A convenient method for the measurement of species composition from an intense neutral beam

Abstract

We present a method to infer the approximate species mixture of neutral beam sources which accelerate positive hydrogen ions. An idealized neutral beam is specified by the accelerating voltage, the neutralizer thickness (molecules of hydrogen per cm2), and the currents of extracted H+, H2+, and H3+. These currents define two independent ratios which lie within a narrow parameter region and which can be determined by two independent measurements downstream from the source. The two suitable parameters are (1) the ratio of neutral beam to total beam power; and (2) the ratio of hydrogen produced by the neutral beam in the target volume to the hydrogen produced by the total beam. We give experimental results from the 10 x 10-cm2 120-KeV test stand at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.