Plasma characterization in CW and pulsed mode and its effect on beam current in 2.45 GHz ECR Ion source

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS) is used as a front end for Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA) at BARC. A 50 keV ECRIS is designed and developed for the proton ion beam for this accelerator. The key requirements of the ion source are beam current similar to 10-15mA and beam emittance similar to 0.2 pi mm-mrad. In the commissioning phase of LEHIPA, the ion source is operated in pulsed mode to mitigate the effect of thermal and radiation load. Measurements have been carried out to understand the behavior of pulsed plasma and its effect on ion beam. An Automated Langmuir Probe (ALP) and its associated circuit are designed and developed for this purpose. The ALP circuit consists of a voltage sweep generator, current sense circuit, and voltage sense circuit. The effect of microwave power and pulsed plasma duration on the plasma and the ion beam parameters have been studied. The plasma parameters are correlated with the beam parameters.