Volume-plasma generation of a high H concentration in low-voltage cesium hydrogen discharge

Abstract

The possibility of the achievement of a high concentration, NH− of negative hydrogen ions in low-voltage cesium–hydrogen discharge plasma is investigated. The H− concentration is determined from the experimentally measured absorption of laser radiation in the discharge plasma. It is shown that the H− concentration NH−∼1012–1013 cm−3 may be obtained in the discharge plasma if the plasma electron temperature Te≈0.5–1 eV. A comparison between the discharge theory and the experiments was fulfilled. It is shown that experimental results coincide well with theoretical calculations.

Physics aspects of negative ion sources

“…Recently Baksht et al [32] proposed a new method to avoid the high atom density: the source should operate in a caesium-hydrogen mixture at low anode voltage (<8.8 V), less than required to dissociate hydrogen. The plasma is produced by ionizing caesium.…”

Volume Production of High Negative Hydrogen Ion Density in Low-Voltage Cesium-Hydrogen Discharge

“…Experimental investigation of LV cesium-hydrogen discharge was performed in [14,[19][20][21][22][23][24]. In the initial experimental works (e.g.…”

“…In the recent works [22][23][24] the H -concentration, N H -, in plasma was measured experimentally. The diode with parallel-sided electrodes and interelectrode distance 3 mm was used in the experiment.…”