Özet:

The design of a microwave antenna sustaining a high-energy-content plasma in Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources (ECRISs) is, under many aspects, similar to the design of a conventional antenna but presenting also peculiarities because of the antenna lying in a cavity filled by an anisotropic plasma. The plasma chamber and microwave injection system design plays a critical role in the development of future ECRISs. In this paper, we present the numerical study of an unconventionally shaped plasma cavity, in which its geometry is inspired by the typical star-shaped ECR plasma, determined by the electrons trajectories as they move under the influence of the plasma-confining magnetic field. The cavity has been designed by using CST Studio Suite with the aim to maximize the on-axis electric field, thus increasing the wave-to-plasma absorption. As a second step, an innovative microwave injection system based on side-coupled slotted waveguides is presented. This new launching scheme allows an uniform power distribution inside the plasma cavity which could lead to an increase of ion source performances in terms of charge states and extracted currents when compared to the conventional axial microwave launch scheme. Finally, the use of both the “plasma-shaped” cavity and the microwave side coupled scheme could make the overall setup more compact.

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