Experimental program for the Princeton Ion Source Test Facility

A 100kV ion source test stand formerly operated at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been relocated to Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where it is being installed and prepared for operation. A variety of topics relevant to ion-beam-driven high energy density physics and heavy ion fusion will be explored at this facility. The practicality of magnetic insulation to improve the performance of electrostatic accelerators will be investigated by determining whether a pair of parallel plates forming a high-voltage gap can sustain higher electric field gradients, when an electric current is passed through the electrode at the cathode potential so as to produce a magnetic field, which is everywhere parallel to the surface. The facility will also be used to develop and characterize improved plasma sources for space charge neutralization of intense ion beam systems such as the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II facility. The negative halogen ion beam and ion-ion plasma studies previously initiated when this test facility was located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be resumed, and other experimental topics are also under consideration.