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Sample records for magnetically expanding plasma

  1. On the electric and magnetic field generation in expanding plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gielen, H.J.G.

    1989-01-01

    This thesis deals with the generation of electric and magnetic fields in expanding plasmas. The theoretical model used to calculate the different field quantities in such plasmas is discussed in part 1 and is in fact an analysis of Ohm's law. A general method is given that decomposes each of the forces terms in Ohm's law in a component that induces a charge separation in the plasma and in a component that can drive current. This decomposition is unambiguous and depends upon the boundary conditions for the electric potential. It is shown that in calculating the electromagnetic field quantities in a plasma that is located in the vicinity of a boundary that imposes constraints on the electric potential, Ohm's law should be analyzed instead of the so-called induction equation. Three applications of the model are presented. A description is given of the unipolar arc discharge where both plasma and sheath effects have been taken into account. Secondly a description is presented of the plasma effects of a cathode spot. The third application of the model deals with the generation of magnetic fields in laser-produced plasmas. The second part of this thesis describes the experiments on a magnetized argon plasma expanding from a cascaded arc. With the use of spectroscopic techniques the electron density, ion temperature and the rotation velocity profiles of the ion gas have been determined. The magnetic field generated by the plasma has been measured with the use of the Zeeman effect. Depending on the channel diameter of the nozzle of the cascaded arc, self-generated magnetic fields with axial components of the order of 1% of the externally applied mangetic field have been observed. From the measured ion rotation it has been concluded that this magnetic field is mainly generated by azimuthal electron currents. The corresponding azimuthal current density is of the order of 15% of the axial current density. The observed ion rotation is caused by electron-ion friction. (author

  2. Double-layer ion acceleration triggered by ion magnetization in expanding radiofrequency plasma sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Charles, Christine; Boswell, Rod W.; Fujiwara, Tamiya

    2010-01-01

    Ion energy distribution functions downstream of the source exit in magnetically expanding low-pressure plasmas are experimentally investigated for four source tube diameters ranging from about 5 to 15 cm. The magnetic-field threshold corresponding to a transition from a simple expanding plasma to a double layer-containing plasma is observed to increase with a decrease in the source tube diameter. The results demonstrate that for the four geometries, the double layer and the accelerated ion beam form when the ion Larmour radius in the source becomes smaller than the source tube radius, i.e., when the ions become magnetized in the source tube.

  3. Stability of expanded plasma focus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soliman, H.M.

    1994-01-01

    In this study, the stabilization of the expanded plasma focus formed by 4.5 kJ plasma focus device of Mather type by magnetic field is presented. The experimental results of the induced axial magnetic field and electric probe measurements of the expanded plasma focus show that, the plasma consists of three plasmoids, electron temperature measurements off the plasmoids at a point close to the muzzle are 26 eV, 30 eV and 27 eV respectively and the electron densities are 6.6 x 10 14 , 6.1 x 10 14 / cm 3 respectively. The presence of external axial magnetic field (B 2 = 1.6 kg) at the mid distance between the breech and the muzzle has a less effect on the stability of expanded focus and it causes a restriction for the plasma motion. the electron temperature of the three plasmoids are found to increase in that case by 23%, 18.5% respectively. When this axial magnetic field is applied at the muzzle end, it leads to a more stable expanded plasma focus which consists mainly of one plasmoid with electron temperature of 39 eV and density of 3.4 x 10 14 / cm 3 . 5 figs

  4. Plane and hemispherical potential structures in magnetically expanding plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Igarashi, Yuichi; Fujiwara, Tamiya

    2010-01-01

    Two-dimensional potential structures are measured for different gas pressure in expanding argon plasma using permanent magnets, where the magnetic field is about 100 G in the source and several gauss in the diffusion chamber. The plane potential drop is observed near the source exit for 0.35 mTorr, while the potential structure becomes hemispherical when increasing up to 1 mTorr; the hemispherical structure results in the radial divergence of the ion beam. It is found that the trajectories of the accelerated ions and the electrons overcoming the potential drop are dominated by the potential structure and magnetic-field lines, respectively.

  5. Magnetic field in expanding quark-gluon plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Evan; Tuchin, Kirill

    2018-04-01

    Intense electromagnetic fields are created in the quark-gluon plasma by the external ultrarelativistic valence charges. The time evolution and the strength of this field are strongly affected by the electrical conductivity of the plasma. Yet, it has recently been observed that the effect of the magnetic field on the plasma flow is small. We compute the effect of plasma flow on magnetic field and demonstrate that it is less than 10%. These observations indicate that the plasma hydrodynamics and the dynamics of electromagnetic field decouple. Thus, it is a very good approximation, on the one hand, to study QGP in the background electromagnetic field generated by external sources and, on the other hand, to investigate the dynamics of magnetic field in the background plasma. We also argue that the wake induced by the magnetic field in plasma is negligible.

  6. Ambipolar ion acceleration in an expanding magnetic nozzle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Longmier, Benjamin W; Carter, Mark D; Cassady, Leonard D; Chancery, William J; Diaz, Franklin R Chang; Glover, Tim W; Ilin, Andrew V; McCaskill, Greg E; Olsen, Chris S; Squire, Jared P [Ad Astra Rocket Company, 141 W. Bay Area Blvd, Webster, TX (United States); Bering, Edgar A III [Department of Physics and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, 617 Science and Research Building 1, Houston, TX (United States); Hershkowitz, Noah [Department of Engineering Physics, University of Wisconsin, 1500 Engineering Dr., Madison, WI (United States)

    2011-02-15

    The helicon plasma stage in the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR (registered)) VX-200i device was used to characterize an axial plasma potential profile within an expanding magnetic nozzle region of the laboratory based device. The ion acceleration mechanism is identified as an ambipolar electric field produced by an electron pressure gradient, resulting in a local axial ion speed of Mach 4 downstream of the magnetic nozzle. A 20 eV argon ion kinetic energy was measured in the helicon source, which had a peak magnetic field strength of 0.17 T. The helicon plasma source was operated with 25 mg s{sup -1} argon propellant and 30 kW of RF power. The maximum measured values of plasma density and electron temperature within the exhaust plume were 1 x 10{sup 20} m{sup -3} and 9 eV, respectively. The measured plasma density is nearly an order of magnitude larger than previously reported steady-state helicon plasma sources. The exhaust plume also exhibits a 95% to 100% ionization fraction. The size scale and spatial location of the plasma potential structure in the expanding magnetic nozzle region appear to follow the size scale and spatial location of the expanding magnetic field. The thickness of the potential structure was found to be 10{sup 4} to 10{sup 5} {lambda}{sub De} depending on the local electron temperature in the magnetic nozzle, many orders of magnitude larger than typical laboratory double layer structures. The background plasma density and neutral argon pressure were 10{sup 15} m{sup -3} and 2 x 10{sup -5} Torr, respectively, in a 150 m{sup 3} vacuum chamber during operation of the helicon plasma source. The agreement between the measured plasma potential and plasma potential that was calculated from an ambipolar ion acceleration analysis over the bulk of the axial distance where the potential drop was located is a strong confirmation of the ambipolar acceleration process.

  7. Confinement of laser plasma expansion with strong external magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Hui-bo; Hu, Guang-yue; Liang, Yi-han; Tao, Tao; Wang, Yu-lin; Hu, Peng; Zhao, Bin; Zheng, Jian

    2018-05-01

    The evolutions of laser ablation plasma, expanding in strong (∼10 T) transverse external magnetic field, were investigated in experiments and simulations. The experimental results show that the magnetic field pressure causes the plasma decelerate and accumulate at the plasma-field interface, and then form a low-density plasma bubble. The saturation size of the plasma bubble has a scaling law on laser energy and magnetic field intensity. Magnetohydrodynamic simulation results support the observation and find that the scaling law (V max ∝ E p /B 2, where V max is the maximum volume of the plasma bubble, E p is the absorbed laser energy, and B is the magnetic field intensity) is effective in a broad laser energy range from several joules to kilo-joules, since the plasma is always in the state of magnetic field frozen while expanding. About 15% absorbed laser energy converts into magnetic field energy stored in compressed and curved magnetic field lines. The duration that the plasma bubble comes to maximum size has another scaling law t max ∝ E p 1/2/B 2. The plasma expanding dynamics in external magnetic field have a similar character with that in underdense gas, which indicates that the external magnetic field may be a feasible approach to replace the gas filled in hohlraum to suppress the wall plasma expansion and mitigate the stimulated scattering process in indirect drive ignition.

  8. Wiggler magnetic field assisted third harmonic generation in expanding clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vij, Shivani

    2018-04-01

    A simple theoretical model is constructed to study the wiggler magnetic field assisted third harmonic generation of intense short pulse laser in a cluster in its expanding phase. The ponderomotive force of laser causes density perturbations in cluster electron density which couples with wiggler magnetic field to produce a nonlinear current that generates transverse third harmonic. An intense short pulse laser propagating through a gas embedded with atomic clusters, converts it into hot plasma balls via tunnel ionization. Initially, the electron plasma frequency inside the clusters ω pe > \\sqrt{3}{ω }1 (with ω 1 being the frequency of the laser). As the cluster expands under Coulomb force and hydrodynamic pressure, ω pe decreases to \\sqrt{3}{ω }1. At this time, there is resonant enhancement in the efficiency of the third harmonic generation. The efficiency of third harmonic generation is enhanced due to cluster plasmon resonance and by phase matching due to wiggler magnetic field. The effect of cluster size on the expansion rate is studied to observe that the clusters of different radii would expand differently. The impact of laser intensity and wiggler magnetic field on the efficiency of third harmonic generation is also explored.

  9. Diagnostic study of multiple double layer formation in expanding RF plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Shamik; Paul, Manash Kumar; Roy, Jitendra Nath; Nath, Aparna

    2018-03-01

    Intensely luminous double layers develop and then expand in size in a visibly glowing RF discharge produced using a plasma source consisting of a semi-transparent cylindrical mesh with a central electrode, in a linear plasma chamber. Although RF discharge is known to be independent of device geometry in the absence of magnetic field, the initiation of RF discharge using such a plasma source results in electron drift and further expansion of the plasma in the vessel. The dynamics of complex plasma structures are studied through electric probe diagnostics in the expanding RF plasma. The measurements made to study the parametric dependence of evolution of double layer structures are analyzed and presented here. The plasma parameter measurements suggest that the complex potential structures initially form with low potential difference between the layers and then gradually expand producing burst oscillations. The present study provides interesting information about the stability of plasma sheath and charge particle dynamics in it that are important to understand the underlying basic sheath physics along with applications in plasma acceleration and propulsion.

  10. Dynamics of Magnetized Plasma Jets and Bubbles Launched into a Background Magnetized Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, B.; Zhang, Y.; Fisher, D. M.; Gilmore, M.

    2016-10-01

    The propagation of dense magnetized plasma, either collimated with mainly azimuthal B-field (jet) or toroidal with closed B-field (bubble), in a background plasma occurs in a number of solar and astrophysical cases. Such cases include coronal mass ejections moving in the background solar wind and extragalactic radio lobes expanding into the extragalactic medium. Understanding the detailed MHD behavior is crucial for correctly modeling these events. In order to further the understanding of such systems, we are investigating the injection of dense magnetized jets and bubbles into a lower density background magnetized plasma using a coaxial plasma gun and a background helicon or cathode plasma. In both jet and bubble cases, the MHD dynamics are found to be very different when launched into background plasma or magnetic field, as compared to vacuum. In the jet case, it is found that the inherent kink instability is stabilized by velocity shear developed due to added magnetic tension from the background field. In the bubble case, rather than directly relaxing to a minimum energy Taylor state (spheromak) as in vacuum, there is an expansion asymmetry and the bubble becomes Rayleigh-Taylor unstable on one side. Recent results will be presented. Work supported by the Army Research Office Award No. W911NF1510480.

  11. Magnetic Field Measurements In Magnetized Plasmas Using Zeeman Broadening Diagnostics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haque, Showera; Wallace, Matthew; Presura, Radu; Neill, Paul

    2017-10-01

    The Zeeman effect has been used to measure the magnetic field in high energy density plasmas. This method is limited when plasma conditions are such that the line broadening due to the high plasma density and temperature surpasses the Zeeman splitting. We have measured magnetic fields in magnetized laser plasmas under conditions where the Zeeman splitting was not spectrally resolved. The magnetic field strength was determined from the difference in widths of two doublet components, using an idea proposed by Tessarin et al. (2011). Time-gated spectra with one-dimensional space-resolution were obtained at the Nevada Terawatt Facility for laser plasmas created by 20 J, 1 ns Leopard laser pulses, and expanding in the azimuthal magnetic field produced by the 0.6 MA Zebra pulsed power generator. We explore the response of the Al III 4s 2S1/2 - 4p 2P1 / 2 , 3 / 2 doublet components to the external magnetic field spatially along the plasma. Radial magnetic field and electron density profiles were measured within the plasma plume. This work was supported by the DOE/OFES Grant DE-SC0008829 and DOE/NNSA contract DE-FC52-06NA27616.

  12. Effects of a nonuniform open magnetic field on the plasma presheath

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Kunihiro; Miyawaki, Fujio

    1991-01-01

    Effects of a nonuniform magnetic field on the plasma presheath is numerically investigated using the plasma equation for a collisionless plasma with a finite-temperature particle source. The present calculation confirms that analytical solutions previously published by the authors are available over a wide range of mirror ratio. Potential drop in the presheath, which considerably depends on both the magnetic strength profile and the spatial distribution of the particle source, is remarkably increased by applying an expanding magnetic field when plasma particles are generated in the inner part of the plasma. An effect of a nonuniform magnetic field on sheath formation is also discussed by using the calculated ion distribution function. If the plasma equation has no singularity at the sheath edge, its solution satisfies the generalized Bohm criterion with the inequality sign in the expanding magnetic field. (author)

  13. Measuring the Plasma Density of a Ferroelectric Plasma Source in an Expanding Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunaevsky, A.; Fisch, N.J.

    2003-01-01

    The initial density and electron temperature at the surface of a ferroelectric plasma source were deduced from floating probe measurements in an expanding plasma. The method exploits negative charging of the floating probe capacitance by fast flows before the expanding plasma reaches the probe. The temporal profiles of the plasma density can be obtained from the voltage traces of the discharge of the charged probe capacitance by the ion current from the expanding plasma. The temporal profiles of the plasma density, at two different distances from the surface of the ferroelectric plasma source, could be further fitted by using the density profiles for the expanding plasma. This gives the initial values of the plasma density and electron temperature at the surface. The method could be useful for any pulsed discharge, which is accompanied by considerable electromagnetic noise, if the initial plasma parameters might be deduced from measurements in expanding plasma

  14. Interaction of counter-streaming plasma flows in dipole magnetic field

    OpenAIRE

    Shaikhislamov, I F; Posukh, V G; Melekhov, A V; Prokopov, P A; Boyarintsev, E L; Zakharov, Yu P; Ponomarenko, A G

    2017-01-01

    Transient interaction of counter-streaming super-sonic plasma flows in dipole magnetic dipole is studied in laboratory experiment. First quasi-stationary flow is produced by teta-pinch and forms a magnetosphere around the magnetic dipole while laser beams focused at the surface of the dipole cover launch second explosive plasma expanding from inner dipole region outward. Laser plasma is energetic enough to disrupt magnetic field and to sweep through the background plasma for large distances. ...

