• K.F. Johnson, E. Chacon-Golcher, E.G. Geros, R. Keller, G. Rouleau, L. Rybarcyk, J. Stelzer
  LANL, Los Alamos, New Mexico
• O.A. Tarvainen
  JYFL, Jyvaskyla

The Los Alamos Neutron Sciene Center (LANSCE) accelerator facility has the capability of accelerating both H⁺ and H^- ion beams. LANSCE H^- User Programs rely on the ion source's ability to deliver an appropriate beam current within a given emittance limit. An active H^- ion source development program is ongoing with the goal of improving source performance (e.g. reliability, availability, increased out current, etc.) The formation of H^- ions in the LANSCE negative ion source occurs on the surface of a negatively biased electrode (converter), exposed to a flux of positive ions incident from a cusp-confined, filament-driven discharge. The source typically delivers a 16 mA pulsed (60 Hz) H^- beam with a source lifetime of 35 days. A program to reach 28-35 mA with the LANSCE source is outlined. It includes efforts to improve filament performance, elevating source body temperatures, optimizing converter geometry and location, optimizing converter cooling, and increasing the number of filaments from two to three.