Impedance matching circuit between RF generator and the plasma load, placed between them determines the RF power transfer from RF generator to the plasma load. The impedance of plasma load depends on the plasma parameters through skin depth and plasma conductivity or resistivity. Therefore, for long pulse operation of ICPs, particularly for high power (~ 100kW or more) where plasma load condition may vary due to different reasons (e.g. pressure, power, thermal etc.), online tuning of impedance matching circuit is necessary through feedback. In fusion grade ion source operation such online methodology through feedback is not present but offline remote tuning by adjusting the matching circuit capacitors and tuning the driving frequency of the RF generator between the ion source operation pulses is envisaged. The present model is an approach for remote impedance tuning methodology for long pulse operation and corresponding online impedance matching algorithm based on RF coil antenna current measurement or coil antenna calorimetric measurement may be useful in this regard. Introduction:

An inductively coupled plasma (ICP) based negative hydrogen ion source is chosen for ITER neutral beam (NB) systems. To avoid regular maintenance in a radioactive environment with high flux of 14 MeV neutrons and gamma rays, invasive plasma diagnostics like probes are not included in the ITER NB source design. While, optical or microwave based diagnostics which are normally used in other plasma sources, are to be avoided in the case of ITER sources due to the overall system design and interface issues. In such situation, alternative forms of assessment to characterize ion source plasma become a necessity. In the present situation, the beam current through the extraction system in the ion source is the only measurement which indicates plasma condition inside the ion source. However, beam current not only depends on the plasma condition near the extraction region but also on the perveance condition and negative ion stripping. Apart from that, the ICP production region radio frequency (RF) driver region) is placed far (∼30 cm) from the extraction region. Therefore, there are uncertainties involved in linking the beam current with plasma properties inside the RF driver. To maintain the optimum condition for source operation it is necessary to maintain the optimum conditions in the driver. A method of characterization of the plasma density in the driver without using any invasive or non-invasive probes could be a useful tool to achieve that objective. Such a method, which is exclusively for ICP based ion sources, is presented in this paper. In this technique, plasma density inside the RF driver is estimated through the measurements of the electrical parameters in the RF power supply circuit path. Monitoring RF driver plasma through the described route will be useful during the source commissioning phase and also in the beam operation phase.

INdian Test Facility (INTF) is envisaged to characterize ITER diagnostic neutral beam system and to establish the functionality of its eight inductively coupled RF plasma driver based negative hydrogen ion source and its beamline components. The beam quality mainly depends on the ion source performance and therefore, its diagnostics plays an important role for its safe and optimized operation. A number of diagnostics are planned in INTF to characterize the ion source performance. Negative ions and its cesium contents in the source will be monitored by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and cavity ring down spectroscopy. Plasma near the extraction region will be studied using standard electrostatic probes. The beam divergence and negative ion stripping losses are planned to be measured using Doppler shift spectroscopy. During initial phase of ion beam characterization, carbon fiber composite based infrared imaging diagnostics will be used. Safe operation of the beam will be ensured by using standard thermocouples and electrical voltage-current measurement sensors. A novel concept, based on plasma density dependent plasma impedance measurement using RF electrical impedance matching parameters to characterize the RF driver plasma, will be tested in INTF and will be validated with OES data. The paper will discuss about the overview of the complete INTF diagnostics including its present status of procurement, experimentation, interface with mechanical systems in INTF, and integration with INTF data acquisition and control systems.

Helicon wave heated plasmas are much more efficient in terms of ionization per unit power consumed. A permanent magnet based compact helicon wave heated plasma source is developed in the Institute for Plasma Research, after carefully optimizing the geometry, the frequency of the RF power, and the magnetic field conditions. The HELicon Experiment for Negative ion-I source is the single driver helicon plasma source that is being studied for the development of a large sized, multi-driver negative hydrogen ion source. In this paper, the details about the single driver machine and the results from the characterization of the device are presented. A parametric study at different pressures and magnetic field values using a 13.56 MHz RF source has been carried out in argon plasma, as an initial step towards source characterization. A theoretical model is also presented for the particle and power balance in the plasma. The ambipolar diffusion process taking place in a magnetized helicon plasma is also discussed.

No abstract