  15. Lasers plasmas and magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Albertazzi, Bruno

    2014-01-01

    We studied the coupling between a laser produced plasmas and a magnetic field in two cases: 1) in the context of Inertial Fusion Confinement (ICF), we first studied how magnetic fields are self generated during the interaction between a target and a laser, then 2) to progress in the understanding of the large-scale shaping of astrophysical jets, we studied the influence of an externally applied magnetic field on the dynamics of a laser-produced plasma expanding into vacuum. The first part of this thesis is thus dedicated to a numerical and experimental study of the self generated magnetic fields that are produced following the irradiation of a solid target by a high power laser (having pulse duration in the nanosecond and picosecond regimes). These fields play an important role in the frame of ICF since they influence the dynamics of the electrons produced during the laser-matter interaction, and thus condition the success of ICF experiments. The second part of this thesis is a numerical and experimental study of the influence of an externally applied magnetic field on the morphology of a laser produced plasma freely otherwise expanding into vacuum. This work aims at better understanding the observed large-scale collimation of astrophysical jets which cannot be understood in the frame of existing models. We notably show that a purely axial magnetic field can force an initially isotropic laboratory flow, scaled to be representative of a flow emerging from a Young Star Object, in a re-collimation shock, from which emerges a narrow, well collimated jet. We also show that the plasma heating induced at the re-collimation point could explain the 'puzzling' observations of stationary X ray emission zones embedded within astrophysical jets. (author) [fr

  16. Short wavelength striations on expanding plasma clouds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winske, D.; Gary, S.P.

    1989-01-01

    The growth and evolution of short wavelength (< ion gyroradius) flute modes on a plasma expanding across an ambient magnetic field have been actively studied in recent years, both by means of experiments in the laboratory as well as in space and through numerical simulations. We review the relevant observations and simulations results, discuss the instability mechanism and related linear theory, and describe recent work to bring experiments and theory into better agreement. 30 refs., 6 figs

  17. Study of magnetic field expansion using a plasma generator for space radiation active protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia Xianghong; Jia Shaoxia; Wan Jun; Wang Shouguo; Xu Feng; Bai Yanqiang; Liu Hongtao; Jiang Rui; Ma Hongbo

    2013-01-01

    There are many active protecting methods including Electrostatic Fields, Confined Magnetic Field, Unconfined Magnetic Field and Plasma Shielding etc. for defending the high-energy solar particle events (SPE) and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) in deep space exploration. The concept of using cold plasma to expand a magnetic field is the best one of all possible methods so far. The magnetic field expansion caused by plasma can improve its protective efficiency of space particles. One kind of plasma generator has been developed and installed into the cylindrical permanent magnet in the eccentric. A plasma stream is produced using a helical-shaped antenna driven by a radio-frequency (RF) power supply of 13.56 MHz, which exits from both sides of the magnet and makes the magnetic field expand on one side. The discharging belts phenomenon is similar to the Earth's radiation belt, but the mechanism has yet to be understood. A magnetic probe is used to measure the magnetic field expansion distributions, and the results indicate that the magnetic field intensity increases under higher increments of the discharge power. (authors)

  18. Industrial implementation of plasma deposition using the expanding thermal plasma technique

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sanden, van de M.C.M.; Oever, van den P.J.; Creatore, M.; Schaepkens, M.; Miebach, T.; Iacovangelo, C.D.; Bosch, R.C.M.; Bijker, M.D.; Evers, M.F.J.; Schram, D.C.; Kessels, W.M.M.

    2004-01-01

    Two successful industrial implementations of the expanding thermal plasma setup, a novel plasma source, obtaining high deposition rate are discussed. The Ar/O2/hexamethyldisiloxane and Ar/O2/octamethyl-cyclosiloxane-fed expanding thermal plasma setup is used to deposit scratch resistant silicone

  19. Role of ion magnetization in formation of radial density profile in magnetically expanding plasma produced by helicon antenna

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadav, Sonu; Ghosh, Soumen; Bose, Sayak; Barada, Kshitish K.; Pal, Rabindranath; Chattopadhyay, Prabal K.

    2018-04-01

    Experimentally, the density profile in the magnetic nozzle of a helicon antenna based plasma device is seen to be modified from being centrally peaked to that of hollow nature as the external magnetic field is increased. It occurs above a characteristic field value when the ions become magnetized in the expansion chamber. The density profile in the source chamber behind the nozzle, however, remains peaked on-axis irrespective of the magnetic field. The electron temperature there is observed to be hollow and this nature is carried to the expansion chamber along the field line. In the electron energy distribution near the off axis peak location, a high energy tail exists. Rotation of these tail electrons in the azimuthal direction due to the gradient-B drift in the expansion chamber leads to an additional off-axis ionization and forms the hollow density profile. It seems that if the ions are not magnetized, then the off-axially produced additional plasma is not confined and the density profile retains the on-axis peak nature. The present experiment successfully demonstrates how the knowledge of the ion magnetization together with tail electrons significantly contributes to the design of an efficient helicon plasma based thruster.

  20. Numerical simulation of cathode plasma dynamics in magnetically insulated vacuum transmission lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thoma, C.; Genoni, T. C.; Welch, D. R.; Rose, D. V.; Clark, R. E.; Miller, C. L.; Stygar, W. A.; Kiefer, M. L.

    2015-01-01

    A novel algorithm for the simulation of cathode plasmas in particle-in-cell codes is described and applied to investigate cathode plasma evolution in magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs). The MITL electron sheath is modeled by a fully kinetic electron species. Electron and ion macroparticles, both modeled as fluid species, form a dense plasma which is initially localized at the cathode surface. Energetic plasma electron particles can be converted to kinetic electrons to resupply the electron flux at the plasma edge (the “effective” cathode). Using this model, we compare results for the time evolution of the cathode plasma and MITL electron flow with a simplified (isothermal) diffusion model. Simulations in 1D show a slow diffusive expansion of the plasma from the cathode surface. But in multiple dimensions, the plasma can expand much more rapidly due to anomalous diffusion caused by an instability due to the strong coupling of a transverse magnetic mode in the electron sheath with the expanding resistive plasma layer

  1. The expanding plasma jet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanden, M.C.M. van den.

    1991-01-01

    This thesis concerns the fundamental aspects of an argon plasma expanding from a cascaded arc. This type of plasma is not only used for fundamental research but also for technologically orientated research on plasma deposition and plasma sources. The important characteristics of the plasma are a strong supersonic expansion in which the neutral particle and ion densities decrease three orders of magnitude, followed by a stationary shock front. After the shock front the plasma expands further subsonically. A part of this thesis is devoted to the discussion of a newly constructed combined Thomson-Rayleigh scattering set up. With this set up the electron density, the electron temperature and the neutral particle density are measured locally in the plasma for different conditions. In the analysis of the measured spectra weak coherent effects and the measured apparatus profile are included. The inaccuracies are small, ranging from 1 to 4 percent for the electron density and 2 to 6 percent for the electron temperature, depending on the plasma conditions. The inaccuracy of the neutral particle density determination is larger and ranges from 10 to 50 percent. The detection limits for the electron and neutral particle density are 7.10 17 m -3 and 1.10 20 m -3 respectively. A side path in this thesis is the derivation of the Saha equation for a two-temperature plasma. The reason for this derivation was the dispute in the literature about the correct form of this equation. In this thesis it is shown, from the correct extension of the second law of thermodynamics and from the non-equilibrium formalism of Zubarev, That in the limit of m e /m h ->0 the generalized Saha equation depends on the electron temperature only. (author). 221 refs.; 54 figs.; 13 tabs

  2. Dynamics expansion of laser produced plasma with different materials in magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rabia Qindeel; Noriah Bte Bidin; Yaacob Mat daud [Laser Technology Laboratory, Physics Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Johor (Malaysia)], E-mail: plasmaqindeel@yahoo.com

    2008-12-01

    The dynamics expansion of the plasma generated by laser ablation of different materials has been investigated. The dynamics and confinement of laser generated plasma plumes are expanding across variable magnetic fields. A Q-switched neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser with 1064 nm, 8 ns pulse width and 0.125 J laser energy was used to generate plasma that was allowed to expand across variable magnetic within 0.1 - 0.8 T. The expansions of laser-produced plasma of different materials are characterized by using constant laser power. CCD video camera was used to visualize and record the activities in the focal region. The plasma plume length, width and area were measured by using Matrox Inpector 2.1 and video Test 0.5 software. Spectrums of plasma beam from different materials are studied via spectrometer. The results show that the plasma generated by aluminum target is the largest than Brass and copper. The optical radiation from laser generated plasma beam spectrums are obtained in the range of UV to visible light.

  3. Production and Magnetic Field Confinement of Laser-Irradiated Solid Particle Plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haught, A. F.; Polk, D. H.; Fader, W. J. [United Aircraft Research Laboratories East Hartford, CT (United States)

    1969-01-15

    The focused high-intensity beam from a Q-spoiled laser has been used to form a high-temperature, high-density plasma from a single 10-20 micron radius solid particle of lithium hydride which is electrically suspended in a vacuum environment free of all material supports. Time-resolved charge collection measurements of the freely expanding plasma have shown that a high degree of ionization of the 10{sup 15} atoms in the lithium hydride particle can be achieved and that the plasma produced is essentially spherically symmetric in density over the full 4 {pi} solid angle. Time-of-flight studies of the plasma expansion have shown that average electron and ion energies exceeding 200 electron volts are obtained and that the plasma expansion rate, like the plasma density, is spherically symmetric. No charge separation or separation of the lithium and hydrogen ions is observed in the expanding plasma. Numerical calculations of the plasma formation and expansion have been made using a one-dimensional spherical hydrodynamic model and, on the basis of the results obtained, an integrated similarity model has been developed for calculations of the plasma time history and energy over the range of conditions employed in the experiments. These calculations, which include the effects of laser pulse time history, fraction of the incident beam occupied by the expanding plasma, radial density and velocity gradients within the plasma, and spatial distribution of the incident laser energy, give results for the plasma radial density distribution, velocity profile, and plasma energy in good agreement with those determined experimentally over the full range of the present measurements. Measurements have been carried out to examine the interaction of these laser -produced plasmas with mirror, cusp, and minimum-B magnetic fields. Experiments with mirror and minimum-B magnetic fields up to 8 kC show that plasmas with densities of 10{sup 12} -10{sup 13} cm{sup -3} are confined for times of 5

  4. Magnetic confinement of laser produced LiH plasma in LITE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ard, W.B.; Stufflebeam, J.H.; Tomlinson, R.G.

    1976-01-01

    In the LITE experiment, a hot, dense plasma produced by laser heating of an approximately 100 μ dia LiH particle is used to fill a minimum-B baseball coil mirror magnetic containment field. The confined laser produced plasma subsequently serves as the target for an energetic neutral hydrogen beam in experiments to investigate the target plasma buildup approach for creating and sustaining an equilibrium, steady state mirror fusion plasma. In the experiments, the LiH particle is positioned in vacuum at the laser beam focus by a feedback particle suspension system and heated by two sided irradiation with the focused dual beam, 50 j, 7 nsec output of a Q-switched Nd-glass laser. The energy density of the laser produced plasma is initially much greater than that of the surrounding magnetic field and the plasma expands, converting its internal energy into expansion kinetic energy and displacement of the magnetic field. As the energy density falls below that of the magnetic field, the expansion is stopped and the plasma becomes trapped, making the transition to a low beta, mirror confined plasma. This report is concerned with the properties and behavior of the plasma in the confinement stage

  5. Axial magnetic field restriction of plasma sheath in a coaxial discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masoud, M. M.; Soliman, H. M.; Ibrahim, F. A.

    1999-01-01

    The study deals with the effect of an applied axial magnetic field on the dynamics and parameters of the plasma sheath and the expanded plasma in a coaxial discharge. Experimental investigations were carried out with a 3 kJ coaxial discharge device of a Mather geometry. The discharge takes place in Hydrogen gas with base pressure of 1 torr. The experiments were conducted with a 10 kV bank voltage, which corresponds to 100 kA discharge currents. The investigations have shown that the maximum axial plasma sheath velocity is decreased by 20% when applying the external axial magnetic field along the coaxial electrodes of intensity 2.6 kG. The experimental results of axial magnetic field intensity B z along the coaxial electrodes indicated that the application of external axial magnetic field causes an increases of B z ∼ 40% at a mid-distance between the breech and the muzzle and a decrease by 75% at the muzzle. The experimental results of expanded plasma electron temperature T e and density n e cleared that when the axial magnetic field is applied the maximum T e is decreased by 2.6 and 3 times, while the maximum n e is increased by 2.8 and 2 times for the first and second half cycles respectively. (author)

  6. Collisionless coupling of a high- β expansion to an ambient, magnetized plasma. I. Rayleigh model and scaling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonde, Jeffrey

    2018-04-01

    The dynamics of a magnetized, expanding plasma with a high ratio of kinetic energy density to ambient magnetic field energy density, or β, are examined by adapting a model of gaseous bubbles expanding in liquids as developed by Lord Rayleigh. New features include scale magnitudes and evolution of the electric fields in the system. The collisionless coupling between the expanding and ambient plasma due to these fields is described as well as the relevant scaling relations. Several different responses of the ambient plasma to the expansion are identified in this model, and for most laboratory experiments, ambient ions should be pulled inward, against the expansion due to the dominance of the electrostatic field.

  7. Analysis of plasma behavior in a magnetic nozzle of laser fusion rocket

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagamine, Yoshihiko; Yoshimi, Naofumi; Nakama, Yuji; Muranaka, Takanobu; Mayumi, Takao; Nakashima, Hideki

    1997-01-01

    A magnetic nozzle concept in a laser fusion rocket is suitable for controlling the fusion plasma flow and it has an advantage that thermalization with wall structures in a thrust chamber can be avoided. Rayleigh-Taylor instability would occur at the surface of expanding plasma and it would lead to the degradation of thrust efficiency, due to diffusion of the plasma through ambient decelerating magnetic field. A 3D hybrid particle-in-cell code has been developed to analyze the plasma instability in the magnetic nozzle. The resultant linear growth rate γ of the instability is found to be 2.96 x 10 6 and it is in good agreement with the theoretical value from conventional Rayleigh Taylor instability. (author)

  8. The magnetic vapour shield effect at divertor plates during plasma disruptions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Piazza, G.; Goel, B.; Hoebel, W.; Wuerz, H.; Landman, I.

    1995-01-01

    Hard disruptions in a TOKAMAK cause a large thermal load on the divertor plates with an instantaneous ablation of a part of the heated material. The produced vapour cloud screens the plasma facing component from the direct interaction with the disrupting plasma (vapour shield effect). In order to quantify the damage to the divertor the magneto-hydrodynamic behaviour of the expanding vapour cloud has been investigated using an extended version of the 1-dimensional Lagrangian hydrodynamic code KATACO. Modelling of the magnetic field effects on the expanding plasma takes into account that the magnetic field is oblique to the divertor (1 1/2 dimensional model). The ''Radiation Heat Conduction Approximation'' has been used for describing the radiative energy transport. In this paper results are presented assuming graphite as divertor material, irradiated with a proton beam of an energy density of 12MJ/m 2 and a duration of 100μs. (orig.)

