The ITER Heating Neutral Beam (HNB) source prototype SPIDER (Source for the Production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from a Radio frequency plasma), hosted at the Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) in Padova, Italy, has recently started operating with evaporated caesium in the source. This moves the primary H- production mechanism from volume to surface processes, increasing the extracted H- current while decreasing the co-extracted electron current. As in volume operation, the beam exhibits inhomogeneities across the vertical profile due to magnetic drifts, a result of the transverse filter field, which is vital for reducing the electron temperature near the extraction region.
To minimize the occurrence of electrical discharges, SPIDER has been operated with a diminished number of extraction apertures to minimize the vessel pressure/ion source pressure ratio by means of a mask, which reduces the gas flow conductance between the source and the vessel. Therefore, it has been possible to directly measure the current of individual beamlets, due to the increased room between the beamlets, using the non-invasive Beamlet Current Monitor (BCM) diagnostic. Using measurements of five individual beamlets the homogeneity of the SPIDER H- beam has been assessed, in a range of operating conditions with caesium in the source. The dependence of the beam homogeneity on source parameters (bias, filter field, RF power) has been observed, while increasing the Cs evaporation rate and unbalancing the power of the RF generators have proven to be effective at mitigating the beam inhomogeneity.