30-cm electron cyclotron plasma generator

Abstract

Experimental results on the development of a 30-cm-diam electron cyclotron resonance plasma generator are presented. This plasma source utilizes samarium-cobalt magnets and microwave power at a frequency of 4.9 GHz to produce a uniform plasma with densities of up to 3 x 10 to the 11th/cu cm in a continuous fashion. The plasma generator contains no internal structures, and is thus inherently simple in construction and operation and inherently durable. The generator was operated with two different magnetic geometries. One used the rare-earth magnets arranged in an axial line cusp configuration, which directly showed plasma production taking place near the walls of the generator where the electron temperature was highest but with the plasma density peaking in the central low B-field regions. The second configuration had magnets arranged to form azimuthal line cusps with approximately closed electron drift surfaces; this configuration showed an improved electrical efficiency of about 135 eV/ion.