  9. Magnetic fields in an expanding universe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kastor, David; Traschen, Jennie

    2014-01-01

    We find a solution to 4D Einstein–Maxwell theory coupled to a massless dilaton field, for all values of the dilaton coupling, describing a Melvin magnetic field in an expanding universe with ‘stiff matter’ equation of state parameter w = +1. As the universe expands, magnetic flux becomes more concentrated around the symmetry axis for dilaton coupling a<1/√3 and more dispersed for a>1/√3. An electric field circulates around the symmetry axis in the direction determined by Lenz's law. For a = 0 the magnetic flux through a disc of fixed comoving radius is proportional to the proper area of the disc. This result disagrees with the usual expectation based on a test magnetic field that this flux should be constant, and we show why this difference arises. We also find a Melvin solution in an accelerating universe with w = −7/9 for a dilaton field with a certain exponential potential. (paper)

  10. Anode plasma dynamics in the self-magnetic-pinch diode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nichelle Bruner

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The self-magnetic-pinch diode is being developed as an intense electron beam source for pulsed-power-driven x-ray radiography. In high-power operation, the beam electrons desorb contaminants from the anode surface from which positive ions are drawn to the cathode. The counterstreaming electrons and ions establish an equilibrium current. It has long been recognized, however, that expanding electrode plasmas can disrupt this equilibrium and cause rapid reduction of the diode impedance and the radiation pulse. Recently developed numerical techniques, which enable simultaneous modeling of particle currents with 10^{13}  cm^{-3} densities to plasmas of near solid density, are applied to a model of the self-magnetic-pinch diode which includes the formation and evolution of anode surface plasmas. Two mechanisms are shown to cause rapid impedance loss, anode plasma expansion into the anode-cathode (A-K gap, and increased ion space-charge near the cathode surface. The former mechanism dominates for shorter A-K gaps, while the latter dominates for longer gaps. Model results qualitatively reproduce the time-dependent impedances measured for this diode.

  11. Collisionless coupling of a high- β expansion to an ambient, magnetized plasma. II. Experimental fields and measured momentum coupling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonde, Jeffrey; Vincena, Stephen; Gekelman, Walter

    2018-04-01

    The momentum coupled to a magnetized, ambient argon plasma from a high- β, laser-produced carbon plasma is examined in a collisionless, weakly coupled limit. The total electric field was measured by separately examining the induced component associated with the rapidly changing magnetic field of the high- β (kinetic β˜106), expanding plasma and the electrostatic component due to polarization of the expansion. Their temporal and spatial structures are discussed and their effect on the ambient argon plasma (thermal β˜10-2) is confirmed with a laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic, which directly probed the argon ion velocity distribution function. For the given experimental conditions, the electrostatic field is shown to dominate the interaction between the high- β expansion and the ambient plasma. Specifically, the expanding plasma couples energy and momentum into the ambient plasma by pulling ions inward against the flow direction.

  12. Large-scale structuring of a rotating plasma due to plasma macroinstabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kikuchi, Toshinori; Ikehata, Takashi; Sato, Naoyuki; Watahiki, Takeshi; Tanabe, Toshio; Mase, Hiroshi

    1995-01-01

    The formation of coherent structures during plasma macroinstabilities have been of interest in view of the nonlinear plasma physics. In the present paper, we have investigated in detail, the mechanism and specific features of large-scale structuring of a rotating plasma. In the case of weak magnetic field, the plasma ejected from a plasma gun has a high beta value (β > 1) so that it expands rapidly across the magnetic field excluding a magnetic flux from its interior. Then, the boundary between the expanding plasma and the magnetic field becomes unstable against Rayleigh-Taylor instability. This instability has the higher growth rate at the shorter wavelength and the mode appears as flute. These features of the instability are confirmed by the observation of radial plasma jets with the azimuthal mode number m=20-40 in the early time of the plasma expansion. In the case of strong magnetic field, on the other hand, the plasma little expands and rotates at two times the ion sound speed. Especially, we observe spiral jets of m=2 instead of short-wavelength radial jets. This mode appears only when a glass target is installed or a dense neutral gas is introduced around the plasma to give the plasma a frictional force. From these results and with reference to the theory of plasma instabilities, the centrifugal instability caused by a combination of the velocity shear and centrifugal force is concluded to be responsible for the formation of spiral jets. (author)

  13. Extreme ultraviolet emission and confinement of tin plasmas in the presence of a magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roy, Amitava, E-mail: roy@fzu.cz, E-mail: aroy@barc.gov.in [School of Nuclear Engineering and Center for Materials Under Extreme Environment(CMUXE), Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (United States); HiLASE Project, Department of Diode-pumped Lasers, Institute of Physics of the ASCR, Na Slovance 2, 18221 Prague (Czech Republic); Murtaza Hassan, Syed; Harilal, Sivanandan S.; Hassanein, Ahmed [School of Nuclear Engineering and Center for Materials Under Extreme Environment(CMUXE), Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (United States); Endo, Akira; Mocek, Tomas [HiLASE Project, Department of Diode-pumped Lasers, Institute of Physics of the ASCR, Na Slovance 2, 18221 Prague (Czech Republic)

    2014-05-15

    We investigated the role of a guiding magnetic field on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and ion emission from a laser produced Sn plasma for various laser pulse duration and intensity. For producing plasmas, planar slabs of pure Sn were irradiated with 1064 nm, Nd:YAG laser pulses with varying pulse duration (5–15 ns) and intensity. A magnetic trap was fabricated with the use of two neodymium permanent magnets which provided a magnetic field strength ∼0.5 T along the plume expansion direction. Our results indicate that the EUV conversion efficiency do not depend significantly on applied axial magnetic field. Faraday Cup ion analysis of Sn plasma show that the ion flux reduces by a factor of ∼5 with the application of an axial magnetic field. It was found that the plasma plume expand in the lateral direction with peak velocity measured to be ∼1.2 cm/μs and reduced to ∼0.75 cm/μs with the application of an axial magnetic field. The plume expansion features recorded using fast photography in the presence and absence of 0.5 T axial magnetic field are simulated using particle-in-cell code. Our simulation results qualitatively predict the plasma behavior.

  14. Transport of energetic electrons in a magnetically expanding helicon double layer plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Charles, Christine; Boswell, Rod; Cox, Wes; Hatakeyama, Rikizo

    2009-01-01

    Peripheral magnetic field lines extending from the plasma source into the diffusion chamber are found to separate two regions of Maxwellian electron energy probability functions: the central, ion-beam containing region with an electron temperature of 5 eV, and region near the chamber walls with electrons at 3 eV. Along the peripheral field lines a bi-Maxwellian population with a hot tail at 9 eV is shown to both originate from electrons in the source traveling downstream across the double layer and correspond to a local maximum in ion and electron densities.

  15. Magnetic Detachment and Plume Control in Escaping Magnetized Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmit, P.F.; Fisch, N.J.

    2008-01-01

    The model of two-fluid, axisymmetric, ambipolar magnetized plasma detachment from thruster guide fields is extended to include plasmas with non-zero injection angular velocity profiles. Certain plasma injection angular velocity profiles are shown to narrow the plasma plume, thereby increasing exhaust efficiency. As an example, we consider a magnetic guide field arising from a simple current ring and demonstrate plasma injection schemes that more than double the fraction of useful exhaust aperture area, more than halve the exhaust plume angle, and enhance magnetized plasma detachment

  16. Plasma processes and film growth of expanding thermal plasma deposited textured zinc oxide

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groenen, R.; Linden, J.L.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.

    2005-01-01

    Plasma processes and film growth of textured zinc oxide deposited from oxygen and diethyl zinc utilizing expanding thermal argon plasma created by a cascaded arc is discussed. In all conditions explored, an excess of argon ions and low temperature electrons is available, which represent the

  17. Expanding plasma jet in a vacuum vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chutov, Yu.I.; Kravchenko, A.Yu.; Yakovetskij, V.S.

    1998-01-01

    The paper deals with numerical calculations of parameters of a supersonic quasi-neutral argon plasma jet expanding into a cylindrical vacuum vessel and interacting with its inner surface. A modified method of large particles was used, the complex set of hydrodynamic equations being broken into simpler components, each of which describes a separate physical process. Spatial distributions of the main parameters of the argon plasma jet were simulated at various times after the jet entering the vacuum vessel, the parameters being the jet velocity field, the full plasma pressure, the electron temperature, the temperature of heavy particles, and the degree of ionization. The results show a significant effect of plasma jet interaction on the plasma parameters. The jet interaction with the vessel walls may result e.g. in excitation of shock waves and rotational plasma motions. (J.U.)

  18. The thermo magnetic instability in hot viscose plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haghani, A.; Khosravi, A.; Khesali, A.

    2017-10-01

    Magnetic Rotational Instability (MRI) can not performed well in accretion disks with strong magnetic field. Studies have indicated a new type of instability called thermomagnetic instability (TMI) in systems where Nernst coefficient and gradient temperature were considered. Nernst coefficient would appear if Boltzman equation could be expanded through ω_{Be} (cyclotron frequency). However, the growth rate of this instability was two magnitude orders below MRI growth (Ωk), which could not act the same as MRI. Therefor, a higher growth rate of unstable modes was needed. In this paper, rotating viscid hot plasma with strong magnetic filed was studied. Firstly, a constant alpha viscosity was studied and then a temperature sensitive viscosity. The results showed that the temperature sensitive viscosity would be able to increase the growth rate of TMI modes significantly, hence capable of acting similar to MRI.

  19. The volume-expanding effects of autologous liquid stored plasma following hemorrhage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bentzer, Peter; Thomas, Owain D; Westborg, Johan

    2012-01-01

    of plasma transfusion on plasma volume. We report a prospective interventional study in which the plasma volume-expanding effect of autologous plasma was investigated after a controlled hemorrhage. Methods. Plasma obtained by plasmapheresis from nine healthy regular blood donors was stored at 2-6°C. Five...

  20. Dust in flowing magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandey, Birendra P.; Samarian, Alex A.; Vladimirov, Sergey V.

    2009-01-01

    Plasma flows occur in almost every laboratory device and interactions of flowing plasmas with near-wall impurities and/or dust significantly affects the efficiency and lifetime of such devices. The charged dust inside the magnetized flowing plasma moves primarily under the influence of the plasma drag and electric forces. Here, the charge on the dust, plasma potential, and plasma density are calculated self-consistently. The electrons are assumed non-Boltzmannian and the effect of electron magnetization and electron-atom collisions on the dust charge is calculated in a self-consistent fashion. For various plasma magnetization parameters viz. the ratio of the electron and ion cyclotron frequencies to their respective collision frequencies, plasma-atom and ionization frequencies, the evolution of the plasma potential and density in the flow region is investigated. The variation of the dust charge profile is shown to be a sensitive function of plasma parameters. (author)

  1. Changing fluorescence in a streaming barium plasma due to an axial magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonin, K.D.; Mason, T.G.

    1991-01-01

    The present investigations consider the case of a low-density laser-produced plasma expanding into a vacuum in the presence of an axial magnetic field. The time-integrated line intensities of neutral and singly ionized barium have been measured for magnetic fields up to 300 G. These measurements reveal three prominent changes in the intensities of individual lines as a function of increasing magnetic field: extinction, growth, and severe attenuation followed by enhancement. Measurements support a model that predicts the quenching of higher-lying transitions and the enhancement of lower-lying transitions for increasing magnetic fields

  2. Ion acoustic waves and double-layers in electronegative expanding plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plihon, Nicolas; Chabert, Pascal

    2011-01-01

    Ion acoustic waves and double-layers are observed in expanding plasmas in electronegative gases, i.e., plasmas containing an appreciable fraction of negative ions. The reported experiments are performed in argon gas with a variable amount of SF 6 . When varying the amount of SF 6 , the negative ion fraction increases and three main regimes were identified previously: (i) the plasma smoothly expands at low negative ion fraction, (ii) a static double-layer (associated with an abrupt potential drop and ion acceleration) forms at intermediate negative ion fraction, (iii) double-layers periodically form and propagate (in the plasma expansion direction) at high negative ion fraction. In this paper, we show that transition phases exist in between these regimes, where fluctuations are observed. These fluctuations are unstable slow ion acoustic waves, propagating in the direction opposite to the plasma expansion. These fluctuations are excited by the most unstable eigenmodes and display turbulent features. It is suggested that the static double layer forms when the ion acoustic fluctuations become non-linearly unstable: the double layer regime being a bifurcated state of the smoothly expanding regime. For the highest negative ion fraction, a coexistence of (upstream propagating) slow ion acoustic fluctuations and (downstream) propagating double layers was observed.

  3. Bremsstrahlung radiation of a plasma expanding into vacuum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grigor'ev, V.G.; Silakov, V.P.; Fetisov, V.S.

    1978-01-01

    Bremsstrahlung of a flat layer of a dense hot homogeneous plasma expanding to vacuum is considered. The spread of plasma is assumed to be adiabatic, and the plasma density and temperature are considered as known functions of coordinates and time in the radiation transport equation. Formulae for radiation intensity have been obtained in cases when the plasma layer covered by the rarefaction wave are optically thin and optically thick. The dependences of radiation intensity on the parameter α characterizing the optical thickness of the plasma layer and the spectrum of radiation of the spreading layer are presented graphically. It is shown that spread has an essential effect on the heat transfer and the spectral composition of the bremsstrahlung of a dense high-temperature plasma

  4. Waves generated in the plasma plume of helicon magnetic nozzle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Nagendra; Rao, Sathyanarayan; Ranganath, Praveen

    2013-01-01

    Experimental measurements have shown that the plasma plume created in a helicon plasma device contains a conical structure in the plasma density and a U-shaped double layer (US-DL) tightly confined near the throat where plasma begins to expand from the source. Recently reported two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations verified these density and US-DL features of the plasma plume. Simulations also showed that the plasma in the plume develops non-thermal feature consisting of radial ion beams with large densities near the conical surface of the density structure. The plasma waves that are generated by the radial ion beams affecting the structure of the plasma plume are studied here. We find that most intense waves persist in the high-density regions of the conical density structure, where the transversely accelerated ions in the radial electric fields in the plume are reflected setting up counter-streaming. The waves generated are primarily ion Bernstein modes. The nonlinear evolution of the waves leads to magnetic field-aligned striations in the fields and the plasma near the conical surface of the density structure.

  5. Waves generated in the plasma plume of helicon magnetic nozzle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Nagendra; Rao, Sathyanarayan; Ranganath, Praveen [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama 35899 (United States)

    2013-03-15

    Experimental measurements have shown that the plasma plume created in a helicon plasma device contains a conical structure in the plasma density and a U-shaped double layer (US-DL) tightly confined near the throat where plasma begins to expand from the source. Recently reported two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations verified these density and US-DL features of the plasma plume. Simulations also showed that the plasma in the plume develops non-thermal feature consisting of radial ion beams with large densities near the conical surface of the density structure. The plasma waves that are generated by the radial ion beams affecting the structure of the plasma plume are studied here. We find that most intense waves persist in the high-density regions of the conical density structure, where the transversely accelerated ions in the radial electric fields in the plume are reflected setting up counter-streaming. The waves generated are primarily ion Bernstein modes. The nonlinear evolution of the waves leads to magnetic field-aligned striations in the fields and the plasma near the conical surface of the density structure.

