Long-term performance of CW negative hydrogen ion source at BINP tandem accelerator

A continuous-wave surface-plasma negative hydrogen ion source is routinely used for proton beam production at 2 MeV tandem accelerator with vacuum insulation at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics during last decade. The source uses the hydrogen-cesium Penning discharge with a plasma injection from hollow cathodes and negative hydrogen ions production due to surface-plasma mechanism. It delivers H− ion beam with current up to 8 mA and energy up to 25 keV. Normalized RMS emittance of the beam is less than 0.2 π·mm·mrad. The single source unit was used at the tandem in the ten-year work. Description of source duty at tandem and the source modifications, produced during the ten-year work are described.