International audienceThis numerical study focuses on the physical mechanisms involved in the extraction of volume-produced H− ions from a steady state laboratory negative hydrogen ion source with one opening in the plasma electrode (PE) on which a dc-bias voltage is applied. A weak magnetic field is applied in the source plasma transversely to the extracted beam. The goal is to highlight the combined effects of the weak magnetic field and the PE bias voltage (upon the extraction process of H− ions and electrons). To do so, we focus on the behavior of electrons and volume-produced negative ions within a two-dimensional model using the particle-in-cell method. No collision processes are taken into account, except for electron diffusion across the magnetic field using a simple random-walk model at each time step of the simulation. The results show first that applying the magnetic field (without PE bias) enhances H− ion extraction, while it drastically decreases the extracted electron current. Secondly, the extracted H− ion current has a maximum when the PE bias is equal to the plasma potential, while the extracted electron current is significantly reduced by applying the PE bias. The underlying mechanism leading to the above results is the gradual opening by the PE bias of the equipotential lines towards the parts of the extraction region facing the PE. The shape of these lines is due originally to the electron trapping by the magnetic field

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The physical mechanisms involved in the extraction of H(-) ions from the negative ion source are studied with a PIC 2D3V code. The effect of a weak magnetic field transverse to the extraction direction is taken into account, along with a variable bias voltage applied on the plasma electrode (PE). In addition to previous modeling works, the electron diffusion across the magnetic field is taken into account as a simple one-dimensional random-walk process. The results show that without PE bias, the value of the diffusion coefficient has a significant influence upon the value of the extracted H(-) current. However, the value of this coefficient does not affect qualitatively the mechanism leading to the peak of extracted H(-) ion current observed for an optimum value of the PE bias.

Production and transport processes of the H(0) atoms are numerically simulated using a three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport code. The code is applied to the large JAEA 10 ampere negative ion source under a Cs-seeded condition to obtain a spatial distribution of surface-produced H(-) ions. In this analysis, we focus on the effect of the energy relaxation of the H(0) atoms at the wall on the H(-) ion production from the H(0) atoms. The result indicates that, by considering the energy relaxation of the H(0) atoms at the wall, the production profile of the surface-produced H(-) ion is well reflected in the production profile of the H(0) atom production.