  6. Ion acoustic solitary waves in a dusty plasma obliquely propagating to an external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Cheong Rim; Ryu, Chang-Mo; Lee, Nam C.; Lee, D.-Y.

    2005-01-01

    The nonlinear ion acoustic solitary wave in a magnetized dusty plasma, obliquely propagating to the embedding external magnetic field, is revisited. It is found that when the charge density of dust particles is high, the Sagdeev potential needs to be expanded up to δn 4 near n=1. In this case, it is shown that there could exist rarefactive ion acoustic solitary waves as well as the kink-type double layer solutions, in addition to the conventional hump-type ones found in the δn 3 expansion. The amplitude variations of ion acoustic solitary waves in a magnetized dusty plasma are also examined with respect to the change of the dust charge density and the wave directional angle

  7. Magnetic Field Effects on Plasma Plumes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebersohn, F.; Shebalin, J.; Girimaji, S.; Staack, D.

    2012-01-01

    Here, we will discuss our numerical studies of plasma jets and loops, of basic interest for plasma propulsion and plasma astrophysics. Space plasma propulsion systems require strong guiding magnetic fields known as magnetic nozzles to control plasma flow and produce thrust. Propulsion methods currently being developed that require magnetic nozzles include the VAriable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) [1] and magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters. Magnetic nozzles are functionally similar to de Laval nozzles, but are inherently more complex due to electromagnetic field interactions. The two crucial physical phenomenon are thrust production and plasma detachment. Thrust production encompasses the energy conversion within the nozzle and momentum transfer to a spacecraft. Plasma detachment through magnetic reconnection addresses the problem of the fluid separating efficiently from the magnetic field lines to produce maximum thrust. Plasma jets similar to those of VASIMR will be studied with particular interest in dual jet configurations, which begin as a plasma loops between two nozzles. This research strives to fulfill a need for computational study of these systems and should culminate with a greater understanding of the crucial physics of magnetic nozzles with dual jet plasma thrusters, as well as astrophysics problems such as magnetic reconnection and dynamics of coronal loops.[2] To study this problem a novel, hybrid kinetic theory and single fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) solver known as the Magneto-Gas Kinetic Method is used.[3] The solver is comprised of a "hydrodynamic" portion based on the Gas Kinetic Method and a "magnetic" portion that accounts for the electromagnetic behaviour of the fluid through source terms based on the resistive MHD equations. This method is being further developed to include additional physics such as the Hall effect. Here, we will discuss the current level of code development, as well as numerical simulation results

  8. 3-D magnetic reconnection in colliding laser-produced plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matteucci, Jackson; Fox, Will; Moissard, Clement; Bhattacharjee, Amitava

    2017-10-01

    Recent experiments have demonstrated magnetic reconnection between colliding plasma plumes, where the reconnecting magnetic fields were self-generated in the expanding laser-produced plasmas by the Biermann battery effect. Using fully kinetic 3-D particle in cell simulations, we conduct the first end-to-end simulations of these experiments, including self-consistent magnetic field generation via the Biermann effect through driven magnetic field reconnection. The simulations show rich, temporally and spatially dependent magnetic field reconnection. First, we find fast, vertically-localized ``Biermann-mediated reconnection,'' an inherently 3-D reconnection mechanism where the sign of the Biermann term reverses in the reconnection layer, destroying incoming flux and reconnecting flux downstream. Reconnection then transitions to fast, collisionless reconnection sustained by the non-gyrotropic pressure tensor. To separate out the role 3-D mechanisms, 2-D simulations are initialized based on reconnection-plane cuts of the 3-D simulations. These simulations demonstrate: (1) suppression of Biermann-mediated reconnection in 2-D; (2) similar efficacy of pressure tensor mechanisms in 2-D and 3-D; and (3) plasmoids develop in the reconnection layer in 2-D, where-as they are suppressed in 3-D. Supported by NDSEG Fellowship. This research used resources of the OLCF at ORNL, which is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725.

  9. Magnetized relativistic electron-ion plasma expansion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benkhelifa, El-Amine; Djebli, Mourad

    2016-03-01

    The dynamics of relativistic laser-produced plasma expansion across a transverse magnetic field is investigated. Based on a one dimensional two-fluid model that includes pressure, enthalpy, and rest mass energy, the expansion is studied in the limit of λD (Debye length) ≤RL (Larmor radius) for magnetized electrons and ions. Numerical investigation conducted for a quasi-neutral plasma showed that the σ parameter describing the initial plasma magnetization, and the plasma β parameter, which is the ratio of kinetic to magnetic pressure are the key parameters governing the expansion dynamics. For σ ≪ 1, ion's front shows oscillations associated to the break-down of quasi-neutrality. This is due to the strong constraining effect and confinement of the magnetic field, which acts as a retarding medium slowing the plasma expansion.

  10. Stationary quenching wave in magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alikhanov, S.G.; Glushkov, I.S.

    1976-01-01

    The interaction of a magnetized hot plasma (ωsub(e)tau sub(e)>>1) with cold plasma or a gas leads to the appearanci of a cooling wave. The transition layer between hot and cold plasma is the main source of radiation losses which should be compensated by a heat flow from the hot region. A stationary state is considered, equations are written in the system in which temperature and magnetic field profiles are steady, and the plasma flux with magnetic field passes through the cooling wave. Calculations, have been carried out on a computer. The dependence of the magnetized plasma flux velocity Vsub(r) on the ratio p/Hsub(r) is shown, where p is the pressure, Hsub(r) is the magnetic field in the hot reqion. The dependence of the characteristic dimension of the cooling wave on the magnetic field is determined for the hot plasma region. A considerable fraction of the rediation losses is shown to fall to the region of (ωsub(e)tausub(e)< or approximately)1

  11. Heating and acceleration of solar wind ions by turbulent wave spectrum in inhomogeneous expanding plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ofman, Leon, E-mail: Leon.Ofman@nasa.gov [Department of Physics, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC (United States); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States); Visiting, Department of Geosciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (Israel); Ozak, Nataly [Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200B, 3001 Leuven (Belgium); Viñas, Adolfo F. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)

    2016-03-25

    Near the Sun (< 10R{sub s}) the acceleration, heating, and propagation of the solar wind are likely affected by the background inhomogeneities of the magnetized plasma. The heating and the acceleration of the solar wind ions by turbulent wave spectrum in inhomogeneous plasma is studied using a 2.5D hybrid model. The hybrid model describes the kinetics of the ions, while the electrons are modeled as massless neutralizing fluid in an expanding box approach. Turbulent magnetic fluctuations dominated by power-law frequency spectra, which are evident from in-situ as well as remote sensing measurements, are used in our models. The effects of background density inhomogeneity across the magnetic field on the resonant ion heating are studied. The effect of super-Alfvénic ion drift on the ion heating is investigated. It is found that the turbulent wave spectrum of initially parallel propagating waves cascades to oblique modes, and leads to enhanced resonant ion heating due to the inhomogeneity. The acceleration of the solar wind ions is achieved by the parametric instability of large amplitude waves in the spectrum, and is also affected by the inhomogeneity. The results of the study provide the ion temperature anisotropy and drift velocity temporal evolution due to relaxation of the instability. The non-Maxwellian velocity distribution functions (VDFs) of the ions are modeled in the inhomogeneous solar wind plasma in the acceleration region close to the Sun.

  12. Super-high magnetic fields in spatially inhomogeneous plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nastoyashchiy, Anatoly F.

    2012-01-01

    The new phenomenon of a spontaneous magnetic field in spatially inhomogeneous plasma is found. The criteria for instability are determined, and both the linear and nonlinear stages of the magnetic field growth are considered; it is shown that the magnetic field can reach a considerable magnitude, namely, its pressure can be comparable with the plasma pressure. Especially large magnetic fields can arise in hot plasma with a high electron density, for example, in laser-heated plasma. In steady-state plasma, the magnetic field can be self-sustaining. The considered magnetic fields may play an important role in thermal insulation of the plasma. (author)

  13. Results from colliding magnetized plasma jet experiments executed at the Trident laser facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manuel, M. J.-E.; Rasmus, A. M.; Kurnaz, C. C.; Klein, S. R.; Davis, J. S.; Drake, R. P.; Montgomery, D. S.; Hsu, S. C.; Adams, C. S.; Pollock, B. B.

    2015-11-01

    The interaction of high-velocity plasma flows in a background magnetic field has applications in pulsed-power and fusion schemes, as well as astrophysical environments, such as accretion systems and stellar mass ejections into the magnetosphere. Experiments recently executed at the Trident Laser Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory investigated the effects of an expanding aluminum plasma flow into a uniform 4.5-Tesla magnetic field created using a solenoid designed and manufactured at the University of Michigan. Opposing-target experiments demonstrate interesting collisional behavior between the two magnetized flows. Preliminary interferometry and Faraday rotation measurements will be presented and discussed. This work is funded by the U.S Department of Energy, through the NNSA-DS and SC-OFES Joint Program in High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasmas, grant number DE-NA0001840. Support for this work was provided by NASA through Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship grant number PF3-140111 awarded by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated by the Astrophysical Observatory for NASA under contract NAS8-03060.

  14. Heating and Acceleration of Solar Wind Ions by Turbulent Wave Spectrum in Inhomogeneous Expanding Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ofman, Leon; Ozak, Nataly; Vinas, Adolfo F.

    2016-01-01

    Near the Sun (plasma. The heating and the acceleration of the solar wind ions by turbulent wave spectrum in inhomogeneous plasma is studied using a 2.5D hybrid model. The hybrid model describes the kinetics of the ions, while the electrons are modeled as massless neutralizing fluid in an expanding box approach. Turbulent magnetic fluctuations dominated by power-law frequency spectra, which are evident from in-situ as well as remote sensing measurements, are used in our models. The effects of background density inhomogeneity across the magnetic field on the resonant ion heating are studied. The effect of super- Alfvenic ion drift on the ion heating is investigated. It is found that the turbulent wave spectrum of initially parallel propagating waves cascades to oblique modes, and leads to enhanced resonant ion heating due to the inhomogeneity. The acceleration of the solar wind ions is achieved by the parametric instability of large amplitude waves in the spectrum, and is also affected by the inhomogeneity. The results of the study provide the ion temperature anisotropy and drift velocity temporal evolution due to relaxation of the instability. The non-Maxwellian velocity distribution functions (VDFs) of the ions are modeled in the inhomogeneous solar wind plasma in the acceleration region close to the Sun.

  15. Magnetic reconnection in nontoroidal plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boozer, Allen H.

    2005-01-01

    Magnetic reconnection is a major issue in solar and astrophysical plasmas. The mathematical result that the evolution of a magnetic field with only point nulls is always locally ideal limits the nature of reconnection in nontoroidal plasmas. Here it is shown that the exponentially increasing separation of neighboring magnetic field lines, which is generic, tends to produce rapid magnetic reconnection if the length of the field lines is greater than about 20 times the exponentiation, or Lyapunov, length

  16. Analysis of the expanding thermal argon-oxygen plasma gas phase

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hest, van M.F.A.M.; Haartsen, J.R.; Weert, van M.H.M.; Schram, D.C.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.

    2003-01-01

    An expanding thermal argon plasma into which oxygen is injected has been analyzed by means of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements. Information is obtained on the ion d. profile and the flow pattern in the downstream plasma. A combination of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements provide information

  17. Laser-plasma interactions in magnetized environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yuan; Qin, Hong; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

    2018-05-01

    Propagation and scattering of lasers present new phenomena and applications when the plasma medium becomes strongly magnetized. With mega-Gauss magnetic fields, scattering of optical lasers already becomes manifestly anisotropic. Special angles exist where coherent laser scattering is either enhanced or suppressed, as we demonstrate using a cold-fluid model. Consequently, by aiming laser beams at special angles, one may be able to optimize laser-plasma coupling in magnetized implosion experiments. In addition, magnetized scattering can be exploited to improve the performance of plasma-based laser pulse amplifiers. Using the magnetic field as an extra control variable, it is possible to produce optical pulses of higher intensity, as well as compress UV and soft x-ray pulses beyond the reach of other methods. In even stronger giga-Gauss magnetic fields, laser-plasma interaction enters a relativistic-quantum regime. Using quantum electrodynamics, we compute a modified wave dispersion relation, which enables correct interpretation of Faraday rotation measurements of strong magnetic fields.

  18. Structural and magnetic properties of {open_quotes}expanded{close_quotes} Mn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grigorov, I.L.; Walker, J.C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland21218 (United States); Hawley, M.E.; Brown, G.W. [Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico87545 (United States); Luett, M.; Fitzsimmons, M.R. [Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico87545 (United States)

    1998-06-01

    Structural and magnetic properties of {open_quotes}expanded{close_quotes} Mn deposited on (111) oriented fcc noble metals were studied with single-crystal x-ray diffraction and exchange bias measurements. A single peak corresponding to this phase was found at momentum transfer q=2.86{Angstrom}{sup {minus}1} along six equivalent [11{bar 2}] directions of the noble metal substrate. Magnetic hysteresis of the field cooled Fe/Mn bilayers exhibited a characteristic shift along the field axis, indicating antiferromagnetic order in the expanded Mn with T{sub N}{ge}20K. The magnetic and structural data are consistent with understanding the expanded phase as trigonally distorted {alpha}-Mn. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Institute of Physics.}

  19. Plasma behavior and plasma-wall interaction in magnetic fusion divices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohtsuka, Hideo

    1984-10-01

    To study the fundamental behavior of plasma in magnetic field is the main subject in the early stage of the magnetic fusion research. At the next stage, it is necessary to overcome some actual problems in order to attain reactor grade plasmas. One of them is to control impurities in the plasma. In these points of view, we carried out several experiments or theoretical analyses. Firstly, anomalous loss mechanisms in magnetic field were investigated in a toroidal multipole device JFT-1 and the role of motions of charged particles in the magnetic field was exhibited. Various measurements of plasma in the scrape-off layer were made in a divertor tokamak JFT-2a and in an ordinary tokamak JFT-2. The former study demonstrated the first successful divertor operation of the tokamak device and the latter one clarified the mechanism of arcing on the tokamak first wall. As to arcing, a new theory which describes the retrograde motion, the well known strange motion of arcs in a magnetic field, was proposed. Good agreement with the experimental results was shown. Finally, by considering a zero-dimensional sputtering model a self-consistent relation between light and metal impurities in tokamak plasmas was obtained. It was shown that the relation well describes some fundamental aspects of the plasma-wall interaction. As a conclusion, the importance of simple behavior of charged particles in magnetic fields was pointed out not only for the plasma confinement but also for the plasma-wall interaction. (author)

  20. Laboratory simulation of energetic flows of magnetospheric planetary plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaikhislamov, I F; Posukh, V G; Melekhov, A V; Boyarintsev, E L; Zakharov, Yu P; Prokopov, P A; Ponomarenko, A G

