Development of a radio-frequency ion beam source for fast-ion studies on the large plasma device.

A helium ion beam source (23 kV/2.0 A) has been constructed for studying fast-ion physics in the cylindrical magnetized plasma of the large plasma device (LAPD). An inductive RF source produces a 10(19) m(-3) density plasma in a ceramic dome. A multi-aperture, rectangular (8 cm × 8 cm) three-grid system extracts the ion beam from the RF plasma. The ion beam is injected at a variety of pitch angles with Alfvénic speeds in the LAPD. The beam current is intense enough to excite magnetic perturbations in the ambient plasma. Measurements of the ion beam profile were made to achieve an optimum beam performance and a reliable source operation was demonstrated on the LAPD.