Omegatron mass spectrometer for analysis of ion concentrations in hydrogenic plasmas

We describe an omegatron-type mass spectrometer used for measurement of the molecular and atomic ion concentrations as well as the ion species temperatures in hydrogenic plasmas. The experiments were performed in the PISCES-A linear plasma experiment with electron densities n≈1011–1012 cm−3, ion temperatures Ti≈2–8 eV, electron temperatures Te≈3–30 eV, and magnetic fields B=0.8–1.9 kG. The resulting mass spectra show clear evidence of atomic hydrogen H+, as well as of the molecular ions H2+ and H3+, with H+ and H3+ usually being dominant. It is found that large electron repeller voltages (≈−200 V) are important for preventing electrons from entering the diagnostic region and ionizing the residual gas. The relative peak heights for the different ions are found to vary as a function of ion repeller voltage, probably due to differences in ion temperature.