Negative-hydrogen-ion production from a nanoporous 12CaO $\cdot$ 7Al2O3 (C12A7) electride surface

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that nanoporous C12A7 electride surfaces significantly enhance negative hydrogen ion production from low-pressure plasmas, offering a promising cesium-free alternative for ion sources in various applications.

Contribution

It reveals that nanoporous C12A7 electride surfaces produce higher negative hydrogen ion yields than traditional molybdenum surfaces, highlighting their potential for industrial and scientific use.

Findings

Negative hydrogen ion production rate is 10-100 times higher than molybdenum.

Major production mechanism is desorption by sputtering.

Potential for cesium-free negative ion sources in accelerators and fusion devices.

Abstract

A high production rate of negative hydrogen ion was observed from a nanoporous C12A7 electride surface immersed in hydrogen/deuterium low-pressure plasmas. The target was biased at 10-170 V negatively and the target surface was bombarded by H3 + ions from the plasma. The production rate was 1-2 orders higher than a clean molybdenum surface. The measured H-energy spectrum indicates that the major production mechanism is desorption by sputtering. This material has potential to be used as production surface of cesium-free negative ion sources for accelerators, heating beams in nuclear fusion, and surface modification for industrial applications.