Optical Measurement of Cesium Behavior in a Large H⁻ Ion Source for a Neutral Beam Injector

Abstract

Optical emission in a negative hydrogen ion source for the Large Helical Device Neutral Beam Injector (LHD-NBI) has been measured to investigate the behavior of Cs. Two optical sight lines exist parallel to the plasma grid, in the discharge area and in the magnetic filter area near the plasma grid. In the discharge area, the spectrum intensity from Cs⁺ ions is considerably increased during 20 s of the beam extraction. This indicates a considerable increase in the Cs⁺ density inside the plasma due to the impact of back-streaming H⁺ ions. A strong neutral Cs spectrum is observed in the magnetic filter area, where the electron density is lower than in the discharge area. The rate of increase of neutral Cs is much enhanced after t = 30 s, probably because the Cs adsorbed on the cooled region inside the arc chamber evaporates because its temperature increases during the long pulse discharge.