    2017-01-01

    Dynamic interaction of super-sonic counter-streaming plasmas moving in dipole magnetic dipole is studied in laboratory experiment. First, a quasi-stationary flow is produced by plasma gun which forms a magnetosphere around the magnetic dipole. Second, explosive plasma expanding from inner dipole region outward is launch by laser beams focused at the surface of the dipole cover. Laser plasma is energetic enough to disrupt magnetic field and to sweep through the background plasma for large distances. Probe measurements showed that far from the initially formed magnetosphere laser plasma carries within itself a magnetic field of the same direction but order of magnitude larger in value than the vacuum dipole field at considered distances. Because no compression of magnetic field at the front of laser plasma was observed, the realized interaction is different from previous experiments and theoretical models of laser plasma expansion into uniform magnetized background. It was deduced based on the obtained data that laser plasma while expanding through inner magnetosphere picks up a magnetized shell formed by background plasma and carries it for large distances beyond previously existing magnetosphere. (paper)

  1. Electromagnetic induction phenomena in plasma systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlovitz, B.

    1982-01-01

    The phenomenon of electromagnetic induction is considered in complex high temperature plasma systems. Thermal energy of such fully ionized plasma is really energy of the magnetic vortex fields surrounding the randomly moving ions and electrons. In an expanding plasma stream, moving across the containing magnetic field, random thermal motion of the ions and electrons is converted into ordered motion and thereby random magnetic energy of the plasma into magnetic energy of an ordered field. Consequently, in contrast to simple systems consisting of coils and magnets only, an expanding plasma stream can maintain net outflow of ordered magnetic energy from a closed volume for an indefinite length of time. Conversion of thermal energy of plasma into ordered magnetic energy by the thermodynamic expansion process leads to the expectation of a new induction phenomenon: the generation of a unidirectional induced electromotive force of unlimited duration, measured in a closed loop at rest relative to the magnetic field, by the expansion work of the plasma stream. No change is required in the differential form of Maxwell's equations for the existence of this induction phenomenon, only the definition of the concept of rate of change of magnetic flux needs to be modified in the macroscopic equations to correspond to the rate of flow of magnetic energy across a closed surface. An experimental test of the predicted induction phenomenon is proposed

  2. Magnetic stresses in ideal MHD plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, V.O.

    1995-01-01

    The concept of magnetic stresses in ideal MHD plasma theory is reviewed and revisited with the aim of demonstrating its advantages as a basis for calculating and understanding plasma equilibria. Expressions are derived for the various stresses that transmit forces in a magnetized plasma...... and it is shown that the resulting magnetic forces on a finite volume element can be obtained by integrating the magnetic stresses over the surface of the element. The concept is used to rederive and discuss the equilibrium conditions for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas, including the virial theorem...... and the Shafranov shift. The method had pedagogical merits as it simplifies the calculations, improves the physical understanding and facilitates an assessment of the approximations made in the calculations....

  3. Recombination effect on the expansion process of the laser-producted plasma in the absence and presence of an external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudo, S.

    1979-05-01

    The change of the ionization ratio of the laser-produced plasma during expansion is calculated with a simple model. The results for expansion in the absence of a magnetic field are compared with the experimental results obtained by Baumhacker et al. The recombination is not negligible and it takes place mainly in the first stage of expansion. The ionization ratio of the expanding plasma remains distinctly higher in the presence of a magnetic field. However, in order to maintain full ionization in the plasma during the filling process in a magnetic container, the lower initial density is more favorable and the use of a CO 2 laser (at least in the final stage of plasma heating) seems necessary in the range of currently possible parameters. (orig.)

  4. Investigation of magnetic drift on transport of plasma across magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hazarika, Parismita; Chakraborty, Monojit; Das, Bidyut; Bandyopadhyay, Mainak

    2015-01-01

    When a metallic body is inserted inside plasma chamber it is always associated with sheath which depends on plasma and wall condition. The effect of sheath formed in the magnetic drift and magnetic field direction on cross field plasma transport has been investigated in a double Plasma device (DPD). The drifts exist inside the chamber in the transverse magnetic field (TMF) region in a direction perpendicular to both magnetic field direction and axis of the DPD chamber. The sheath are formed in the magnetic drift direction in the experimental chamber is due to the insertion of two metallic plates in these directions and in the magnetic field direction sheath is formed at the surface of the TMF channels. These metallic plates are inserted in order to obstruct the magnetic drift so that we can minimised the loss of plasma along drift direction and density in the target region is expected to increase due to the obstruction. It ultimately improves the negative ion formation parameters. The formation of sheath in the transverse magnetic field region is studied by applying electric field both parallel and antiparallel to drift direction. Data are acquired by Langmuir probe in source and target region of our chamber. (author)

  5. Magnetic-flutter-induced pedestal plasma transport

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Callen, J.D.; Hegna, C.C.; Cole, A.J.

    2013-01-01

    Plasma toroidal rotation can limit reconnection of externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields δB on rational magnetic flux surfaces. Hence it causes the induced radial perturbations δB ρ to be small there, thereby inhibiting magnetic island formation and stochasticity at the top of pedestals in high (H-mode) confinement tokamak plasmas. However, the δB ρ s induced by RMPs increase away from rational surfaces and are shown to induce significant sinusoidal radial motion (flutter) of magnetic field lines with a radial extent that varies linearly with δB ρ and inversely with distance from the rational surface because of the magnetic shear. This produces a radial electron thermal diffusivity that is (1/2)(δB ρ /B 0 ) 2 times a kinetically derived, electron-collision-induced, magnetic-shear-reduced, effective parallel electron thermal diffusivity in the absence of magnetic stochasticity. These low collisionality flutter-induced transport processes and thin magnetic island effects are shown to be highly peaked in the vicinity of rational surfaces at the top of low collisionality pedestals. However, the smaller but finite level of magnetic-flutter-induced electron heat transport midway between rational surfaces is the primary factor that determines the electron temperature difference between rational surfaces at the pedestal top. The magnetic-flutter-induced non-ambipolar electron density transport can be large enough to push the plasma toward an electron density transport root. Requiring ambipolar density transport is shown to determine the radial electric field, the plasma toroidal rotation (via radial force balance), a reduced electron thermal diffusivity and increased ambipolar density transport in the pedestal. At high collisionality the various flutter effects are less strongly peaked at rational surfaces and generally less significant. They are thus less likely to exhibit flutter-induced resonant behaviour and transition toward an

  6. Magnetic-flutter-induced pedestal plasma transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callen, J. D.; Hegna, C. C.; Cole, A. J.

    2013-11-01

    Plasma toroidal rotation can limit reconnection of externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields δB on rational magnetic flux surfaces. Hence it causes the induced radial perturbations δBρ to be small there, thereby inhibiting magnetic island formation and stochasticity at the top of pedestals in high (H-mode) confinement tokamak plasmas. However, the δBρs induced by RMPs increase away from rational surfaces and are shown to induce significant sinusoidal radial motion (flutter) of magnetic field lines with a radial extent that varies linearly with δBρ and inversely with distance from the rational surface because of the magnetic shear. This produces a radial electron thermal diffusivity that is (1/2)(δBρ/B0)2 times a kinetically derived, electron-collision-induced, magnetic-shear-reduced, effective parallel electron thermal diffusivity in the absence of magnetic stochasticity. These low collisionality flutter-induced transport processes and thin magnetic island effects are shown to be highly peaked in the vicinity of rational surfaces at the top of low collisionality pedestals. However, the smaller but finite level of magnetic-flutter-induced electron heat transport midway between rational surfaces is the primary factor that determines the electron temperature difference between rational surfaces at the pedestal top. The magnetic-flutter-induced non-ambipolar electron density transport can be large enough to push the plasma toward an electron density transport root. Requiring ambipolar density transport is shown to determine the radial electric field, the plasma toroidal rotation (via radial force balance), a reduced electron thermal diffusivity and increased ambipolar density transport in the pedestal. At high collisionality the various flutter effects are less strongly peaked at rational surfaces and generally less significant. They are thus less likely to exhibit flutter-induced resonant behaviour and transition toward an electron

  7. Fibrinogen estimates are influenced by methods of measurement and hemodilution with colloid plasma expanders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenger-Eriksen, Christian; Moore, Gary W; Rangarajan, Savita; Ingerslev, Jørgen; Sørensen, Benny

    2010-12-01

    Measurement of plasma fibrinogen is often required in critically ill patients or massively bleeding patients being resuscitated with colloid plasma expander. This study aimed at evaluating different assays of plasma fibrinogen after in vitro dilution with commonly used plasma expanders and challenged the hypothesis that levels of fibrinogen are estimated significantly higher in plasma diluted with colloid plasma expander compared with isotonic saline. Fibrinogen measurements were established in plasma samples each diluted in vitro to 30 or 50% with isotonic saline, hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 130/0.4, and human albumin. Fibrinogen levels were assessed using an antigen determination, three photo-optical Clauss methods, one mechanical Clauss method, a prothrombin-derived method, and viscoelastic measurement through thromboelastometry. Measurement of fibrinogen levels was significantly different when performed on alternate analytical platforms. By 30 and 50% dilution with HES 130/0.4 coagulation analyzers using the photo-optical Clauss methods significantly overestimated levels of fibrinogen. Dilution with human albumin did not affect fibrinogen levels except from one analyzer by 50% dilution level. Viscoelastic measurement of fibrin polymerization was reduced at both dilution levels and appeared to reflect the impairment of fibrin polymerization induced by HES 130/0.4 and to a lesser extent human albumin. This study demonstrated that different automated coagulation analyzers revealed significantly different levels of fibrinogen. The presence of colloid plasma expander gave rise to erroneous high levels of fibrinogen returned from some coagulation analyzers employing the method of Clauss. © 2010 American Association of Blood Banks.

  8. Energy spectra of gold and silver ions jointly expanding in multielement laser plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bedilov, M.R.; Kuramatov, D.; Tsoj, T.G.; Kholbaev, A.; Khaitbaev, K.

    1986-01-01

    The results of the investigations on energy distribution of Au and Ag ions jointly expanding in multielement paser plasma are presented. It is denonstrated, that on the stages of formation and expanding of multielement plasma multucharged ions considerable contribution is made by collision processes between electrons and ions and between ions of light and heavy elements. The results are discussed on the basis of existing theoretical models

  9. Automatic plasma control in magnetic traps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samojlenko, Y.; Chuyanov, V.

    1984-01-01

    Hot plasma is essentially in thermodynamic non-steady state. Automatic plasma control basically means monitoring deviations from steady state and producing a suitable magnetic or electric field which brings the plasma back to its original state. Briefly described are two systems of automatic plasma control: control with a magnetic field using a negative impedance circuit, and control using an electric field. It appears that systems of automatic plasma stabilization will be an indispensable component of the fusion reactor and its possibilities will in many ways determine the reactor economy. (Ha)

  10. Debye's length in expanding quark-gluon plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bialas, A.

    1988-06-01

    The screening properties of an abelian quark-gluon plasma and boost invariantly expanding in a given direction, are discussed. The expansion results in anisotropic screening. At early stages of the process, the Debye length along the direction of the expansion is reduced by a factor of about 2, relative to static calculations. This may have important consequences for the J/ψ production rate. 12 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab. (author)

  11. Nonlinear magnetic electron tripolar vortices in streaming plasmas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vranjes, J; Marić, G; Shukla, P K

    2000-06-01

    Magnetic electron modes in nonuniform magnetized and unmagnetized streaming plasmas, with characteristic frequencies between the ion and electron plasma frequencies and at spatial scales of the order of the collisionless skin depth, are studied. Two coupled equations, for the perturbed (in the case of magnetized plasma) or self-generated (for the unmagnetized plasma case) magnetic field, and the temperature, are solved in the strongly nonlinear regime and stationary traveling solutions in the form of tripolar vortices are found.

  12. Turbulent transport in magnetized plasmas

    CERN Document Server

    Horton, Wendell

    2012-01-01

    This book explains how magnetized plasmas self-organize in states of electromagnetic turbulence that transports particles and energy out of the core plasma faster than anticipated by the fusion scientists designing magnetic confinement systems in the 20th century. It describes theory, experiments and simulations in a unified and up-to-date presentation of the issues of achieving nuclear fusion power.

  13. Effects of 3D Magnetic Perturbations on Toroidal Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Callen, J.D.

    2010-01-01

    Full text: To lowest order tokamaks are two-dimensional (2D) axisymmetric magnetic systems. But small 3D magnetic perturbations (both externally applied and from plasma instabilities) have many interesting and useful effects on tokamak (and quasi-symmetric stellarator) plasmas. Plasma transport equations that include these effects, especially on diamagnetic-level toroidal plasma rotation, have recently been developed. The 3D magnetic perturbations and their plasma effects can be classified according to their toroidal mode number n: low n (1 to 5) resonant (q = m/n in plasma) and non-resonant fields, medium n (due to toroidal field ripple), and high n (due to microturbulence). This paper concentrates on low and medium n perturbations. Low n non-resonant magnetic fields induce a neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) that damps toroidal plasma rotation throughout the plasma toward an offset flow in the counter-I p direction; recent tokamak experiments have confirmed and exploited these predictions by applying external low n non-resonant magnetic perturbations. Medium n perturbations have similar effects plus possible ripple trapping and resultant edge ion losses. A low n resonant magnetic field induces a toroidal plasma torque in the vicinity of the rational surface; when large enough it can stop plasma rotation there and lead to a locked mode, which often causes a plasma disruption. Externally applied 3D magnetic perturbations usually have many components; in the plasma their lowest n components are amplified by plasma responses, particularly at high beta. Low n plasma instabilities (e.g., NTMs, RWMs) cause additional 3D magnetic perturbations in tokamak plasmas; tearing modes can bifurcate the topology and form magnetic islands. Finally, multiple resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) can cause local magnetic stochasticity and influence H-mode edge pedestal transport. These various effects of 3D magnetic perturbations can be used to control the toroidal plasma

  14. Magnetic field-aligned plasma expansion in critical ionization velocity space experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, N.

    1989-01-01

    Motivated by the recent Critical Ionization Velocity (CIV) experiments in space, the temporal evolution of a plasma cloud released in an ambient plasma is studied. Time-dependent Vlasov equations for both electrons and ions, along with the Poisson equation for the self-consistent electric field parallel to the ambient magnetic field, are solved. The initial cloud is assumed to consist of cold, warm, and hot electrons with temperatures T/sub c/ ≅ 0.2 eV, T/sub w/ ≅ 2 eV, and T/sub h/ ≅ 10 eV, respectively. It is found that the minor hot electrons escape the cloud, and their velocity distribution function shows the typical time-of-flight dispersion feature - that is, the larger the distance from the cloud, the larger is the average drift velocity of the escaping electrons. The major warm electrons expand along the magnetic field line with the corresponding ion-acoustic speed. The combined effect of the escaping hot electrons and the expanding warm ones sets up an electric potential structure which accelerates the ambient electrons into the cloud. Thus, the energy loss due to the electron escape is partly replenished. The electric field distribution in the potential structure depends on the stage of the evolution; before the rarefaction waves propagating from the edges of the cloud reach its center, the electric fields point into the cloud. After this stage the cloud divides into two subclouds, with each having their own bipolar electric fields. Effects of collisions on the evolution of plasma clouds are also discussed. The relevance of the results seen from the calculations are discussed in the context of recent space experiments on CIV

  15. Vortex dynamics in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kono, M.; Krane, B.; Pecseli, H.L.; Trulsen, J.

