION REACTORS. THIS PROPOSED WORK IS TO DEVELOP A PLASMA NEUTRALIZER CELL FOR NEGATIVE ION BEAMS. THE CONCEPT CAN GIVE ENHANCED NEUTRALIZATION EFFICIENCIES > 80% ATOMIC YIELDS. PLASMA FORMATION IS ACCOMPLISHED BY HIGH FREQUENCY STEADY STATE DISCHARGES WHICH ARE CONTAINED BY MAGNETIC FIELDS. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE RESIDUAL ION REMOVAL IS READILY INCORPORATED INTO THE NEUTRALIZER DESIGN. THE PROPOSED WORK IN PHASE I IS THE EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF A HIGH FREQUENCY DISCHARGE PROCESS (ECRF, ICRF OR RF) WHICH WILL BE UTILIZED IN THE NEUTRALIZER DESIGN, AND THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE NEUTRALIZER CELL AND ASSOCIATED SUBSYSTEMS.