Analysis of particle species evolution in neutral-beam injection lines

Abstract

Analytic solutions to the rate equations describing the species evolution of a multispecies positive ion beam of hydrogen due to charge exchange and molecular dissociation are derived as a function of the background gas (H2) line density in the neutralizing gas cell and in the drift tube. Using the solutions, calculations are presented for the relative abundance of each species as a function of the gas-cell thickness, the reionization loss in the drift tube, and the neutral-beam power as a function of the beam energy and the species composition of the original ion beam.