Constant current pulsed power supply for long pulse arc discharge positive hydrogen ion source.

The simplest way to produce high density hydrogen plasmas is to form an arc between the arcing electrode and the plasma chamber (cathode). For arc-based hydrogen plasma generation, a pulsed power supply that delivers 2 ms-long constant current pulse has been developed. This pulsed power supply employs a high frequency buck converter topology with a nonlinear filter inductor.

Development of a pulsed radio frequency ignited multicusp-free negative hydrogen ion source.

A multicusp-free external antenna based radio frequency (RF) negative hydrogen (H) ion source was developed to produce 16 mA of H ion current at -50 kVDC accelerating voltage operated with a pulse width of 2 ms at 2 Hz repetition rate. A pulsed RF igniter system is devised for generating the initial electron and ion pairs required to generate the main plasma in the pulsed mode. This pulsed RF igniter reliably starts ignition with a hydrogen gas flow rate in the range of 18-50 standard cubic centimeter per minute (SCCM).