    1998-01-01

    Low frequency dynamics of electrostatic fluctuations in strongly magnetized plasmas have been studied. It was found that perturbations in density and potential can be very localized, indicating the applicability of an approximate description based on a finite number of vortices. A model based on a few isolated vortical structures is discussed, with particular attention to vortex collapse, where three vortices merge together within a finite time, or to the converse process, i.e. a vortex explosion. Details of these particular types of vortex dynamics depend on the actual model used for describing the electrons, the presence of a Debye shielding in particular. A ''boomerang''-type of evolution was found, where three shielded vortices expand initially, just as their unshielded counterparts, but eventually the expansion is arrested, and they start converging to collapse ultimately. The study is extended by a numerical simulation where the point model is relaxed to a continuous, but localized, vorticity distribution with finite size vortices. (orig.)

  16. Plasma diffusion due to magnetic field fluctuations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okuda, H.; Lee, W.W.; Lin, A.T.

    1979-01-01

    Plasma diffusion due to magnetic field fluctuations has been studied in two dimensions for a plasma near thermal equilibrium and when the fluctuations are suprathermal. It is found that near thermal equilibrium electron diffusion varies as B -2 when the collisionless skin depth is greater than the thermal electron gyroradius and is generally smaller than the diffusion due to collisions or electrostatic fluctuations for a low-β plasma. When the suprathermal magnetic fluctuation exists because of macroscopic plasma currents, electron diffusion is enhanced due to the coalescence of current filaments and magnetic islands. Magnetic field energy is found to condense to the longest wavelength available in the system and stays there longer than the electron diffusion time scale

  17. Lazer-produced plasma in a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaitmazov, S.D.; Shklovskij, E.I.

    1978-01-01

    Investigations on interaction of laser plasma with the magnetic field in the range of 100-300 kOe are surveyed. Problems associated with the effect of the field on the optical breakdown threshold in gases, the geometry (kinetics) of laser plasma and its radiation are mainly considered. It is noted that the magnetic field may reduce the o tical breakdown threshold in gases, promote the spreading of plasma predominantly in the direction of tice magnetic field, and also affect (increase in the visible range) the radiation intensity of the laser plasma. The effect of the magnetic field on the temperature of the laser plasma is not completely understood yet, but the very fact of existence of this dependence is important; it enables one to search for conditions under which the magnetic field would promote the increase at the temperature of laser plasma

  18. Parametric analysis of a magnetized cylindrical plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahedo, Eduardo

    2009-01-01

    The relevant macroscopic model, the spatial structure, and the parametric regimes of a low-pressure plasma confined by a cylinder and an axial magnetic field is discussed for the small-Debye length limit, making use of asymptotic techniques. The plasma response is fully characterized by three-dimensionless parameters, related to the electron gyroradius, and the electron and ion collision mean-free-paths. There are the unmagnetized regime, the main magnetized regime, and, for a low electron-collisionality plasma, an intermediate-magnetization regime. In the magnetized regimes, electron azimuthal inertia is shown to be a dominant phenomenon in part of the quasineutral plasma region and to set up before ion radial inertia. In the main magnetized regime, the plasma structure consists of a bulk diffusive region, a thin layer governed by electron inertia, a thinner sublayer controlled by ion inertia, and the non-neutral Debye sheath. The solution of the main inertial layer yields that the electron azimuthal energy near the wall is larger than the electron thermal energy, making electron resistivity effects non-negligible. The electron Boltzmann relation is satisfied only in the very vicinity of the Debye sheath edge. Ion collisionality effects are irrelevant in the magnetized regime. Simple scaling laws for plasma production and particle and energy fluxes to the wall are derived.

  19. Carbohydrate plasma expanders for passive tumor targeting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoffmann, Stefan; Caysa, Henrike; Kuntsche, Judith

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate the suitability of carbohydrate plasma volume expanders as a novel polymer platform for tumor targeting. Many synthetic polymers have already been synthesized for targeted tumor therapy, but potential advantages of these carbohydrates include inexpen...... was characterized in human colon carcinoma xenograft bearing nude mice. A tumor specific accumulation of HES 450 was observed, which proves it’s potential as carrier for passive tumor targeting....

  20. Wave turbulence in magnetized plasmas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Galtier

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available The paper reviews the recent progress on wave turbulence for magnetized plasmas (MHD, Hall MHD and electron MHD in the incompressible and compressible cases. The emphasis is made on homogeneous and anisotropic turbulence which usually provides the best theoretical framework to investigate space and laboratory plasmas. The solar wind and the coronal heating problems are presented as two examples of application of anisotropic wave turbulence. The most important results of wave turbulence are reported and discussed in the context of natural and simulated magnetized plasmas. Important issues and possible spurious interpretations are also discussed.

  1. Mass ablation and magnetic flux losses through a magnetized plasma-liner wall interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Rubio, F.; Sanz, J.

    2017-07-01

    The understanding of energy and magnetic flux losses in a magnetized plasma medium confined by a cold wall is of great interest in the success of magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF). In a MagLIF scheme, the fuel is magnetized and subsonically compressed by a cylindrical liner. Magnetic flux conservation is degraded by the presence of gradient-driven transport processes such as thermoelectric effects (Nernst) and magnetic field diffusion. In previous publications [Velikovich et al., Phys. Plasmas 22, 042702 (2015)], the evolution of a hot magnetized plasma in contact with a cold solid wall (liner) was studied using the classical collisional Braginskii's plasma transport equations in one dimension. The Nernst term degraded the magnetic flux conservation, while both thermal energy and magnetic flux losses were reduced with the electron Hall parameter ωeτe with a power-law asymptotic scaling (ωeτe)-1/2. In the analysis made in the present paper, we consider a similar situation, but with the liner being treated differently. Instead of a cold solid wall acting as a heat sink, we model the liner as a cold dense plasma with low thermal conduction (that could represent the cryogenic fuel layer added on the inner surface of the liner in a high-gain MagLIF configuration). Mass ablation comes into play, which adds notably differences to the previous analysis. The direction of the plasma motion is inverted, but the Nernst term still convects the magnetic field towards the liner. Magnetization suppresses the Nernst velocity and improves the magnetic flux conservation. Thermal energy in the hot plasma is lost in heating the ablated material. When the electron Hall parameter is large, mass ablation scales as (ωeτe)-3/10, while both the energy and magnetic flux losses are reduced with a power-law asymptotic scaling (ωeτe)-7/10.

  2. Experimental investigation of magnetically confined plasma loops

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tenfelde, Jan

    2012-01-01

    Arch-shaped magnetic flux tubes generated in a pulsed-power plasma experiment were investigated with a variety of diagnostics concerning their expansion properties. Specifically, the expansion velocity was of interest, which is observed as constant for a wide range of experimental parameters. An MHD transport mechanism is investigated as possible cause of a uniform arch cross section: Axial transport of poloidal magnetic flux along the plasma may cause a pinch force leading to a uniform diameter along the arch. Despite numerous experimental findings at a very similar experimental setup, no indication for the relevance of this process could be found. Instead, magnetic probe data showed that the plasma current in the apex region is constant. A constant expansion velocity was observed for considerably different experimental conditions. This included different plasma source designs with fundamentally different toroidal magnetic field topology and variation of the working gas, which lead to plasma densities lower by an order of magnitude. Inside the current channel of the arch, Alfven velocities were estimated. To this end, plasma density profiles obtained from interferometry were inverted to obtain local densities, which were in turn verified by means of Stark broadening of hydrogen Balmer lines. Furthermore, measurements of multiple components of the magnetic field of the plasma arch were performed. An estimate for the conductivity was obtained from Spitzer's formula for fully ionized plasma using electron temperatures obtained from elementary optical emission spectroscopy. From the presented data of ccd imaging, magnetic field probes, and to lesser extent, interferometry, the underlying assumption of residual plasma (and considerable plasma currents through it) below the actual arch structure is very plausible. Rough estimates of the electric field strength along the arch and results of the magnetic field measurements showed, that the detected expansion

  3. Experimental investigation of magnetically confined plasma loops

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tenfelde, Jan

    2012-12-11

    Arch-shaped magnetic flux tubes generated in a pulsed-power plasma experiment were investigated with a variety of diagnostics concerning their expansion properties. Specifically, the expansion velocity was of interest, which is observed as constant for a wide range of experimental parameters. An MHD transport mechanism is investigated as possible cause of a uniform arch cross section: Axial transport of poloidal magnetic flux along the plasma may cause a pinch force leading to a uniform diameter along the arch. Despite numerous experimental findings at a very similar experimental setup, no indication for the relevance of this process could be found. Instead, magnetic probe data showed that the plasma current in the apex region is constant. A constant expansion velocity was observed for considerably different experimental conditions. This included different plasma source designs with fundamentally different toroidal magnetic field topology and variation of the working gas, which lead to plasma densities lower by an order of magnitude. Inside the current channel of the arch, Alfven velocities were estimated. To this end, plasma density profiles obtained from interferometry were inverted to obtain local densities, which were in turn verified by means of Stark broadening of hydrogen Balmer lines. Furthermore, measurements of multiple components of the magnetic field of the plasma arch were performed. An estimate for the conductivity was obtained from Spitzer's formula for fully ionized plasma using electron temperatures obtained from elementary optical emission spectroscopy. From the presented data of ccd imaging, magnetic field probes, and to lesser extent, interferometry, the underlying assumption of residual plasma (and considerable plasma currents through it) below the actual arch structure is very plausible. Rough estimates of the electric field strength along the arch and results of the magnetic field measurements showed, that the detected expansion

  4. Three Dimensional Double Layers in Magnetized Plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jovanovic, D.; Lynov, Jens-Peter; Michelsen, Poul

    1982-01-01

    Experimental results are presented which demonstrate the formation of fully three dimensional double layers in a magnetized plasma. The measurements are performed in a magnetized stationary plasma column with radius 1.5 cm. Double layers are produced by introducing an electron beam with radius 0.......4 cm along the magnetic field from one end of the column. The voltage drop across the double layer is found to be determined by the energy of the incoming electron beam. In general we find that the width of the double layer along the external magnetic field is determined by plasma density and beam...

  5. Experimental investigation of coaxial-gun-formed plasmas injected into a background transverse magnetic field or plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yue; Fisher, Dustin M.; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott C.; Lynn, Alan G.

    2018-05-01

    Injection of coaxial-gun-formed magnetized plasmas into a background transverse vacuum magnetic field or into a background magnetized plasma has been studied in the helicon-cathode (HelCat) linear plasma device at the University of New Mexico [M. Gilmore et al., J. Plasma Phys. 81, 345810104 (2015)]. A magnetized plasma jet launched into a background transverse magnetic field shows emergent kink stabilization of the jet due to the formation of a sheared flow in the jet above the kink stabilization threshold 0.1kVA [Y. Zhang et al., Phys. Plasmas 24, 110702 (2017)]. Injection of a spheromak-like plasma into a transverse background magnetic field led to the observation of finger-like structures on the side with a stronger magnetic field null between the spheromak and the background field. The finger-like structures are consistent with magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Jets or spheromaks launched into a background, low-β magnetized plasma show similar behavior as above, respectively, in both cases.

  6. Magnetized whirls in plasma focus discharges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Witalis, E.

    1979-05-01

    The plasma focus is briefly described with emphasis on its capabilities as a neutron source. The filamentary whirl structures observed in the discharge plasma are described. Starting with a simple, early and particularly well established case of vorticity imparted by a rotational electric field to the plasma in MHD generators, a general derivation is then outlined proving that such magnetically induced rotation is a general feature for the normally Hall-conducting magnetized plasma. Physical interpretations of the effect are given and objections to it are critically reviewed as is also a theory proposing radiation cooling as the cause of plasma filamentation. A more detailed derivation based essentially on the consistent description of the motion and the field generation of the charged plasma particles yields a theoretical model where the specific features of magnetically compressed plasmas are found. In particular, the ion collisionless skin depth is obtained as the key length parameter. This length is identified as roughly the whirl radius. In conjunction with a generalized Bennett relation theoretical whirl properties are predicted and found to agree with observations. Mechanisms that relate the whirls to nuclear fusion reaction conditions are tentatively indicated. (author)

  7. A review on ion–ion plasmas created in weakly magnetized electronegative plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aanesland, A; Bredin, J; Chabert, P

    2014-01-01

    Ion–Ion plasmas are electronegative plasmas where the electron density is several orders of magnitude lower than the negative ion density. These plasmas have been scarcely observed and investigated since the 1960s and are formed as a transient state of pulsed plasmas or in separate regions in magnetized plasmas. In this review we focus on the latter case of continuous formation of ion–ion plasmas created at the periphery of magnetized plasma columns or downstream localized magnetic barriers. We bring together and review experimental results already published elsewhere and complement them with new results to illustrate the physics important in ion–ion plasma formation and highlight in particular unanswered questions. We show that with a good design the density in the ion–ion region is dropping only by a factor of 2–3 from the initial plasma density. These plasmas can therefore be well suited for various ion source applications when both fluxes or beams of positive and negative ions are desired, and when electrons can cause harmful effects. (paper)

  8. Ion Motion in a Plasma Interacting with Strong Magnetic Fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weingarten, A.; Grabowski, C.; Chakrabarti, N.; Maron, Y.; Fruchtmant, A.

    1999-01-01

    The interaction of a plasma with strong magnetic fields takes place in many laboratory experiments and astrophysical plasmas. Applying a strong magnetic field to the plasma may result in plasma displacement, magnetization, or the formation of instabilities. Important phenomena in plasma, such as the energy transport and the momentum balance, take a different form in each case. We study this interaction in a plasma that carries a short-duration (80-ns) current pulse, generating a magnetic field of up to 17 kG. The evolution of the magnetic field, plasma density, ion velocities, and electric fields are determined before and during the current pulse. The dependence of the plasma limiting current on the plasma density and composition are studied and compared to theoretical models based on the different phenomena. When the plasma collisionality is low, three typical velocities should be taken into consideration: the proton and heavier-ion Alfven velocities (v A p and v A h , respectively) and the EMHD magnetic-field penetration velocity into the plasma (v EMHD ). If both Alfven velocities are larger than v EMHD the plasma is pushed ahead of the magnetic piston and the magnetic field energy is dissipated into ion kinetic energy. If v EMHD is the largest of three velocities, the plasma become magnetized and the ions acquire a small axial momentum only. Different ion species may drift in different directions along the current lines. In this case, the magnetic field energy is probably dissipated into electron thermal energy. When vs > V EMHD > vi, as in the case of one of our experiments, ion mass separation occurs. The protons are pushed ahead of the piston while the heavier-ions become magnetized. Since the plasma electrons are unmagnetized they cannot cross the piston, and the heavy ions are probably charge-neutralized by electrons originating from the cathode that are 'born' magnetized

  9. Production of field-reversed plasma with a magnetized coaxial plasma gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turner, W.C.; Granneman, E.H.A.; Hartman, C.W.; Prono, D.S.; Taska, J.; Smith, A.C. Jr.

