Numerical study of the plasma wall-bias effect on the ion flux through acceleration grid hole

Abstract

In the extraction of ion beams from a source plasma through a grid acceleration structure, one of the key improvement issues is the fluence of the ion flux. Theoretical research has usually been focused on the structure of the grid system and the distribution of the electrostatic voltages over the grid layers. In the present work, using a self-consistent computer simulation between the plasma source, sheath potential, and the grid system, the effect of the source-wall biasing on the fluence of the ion flux through a three-grid acceleration system has been examined. It is found that a strongly positive wall-biasing can significantly enhance the ion flux by improving the shape of the plasma sheath potential meniscus at the entrance to the grid hole structure. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3455538]