Enhancing Penning Ion Source Performance Through Geometry Optimization | Plasma Chemistry and Plasma … – Springer

This article presents a comprehensive investigation of the impact of cathode and anticathode geometries on the performance of a cold cathode Penning ion source. Both experimental and simulation-based approaches were employed to optimize plasma production and ion extraction. Specifically, the effects of cathode geometry on breakdown voltage and extraction current, as well as the effects of anticathode geometry on extraction current under different voltage and hydrogen gas pressure conditions, were studied for two cathode models and three anticathode models. The study also reported on the effects of setup conditions, including ignition and working pressure range, on the ion source performance during the experiment, which lasted for the first, third, and seventh days. The experimental results revealed that changes in cathode geometry under the same conditions led to a 160 V reduction in breakdown voltage and a four-fold increase in extraction current in the proposed design. Furthermore, altering the geometry of the anticathode resulted in an increase in extraction current of the ion source with the conical aperture anticathode, which exhibited greater efficiency compared to the cylindrical aperture anticathode. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between electrode design and plasma properties in cold cathode Penning ion sources, and offers important insights for optimizing their performance and efficiency.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Faculty of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

   Mazhar Fathi, Ehsan Ebrahimibasabi & Neda Fathi Amin

2. Radiation Applications Department, Shahid Beheshti University, G. C., Tehran, Iran

   Seyyed Mostafa Sadati

Contributions

Mazhar Fathi: Conceptualization (equal)Data curation (equal)Formal analysis (equal)Investigation (equal)Software (equal)Validation (equal)Writing – original draft (lead)Writing – review & editing (equal)Ehsan Ebrahimibasabi: Conceptualization (equal)Data curation (equal)Formal analysis (equal)Investigation (equal)Methodology (equal)Project administration (equal)Software (equal)Supervision (equal)Validation (equal)Writing – review & editing (equal)Seyyed Mostafa Sadati: Conceptualization (equal)Data curation (equal)Formal analysis (equal)Methodology (equal)Project administration (equal)Supervision (equal)Validation (equal)Writing – review & editing (equal)Neda Fathi Amin: Investigation (equal)Software (equal)Writing – original draft (supporting)Writing – review & editing (equal).

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ehsan Ebrahimibasabi.

Ethical Approval

Not applicable.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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