    1981-01-01

    Experimental data are presented on the production of field-reversed deuterium plasma by a modified coaxial plasma gun. The coaxial gun is constructed with solenoid coils along the inner and outer electrodes that, together with an external guide field solenoid, form a magnetic cusp at the gun muzzle. The net flux inside the inner electrode is arranged to be opposite the external guide field and is the source of field-reversed flux trapped by the plasma. The electrode length is 145 cm, the diameter of the inner (outer) electrode is 15 cm (32 cm). The gun discharge is driven with a 232-μF 40-kV capacitor bank. Acceleration of plasma through the magnetic cusp at the gun muzzle results in entrainment of field-reversed flux that is detected by magnetic probes 75 cm from the gun muzzle. Field-reversed plasma has been produced for a variety of experimental conditions. In one typical case, the guide magnetic field was B 0 =4.8 kG and the change in axial magnetic field ΔB/sub z/ normalized to B 0 was ΔB/sub z/ /B 0 =-3.1. Total field-reversed flux (poloidal flux) obtained by integrating ΔB/sub z/ profiles is in the range 2 x 10 3 kG cm 2 . Measurement of the orthogonal field component indicates a sizable toroidal field peaked off axis at rapprox. =10 cm with a magnitude of roughly one-half the poloidal field component that is measured on magnetic axis. Reconnection of the poloidal field lines has not been established for the data reported in the paper and will be addressed in future experiments which attempt to trap and confine the field-reversed plasma in a magnetic mirror

  10. Plasma sprayed Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willson, M.; Bauser, S.; Liu, S.; Huang, M.

    2003-01-01

    This study demonstrated that the plasma spray deposition method is an alternative process for producing Nd-Fe-B magnets in addition to the two existing principal processes: the powder metallurgy process for producing sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets and the melt spinning process for bonded Nd-Fe-B magnets. Plasma spray is a potentially better process for producing magnetic parts with complicated shape, large area, thin thickness, small dimension, or unusual geometry. High intrinsic coercivity greater than 15 kOe was readily obtained for Nd 16 Dy 1 Fe 76 B 7 even in the as-deposited condition when the substrate was preheated. The plasma spray process contains only three steps: melting, crushing, and plasma spray, which is much simpler than the powder metallurgy and melt spinning processes. Without preheating the substrate, the coercivity was usually very low (∼0.1 kOe) in the as-deposited condition and it increased to 10 to >15 kOe after anneal. Evidence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy was observed in plasma sprayed Nd 15 Dy 1 Fe 77 B 7 magnets when the substrate was not preheated. It is believed that a crystal texture was developed during the plasma spray as a result of the existence of a temperature gradient in the solidifying melt

  11. Experimental investigation of coaxial-gun-formed plasmas injected into a background transverse magnetic field or plasma

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Yue; Fisher, Dustin M.; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott C.; Lynn, Alan G.

    2017-01-01

    Injection of coaxial-gun-formed magnetized plasmas into a background transverse vacuum magnetic field or into a background magnetized plasma has been studied in the helicon-cathode (HelCat) linear plasma device at the University of New Mexico [M. Gilmore et al., J. Plasma Phys.81, 345810104 (2015)]. Magnetized plasma jet launched into a background transverse magnetic field shows emergent kink stabilization of the jet due to the formation of a sheared flow in the jet above the kink-stabilizati...

  12. Dispersion functions for weakly relativistic magnetized plasmas in inhomogeneous magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaelzer, R.; Schneider, R.S.; Ziebell, L.F.

    1995-01-01

    The study of wave propagation and absorption inhomogeneous plasmas can be made by using a formulation in which the dielectric properties of the plasma are described by an effective dielectric tensor which incorporates inhomogeneity effects, inserted into a dispersion relation which is formally the same as that of an homogeneous plasma. We have recently utilized this formalism in the study of electron cyclotron absorption in inhomogeneous media, both in the case of homogeneous magnetic field and in the case of inhomogeneous magnetic field. In the present paper we resume the study of the case with inhomogeneous magnetic field, in order to introduce a generalized dispersion function useful for the case of a Maxwellian plasma, and discuss some of its properties. (author). 10 refs

  13. Effects of 3D magnetic perturbations on toroidal plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Callen, J.D.

    2011-01-01

    Small three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field perturbations have many interesting and possibly useful effects on tokamak and quasi-symmetric stellarator plasmas. Plasma transport equations that include these effects, most notably on diamagnetic-level toroidal plasma flows, have recently been developed. The 3D field perturbations and their plasma effects can be classified according to their toroidal mode number n: low n (say 1-5) resonant (with field line pitch, q = m/n) and non-resonant fields, medium n (∼20, due to toroidal field ripple) and high n (due to microturbulence). Low n non-resonant fields induce a neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) that damps toroidal rotation throughout the plasma towards an offset rotation in the counter-current direction. Recent tokamak experiments have generally confirmed and exploited these predictions by applying external low n non-resonant magnetic perturbations. Medium n toroidal field ripple produces similar effects plus possible ripple-trapping NTV effects and ion direct losses in the edge. A low n (e.g. n = 1) resonant field is mostly shielded by the toroidally rotating plasma at and inside the resonant (rational) surface. If it is large enough it can stop plasma rotation at the rational surface, facilitate magnetic reconnection there and lead to a growing stationary magnetic island (locked mode), which often causes a plasma disruption. Externally applied 3D magnetic perturbations usually have many components. In the plasma their lowest n (e.g. n = 1) externally resonant components can be amplified by kink-type plasma responses, particularly at high β. Low n plasma instabilities (e.g. resistive wall modes, neoclassical tearing modes) cause additional 3D magnetic perturbations in tokamak plasmas. Tearing modes in their nonlinear (Rutherford) regime bifurcate the topology and form magnetic islands. Finally, multiple resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) can, if not shielded by plasma rotation effects, cause local magnetic

  14. Plasma membrane isolation using immobilized concanavalin A magnetic beads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yu-Chen; Srajer Gajdosik, Martina; Josic, Djuro; Lin, Sue-Hwa

    2012-01-01

    Isolation of highly purified plasma membranes is the key step in constructing the plasma membrane proteome. Traditional plasma membrane isolation method takes advantage of the differential density of organelles. While differential centrifugation methods are sufficient to enrich for plasma membranes, the procedure is lengthy and results in low recovery of the membrane fraction. Importantly, there is significant contamination of the plasma membranes with other organelles. The traditional agarose affinity matrix is suitable for isolating proteins but has limitation in separating organelles due to the density of agarose. Immobilization of affinity ligands to magnetic beads allows separation of affinity matrix from organelles through magnets and could be developed for the isolation of organelles. We have developed a simple method for isolating plasma membranes using lectin concanavalin A (ConA) magnetic beads. ConA is immobilized onto magnetic beads by binding biotinylated ConA to streptavidin magnetic beads. The ConA magnetic beads are used to bind glycosylated proteins present in the membranes. The bound membranes are solubilized from the magnetic beads with a detergent containing the competing sugar alpha methyl mannoside. In this study, we describe the procedure of isolating rat liver plasma membranes using sucrose density gradient centrifugation as described by Neville. We then further purify the membrane fraction by using ConA magnetic beads. After this purification step, main liver plasma membrane proteins, especially the highly glycosylated ones and proteins containing transmembrane domains could be identified by LC-ESI-MS/MS. While not described here, the magnetic bead method can also be used to isolate plasma membranes from cell lysates. This membrane purification method should expedite the cataloging of plasma membrane proteome.

  15. Tomography of a simply magnetized toroidal plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggero, BARNI; Stefano, CALDIROLA; Luca, FATTORINI; Claudia, RICCARDI

    2018-02-01

    Optical emission spectroscopy is a passive diagnostic technique, which does not perturb the plasma state. In particular, in a hydrogen plasma, Balmer-alpha (H α ) emission can be easily measured in the visible range along a line of sight from outside the plasma vessel. Other emission lines in the visible spectral range from hydrogen atoms and molecules can be exploited too, in order to gather complementary pieces of information on the plasma state. Tomography allows us to capture bi-dimensional structures. We propose to adopt an emission spectroscopy tomography for studying the transverse profiles of magnetized plasmas when Abel inversion is not exploitable. An experimental campaign was carried out at the Thorello device, a simple magnetized torus. The characteristics of the profile extraction method, which we implemented for this purpose are discussed, together with a few results concerning the plasma profiles in a simply magnetized torus configuration.

  16. Measurement of Debye length in laser-produced plasma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehler, W.

    1973-01-01

    The Debye length of an expanded plasma created by placing an evacuated chamber with an entrance slit in the path of a freely expanding laser produced plasma was measured, using the slab geometry. An independent measurement of electron density together with the observed value for the Debye length also provided a means for evaluating the plasma electron temperature. This temperature has applications in ascertaining plasma conductivity and magnetic field necessary for confinement of the laser produced plasma. Also, the temperature obtained would be useful in analyzing electron-ion recombination rates in the expanded plasma and the dynamics of the cooling process of the plasma expansion.

  17. Interaction between laser-produced plasma and guiding magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hasegawa, Jun; Takahashi, Kazumasa; Ikeda, Shunsuke; Nakajima, Mitsuo; Horioka, Kazuhiko

    2013-01-01

    Transportation properties of laser-produced plasma through a guiding magnetic field were examined. A drifting dense plasma produced by a KrF laser was injected into an axisymmetric magnetic field induced by permanent ring magnets. The plasma ion flux in the guiding magnetic field was measured by a Faraday cup at various distances from the laser target. Numerical analyses based on a collective focusing model were performed to simulate plasma particle trajectories and then compared with the experimental results. (author)

  18. Expanding plasmas from anti de Sitter black holes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Camilo, Giancarlo [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Departamento de Fisica Matematica, Sao Paulo (Brazil)

    2016-12-15

    We introduce a new foliation of AdS{sub 5} black holes such that the conformal boundary takes the form of a 4-dimensional FLRW spacetime with scale factor a(t). The foliation employs Eddington-Finkelstein-like coordinates and is applicable to a large class of AdS black holes, supported by matter fields or not, considerably extending previous efforts in the literature. We argue that the holographic dual picture of a CFT plasma on a FLRW background provides an interesting prototype to study the nonequilibrium dynamics of expanding plasmas and use holographic renormalization to extract the renormalized energy-momentum tensor of the dual plasma. We illustrate the procedure for three black holes of interest, namely AdS-Schwarzschild, AdS-Gauss-Bonnet, and AdS-Reissner-Nordstroem. For the latter, as a by-product, we show that the nonequilibrium dynamics of a CFT plasma subject to a quench in the chemical potential (i.e., a time-dependent chemical potential) resembles a cosmological evolution with the scale factor a(t) being inversely related to the quench profile μ(t). (orig.)

  19. Expanding plasmas from anti de Sitter black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Camilo, Giancarlo

    2016-01-01

    We introduce a new foliation of AdS_5 black holes such that the conformal boundary takes the form of a 4-dimensional FLRW spacetime with scale factor a(t). The foliation employs Eddington-Finkelstein-like coordinates and is applicable to a large class of AdS black holes, supported by matter fields or not, considerably extending previous efforts in the literature. We argue that the holographic dual picture of a CFT plasma on a FLRW background provides an interesting prototype to study the nonequilibrium dynamics of expanding plasmas and use holographic renormalization to extract the renormalized energy-momentum tensor of the dual plasma. We illustrate the procedure for three black holes of interest, namely AdS-Schwarzschild, AdS-Gauss-Bonnet, and AdS-Reissner-Nordstroem. For the latter, as a by-product, we show that the nonequilibrium dynamics of a CFT plasma subject to a quench in the chemical potential (i.e., a time-dependent chemical potential) resembles a cosmological evolution with the scale factor a(t) being inversely related to the quench profile μ(t). (orig.)

  20. Optimization of the Magnetic Field Structure for Sustained Plasma Gun Helicity Injection for Magnetic Turbulence Studies at the Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cartagena-Sanchez, C. A.; Schaffner, D. A.; Johnson, H. K.; Fahim, L. E.

    2017-10-01

    A long-pulsed magnetic coaxial plasma gun is being implemented and characterized at the Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory (BMPL). A cold cathode discharged between the cylindrical electrodes generates and launches plasma into a 24cm diameter, 2m long chamber. Three separately pulsed magnetic coils are carefully positioned to generate radial magnetic field between the electrodes at the gun edge in order to provide stuffing field. Magnetic helicity is continuously injected into the flux-conserving vacuum chamber in a process akin to sustained slow-formation of spheromaks. The aim of this source, however, is to supply long pulses of turbulent magnetized plasma for measurement rather than for sustained spheromak production. The work shown here details the optimization of the magnetic field structure for this sustained helicity injection.

  1. A new multi-line cusp magnetic field plasma device (MPD) with variable magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, A. D.; Sharma, M.; Ramasubramanian, N.; Ganesh, R.; Chattopadhyay, P. K.

    2018-04-01

    A new multi-line cusp magnetic field plasma device consisting of electromagnets with core material has been constructed with a capability to experimentally control the relative volume fractions of magnetized to unmagnetized plasma volume as well as accurate control on the gradient length scales of mean density and temperature profiles. Argon plasma has been produced using a hot tungsten cathode over a wide range of pressures 5 × 10-5 -1 × 10-3 mbar, achieving plasma densities ranging from 109 to 1011 cm-3 and the electron temperature in the range 1-8 eV. The radial profiles of plasma parameters measured along the non-cusp region (in between two consecutive magnets) show a finite region with uniform and quiescent plasma, where the magnetic field is very low such that the ions are unmagnetized. Beyond that region, both plasma species are magnetized and the profiles show gradients both in temperature and density. The electrostatic fluctuation measured using a Langmuir probe radially along the non-cusp region shows less than 1% (δIisat/Iisat physics parameter space relevant to both laboratory multi-scale plasmas and astrophysical plasmas.

  2. Plasma sprayed samarium--cobalt permanent magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willson, M.C.; Janowiecki, R.J.

    1975-01-01

    Samarium--cobalt permanent magnets were fabricated by arc plasma spraying. This process involves the injection of relatively coarse powder particles into a high-temperature gas for melting and spraying onto a substrate. The technique is being investigated as an economical method for fabricating cobalt--rare earth magnets for advanced traveling wave tubes and cross-field amplifiers. Plasma spraying permits deposition of material at high rates over large areas with optional direct bonding to the substrate, and offers the ability to fabricate magnets in a variety of shapes and sizes. Isotropic magnets were produced with high coercivity and good reproducibility in magnetic properties. Post-spray thermal treatments were used to enhance the magnetic properties of sprayed deposits. Samarium--cobalt magnets, sprayed from samarium-rich powder and subjected to post-spray heat treatment, displayed energy products in excess of 9 million gauss-oersteds and coercive forces of approximately 6000 oersteds. Bar magnet arrays were constructed by depositing magnets on ceramic substrates. (auth)

  3. Plasma sprayed samarium--cobalt permanent magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willson, M.C.; Janowiecki, R.J.

