Towards An $H^{-}$ RF Source for Future CERN Accelerator Projectss

An increase of beam intensity and brightness is essential for future upgrades of existing CERN proton accelerator facilities. A first step can be an injection of H- ions from a new higher energy H- linear accelerator called Linac4 into the Proton Synchrotron Booster (PSB. A second step could be the complete replacement of the PSB by a highpower linear accelerator, called SPL, injecting directly into the Proton Synchrotron (PS. Both injection scenarios require a high performance, high reliability negative hydrogen ion source. This paper will present the challenging source requirements and the two approaches to fulfil them.