  The Neutral beam Injectors of the ITER experiment will be based on negative
ion sources for the generation of beams composed by 1 MeV H/D particles. The
prototype of these sources is currently under testing in the SPIDER experiment,
part of the Neutral Beam Test Facility of Consorzio RFX, Padua, Italy. Among
the targets of the experimentation in SPIDER, it is of foremost importance to
maximize the beam current density extracted from the source acceleration
system. The SPIDER operating conditions can be optimized thanks to a Cavity
Ring-down Spectroscopy diagnostic, which is able to give line-integrated
measurements of negative ion density in proximity of the acceleration system
apertures. Regarding the diagnostic technique, this work presents a phenomenon
of drift in ring down time measurements, which develops in a time scale of few
hours. This issue may significantly affect negative ion density measurements
for plasma pulses of 1 h duration, as required by ITER. Causes and solutions
are discussed. Regarding the source performance, this paper presents how
negative ion density is influenced by the RF power used to sustain the plasma,
and by the magnetic filter field present in SPIDER to limit the amount of
co-extracted electrons. In this study, SPIDER was operated in hydrogen and
deuterium, in Cs-free conditions.
