Cathode end cooling systems for plasma windows positioned in a beam accelerator system

A beam accelerator system comprising:

• an ion accelerator that generates a high-energy ion beam;
• a low-pressure chamber;
• an anode adjacent and fluidly connected to the low-pressure chamber;
• a plasma window adjacent and fluidly connected to the anode, the plasma window comprising a plurality of cooling plates, each cooling plate comprising an aperture that is aligned with an aperture in one or more adjacent cooling plate to form a plasma channel;
• a cathode housing block adjacent and fluidly connected to the plasma window, the cathode housing block comprising a cathode target region and a cooling portion, wherein the cooling portion comprises a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a cooling channel fluidly coupling the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet, and an opening adjacent to the plasma window and aligned with a longitudinal axis of the plasma channel;
• and
• an O-ring positioned between the cooling portion of the cathode housing block and a cathode end cooling plate of the plurality of cooling plates, wherein the cooling channel extends within the cooling portion adjacent to the O-ring.

A beam accelerator system comprising:

• an ion accelerator that generates a high-energy ion beam;
• a low-pressure chamber;
• an anode adjacent and fluidly connected to the low-pressure chamber;
• a plasma window adjacent and fluidly connected to the anode, the plasma window comprising a plurality of cooling plates, each cooling plate comprising an aperture that is aligned with an aperture in one or more adjacent cooling plate to form a plasma channel;
• a cathode housing block adjacent and fluidly connected to the plasma window, the cathode housing block comprising a cathode target region and a cooling portion, wherein the cooling portion comprises a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a cooling channel fluidly coupling the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet, and an opening adjacent to the plasma window and aligned with a longitudinal axis of the plasma channel;
• and
• an O-ring positioned between the cooling portion of the cathode housing block and a cathode end cooling plate of the plurality of cooling plates, wherein the cooling channel extends within the cooling portion at a radial distance from the longitudinal axis that is less than a radius of the O-ring.