Simulation of the Effects of Charge Exchange in Penning Ion Sources

Summary form only given. We investigate numerically the effects of charge exchange in a Penning ion source for neutron generators. We use particle-in-cell modeling with Monte Carlo collision to simulate the electron and ion dynamics, including charge exchange, for parameters typical of DC sources in use today (device size of a few cm, bias voltage of 2 kV, extraction voltage of 100 kV, deuterium gas pressure of 5 mT). We compare results for with and without charge exchange, looking specifically at the effect on transverse velocity spread and neutron generation rate.