Enhancement of negative hydrogen ions with Xe in a magnetized sheet plasma

Abstract

A Sheet Plasma Negative Ion Source is used to study the effect of addition of Xe gas in the production of H⁻ ions. Optimum conditions for maximum H⁻ ion yield were considered. The negative hydrogen ion current density extracted using an E x B probe from a pure H plasma was 0.336 mA/m². An enhancement was observed for 5%, 10%, 15% Xe/H gas mixtures. The hydrogen gas ratio of 5% with xenon gave the highest increase in H⁻ ion current density by a factor of 8.96. This increase was observed to be related to the increase in the electron density and decrease in electron temperature.