    1975-01-01

    Samarium--Co permanent magnets were fabricated by arc plasma spraying. This process involves the injection of relatively coarse powder particles into a high temperature gas for melting and spraying onto a substrate. The technique is being investigated as an economical method for fabricating Co--rare earth magnets for advanced traveling wave tubes and cross-field amplifiers. Plasma spraying permits deposition of material at high rates over large areas with optional direct bonding to the substrate, and offers the ability to fabricate magnets in a variety of shapes and sizes. Isotropic magnets were produced with high coercivity and good reproducibility in magnetic properties. Post-spray thermal treatments were used to enhance the magnetic properties of sprayed deposits. Samarium--Co magnets, sprayed from Sm-rich powder and subjected to post-spray heat treatment, displayed energy products in excess of 9 million G-Oe and coercive forces of approximately 6000 Oe. Bar magnet arrays were constructed by depositing magnets on ceramic substrates

  4. Wakefield generation in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holkundkar, Amol; Brodin, Gert; Marklund, Mattias

    2011-01-01

    We consider wakefield generation in plasmas by electromagnetic pulses propagating perpendicular to a strong magnetic field, in the regime where the electron cyclotron frequency is equal to or larger than the plasma frequency. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that for moderate magnetic field strengths previous results are reproduced, and the wakefield wave number spectrum has a clear peak at the inverse skin depth. However, when the cyclotron frequency is significantly larger than the plasma frequency, the wakefield spectrum becomes broadband, and simultaneously the loss rate of the driving pulse is much enhanced. A set of equations for the scalar and vector potentials reproducing these results are derived, using only the assumption of a weakly nonlinear interaction.

  5. Exponential Frequency Spectrum in Magnetized Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pace, D. C.; Shi, M.; Maggs, J. E.; Morales, G. J.; Carter, T. A.

    2008-01-01

    Measurements of a magnetized plasma with a controlled electron temperature gradient show the development of a broadband spectrum of density and temperature fluctuations having an exponential frequency dependence at frequencies below the ion cyclotron frequency. The origin of the exponential frequency behavior is traced to temporal pulses of Lorentzian shape. Similar exponential frequency spectra are also found in limiter-edge plasma turbulence associated with blob transport. This finding suggests a universal feature of magnetized plasma turbulence leading to nondiffusive, cross-field transport, namely, the presence of Lorentzian shaped pulses

  6. Experimental investigation of plasma relaxation using a compact coaxial magnetized plasma gun in a background plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yue; Lynn, Alan; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott; University of New Mexico Collaboration; Los Alamos National Laboratory Collaboration

    2013-10-01

    A compact coaxial plasma gun is employed for experimental studies of plasma relaxation in a low density background plasma. Experiments are being conducted in the linear HelCat device at UNM. These studies will advance the knowledge of basic plasma physics in the areas of magnetic relaxation and space and astrophysical plasmas, including the evolution of active galactic jets/radio lobes within the intergalactic medium. The gun is powered by a 120pF ignitron-switched capacitor bank which is operated in a range of 5-10 kV and ~100 kA. Multiple diagnostics are employed to investigate plasma relaxation process. Magnetized Argon plasma bubbles with velocities ~1.2Cs and densities ~1020 m-3 have been achieved. Different distinct regimes of operation with qualitatively different dynamics are identified by fast CCD camera images, with the parameter determining the operation regime. Additionally, a B-dot probe array is employed to measure the spatial toroidal and poloidal magnetic flux evolution to identify detached plasma bubble configurations. Experimental data and analysis will be presented.

  7. Simulating Magnetized Laboratory Plasmas with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnson, Jeffrey N. [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

    2009-01-01

    The creation of plasmas in the laboratory continues to generate excitement in the physics community. Despite the best efforts of the intrepid plasma diagnostics community, the dynamics of these plasmas remains a difficult challenge to both the theorist and the experimentalist. This dissertation describes the simulation of strongly magnetized laboratory plasmas with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), a method born of astrophysics but gaining broad support in the engineering community. We describe the mathematical formulation that best characterizes a strongly magnetized plasma under our circumstances of interest, and we review the SPH method and its application to astrophysical plasmas based on research by Phillips [1], Buerve [2], and Price and Monaghan [3]. Some modifications and extensions to this method are necessary to simulate terrestrial plasmas, such as a treatment of magnetic diffusion based on work by Brookshaw [4] and by Atluri [5]; we describe these changes as we turn our attention toward laboratory experiments. Test problems that verify the method are provided throughout the discussion. Finally, we apply our method to the compression of a magnetized plasma performed by the Compact Toroid Injection eXperiment (CTIX) [6] and show that the experimental results support our computed predictions.

  8. Magnetic pressure effects in a plasma-liner interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Rubio, F.; Sanz, J.

    2018-04-01

    A theoretical analysis of magnetic pressure effects in a magnetized liner inertial fusion-like plasma is presented. In previous publications [F. García-Rubio and J. Sanz, Phys. Plasmas 24, 072710 (2017)], the evolution of a hot magnetized plasma in contact with a cold unmagnetized plasma, aiming to represent the hot spot and liner, respectively, was investigated in planar geometry. The analysis was made in a double limit low Mach and high thermal to magnetic pressure ratio β. In this paper, the analysis is extended to an arbitrary pressure ratio. Nernst, Ettingshausen, and Joule effects come into play in the energy balance. The region close to the liner is governed by thermal conduction, while the Joule dissipation becomes predominant far from it when the pressure ratio is low. Mass ablation, thermal energy, and magnetic flux losses are reduced with plasma magnetization, characterized by the electron Hall parameter ω e τ e , until β values of order unity are reached. From this point forward, increasing the electron Hall parameter no longer improves the magnetic flux conservation, and mass ablation is enhanced due to the magnetic pressure gradients. A thoughtful simplification of the problem that allows to reduce the order of the system of governing equations while still retaining the finite β effects is presented and compared to the exact case.

  9. Spin and magnetization effects in plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brodin, G; Marklund, M; Zamanian, J; Stefan, M

    2011-01-01

    Quantum effects in plasmas are of interest for a diverse set of systems, and have thus as a field been revived and attracted a lot of attention from a wide community over the past decade. In models of quantum plasmas, the effects studied mostly are due to the quantum particle dispersion and tunnelling. Such effects can be of importance in dense systems and on short length scales. There are also a number of effects related to spin and statistics. However, up to recently the magnetization effect in plasmas due to the intrinsic electron spin has been largely ignored. The magnetization dynamics of e.g. solids has many important applications, such as components for memory storage, but has also been discussed in more 'proper' plasma environments, such as fusion plasmas. Furthermore, also from a basic science point-of-view the effects of intrinsic spin and gyromagnetic effects are of considerable interest. Here we give a short review of a number of different models for treating magnetization effects in plasmas, with a focus on recent results. In particular, the transition between kinetic models and fluid models is discussed. We also give a number of examples of applications of such theories, as well as an outlook for possible future work.

  10. Plasma heating in a variable magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kichigin, G. N., E-mail: king@iszf.irk.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics (Russian Federation)

    2013-05-15

    The problem of particle acceleration in a periodically variable magnetic field that either takes a zero value or passes through zero is considered. It is shown that, each time the field [0]passes through zero, the particle energy increases abruptly. This process can be regarded as heating in the course of which plasma particles acquire significant energy within one field period. This mechanism of plasma heating takes place in the absence of collisions between plasma particles and is analogous to the mechanism of magnetic pumping in collisional plasma considered by Alfven.

  11. Parallel transport of long mean-free-path plasma along open magnetic field lines: Parallel heat flux

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Zehua; Tang Xianzhu

    2012-01-01

    In a long mean-free-path plasma where temperature anisotropy can be sustained, the parallel heat flux has two components with one associated with the parallel thermal energy and the other the perpendicular thermal energy. Due to the large deviation of the distribution function from local Maxwellian in an open field line plasma with low collisionality, the conventional perturbative calculation of the parallel heat flux closure in its local or non-local form is no longer applicable. Here, a non-perturbative calculation is presented for a collisionless plasma in a two-dimensional flux expander bounded by absorbing walls. Specifically, closures of previously unfamiliar form are obtained for ions and electrons, which relate two distinct components of the species parallel heat flux to the lower order fluid moments such as density, parallel flow, parallel and perpendicular temperatures, and the field quantities such as the magnetic field strength and the electrostatic potential. The plasma source and boundary condition at the absorbing wall enter explicitly in the closure calculation. Although the closure calculation does not take into account wave-particle interactions, the results based on passing orbits from steady-state collisionless drift-kinetic equation show remarkable agreement with fully kinetic-Maxwell simulations. As an example of the physical implications of the theory, the parallel heat flux closures are found to predict a surprising observation in the kinetic-Maxwell simulation of the 2D magnetic flux expander problem, where the parallel heat flux of the parallel thermal energy flows from low to high parallel temperature region.

  12. Injection of a coaxial-gun-produced magnetized plasma into a background helicon plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yue; Lynn, Alan; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott

    2014-10-01

    A compact coaxial plasma gun is employed for experimental investigation of plasma bubble relaxation into a lower density background plasma. Experiments are being conducted in the linear device HelCat at UNM. The gun is powered by a 120-uF ignitron-switched capacitor bank, which is operated in a range of 5 to 10 kV and 100 kA. Multiple diagnostics are employed to investigate the plasma relaxation process. Magnetized argon plasma bubbles with velocities 1.2Cs, densities 1020 m-3 and electron temperature 13eV have been achieved. The background helicon plasma has density 1013 m-3, magnetic field from 200 to 500 Gauss and electron temperature 1eV. Several distinct operational regimes with qualitatively different dynamics are identified by fast CCD camera images. Additionally a B-dot probe array has been employed to measure the spatial toroidal and poloidal magnetic flux evolution to identify plasma bubble configurations. Experimental data and analysis will be presented.

  13. Magnetic microstructure and magnetic properties of spark plasma sintered NdFeB magnets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huang, Y.L., E-mail: hyl1019_lin@163.com [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China); Wang, Y.; Hou, Y.H.; Wang, Y.L.; Wu, Y.; Ma, S.C. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China); Liu, Z.W.; Zeng, D.C. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Tian, Y.; Xia, W.X. [Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201 (China); Zhong, Z.C., E-mail: zzhong2014@sina.com [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063 (China)

    2016-02-01

    Nanocrystalline NdFeB magnets were prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique using melt-spun ribbons as starting materials. A distinct two-zone structure with coarse grain zone and fine grain zone was formed in the SPSed magnets. Multi-domain particle in coarse grain zone and exchange interaction domain for fine grain zone were observed. Intergranular non-magnetic phase was favorable to improve the coercivity due to the enhancement of domain wall pinning effects and increased exchange-decouple. The remanent polarization of 0.83 T, coercivity of 1516 kA/m, and maximum energy product of 118 kJ/m{sup 3} are obtained for an isotropic magnet. - Highlights: • Nanocrystalline NdFeB magnets were prepared by spark plasma sintering technique. • Multi-domain particle and exchange interaction domain were observed. • Magnetic microstructure and their relation to the properties were investigated.

  14. Effects of assistant anode on planar inductively coupled magnetized argon plasma in plasma immersion ion implantation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, Deli; Chu, Paul K.

    2003-01-01

    The enhancement of planar radio frequency (RF) inductively coupled argon plasma is studied in the presence of an assistant anode and an external magnetic field at low pressure. The influence of the assistant anode and magnetic field on the efficiency of RF power absorption and plasma parameters is investigated. An external axial magnetic field is coupled into the plasma discharge region by an external electromagnetic coil outside the discharge chamber and an assistant cylindrical anode is inserted into the discharge chamber to enhance the plasma discharge. The plasma parameters and density profile are measured by an electrostatic Langmuir probe at different magnetic fields and anode voltages. The RF power absorption by the plasma can be effectively enhanced by the external magnetic field compared with the nonmagnetized discharge. The plasma density can be further increased by the application of a voltage to the assistant anode. Owing to the effective power absorption and enhanced plasma discharge by the assistant anode in a longitudinal magnetic field, the plasma density can be enhanced by more than a factor of two. Meanwhile, the nonuniformity of the plasma density is less than 10% and it can be achieved in a process chamber with a diameter of 600 mm

  15. Current filaments in turbulent magnetized plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martines, E.; Vianello, N.; Sundkvist, D.

    2009-01-01

    gradient region of a fusion plasma confined in reversed field pinch configuration and in a density gradient region in the Earth magnetosphere are measured and compared, showing that in both environments they can be attributed to drift-Alfvén vortices. Current structures associated with reconnection events......Direct measurements of current density perturbations associated with non-linear phenomena in magnetized plasmas can be carried out using in situ magnetic measurements. In this paper we report such measurements for three different kinds of phenomena. Current density fluctuations in the edge density...... measured in a reversed field pinch plasma and in the magnetosheath are detected and compared. Evidence of current filaments occurring during ELMs in an H-mode tokamak plasma is displayed....

  16. Self-similar compression of a magnetized plasma filled liner

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Felber, F.S.; Liberman, M.A.; Velikovich, A.L.

    1985-01-01

    New analytic, one-dimensional, self-similar solutions of magnetohydrodynamic equations describing the compression of a magnetized plasma by a thin cylindrical liner are presented. The solutions include several features that have not been included in an earlier self-similar solution of the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. These features are the effects of finite plasma electrical conductivity, induction heating, thermal conductivity and related thermogalvanomagnetic effects, plasma turbulence, and plasma boundary effects. These solutions have been motivated by recent suggestions for production of ultrahigh magnetic fields by new methods. The methods involve radially imploding plasmas in which axial magnetic fields have been entrained. These methods may be capable of producing controlled magnetic fields up to approx. = 100 MG. Specific methods of implosion suggested were by ablative radial acceleration of a liner by a laser and by a gas-puff Z pinch. The model presented here addresses the first of these methods. The solutions derived here are used to estimate magnetic flux losses out of the compression volume, and to indicate conditions under which an impulsively-accelerated, plasma-filled liner may compress an axial magnetic field to large magnitude

  17. Dipolar vortex structures in magnetized rotating plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Jixing

    1990-01-01

    Dipolar solitary vortices of both electrostatic and electromagnetic character in low-β, in homogeneous rotating plasma confined in a constant external magnetic field were systematically presented. The main stimulus to this investigation is the expectation to apply this coherent structure as a candidate constituent of plasma turbulance to understand the anomalous transport phenomena in confined plasma. The electrostatic vortices have similar structure and properties as the Rossby vortices in rotating fluids, the electromagnetic vortices obtained here have no analogy in hydrodynamics and hence are intrinsic to magnetized plasma. It is valuably remarked that the intrinsic electromagnetic vortices presented here have no discontinuity of perturbed magnetic field δB and parallel current j(parallel) on the border of vortex core. The existence region of the new type of vortex is found much narrower than the Rossby type one. (M.T.)

  18. Emergent kink stability of a magnetized plasma jet injected into a transverse background magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yue; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott C.; Fisher, Dustin M.; Lynn, Alan G.

    2017-11-01

    We report experimental results on the injection of a magnetized plasma jet into a transverse background magnetic field in the HelCat linear plasma device at the University of New Mexico [M. Gilmore et al., J. Plasma Phys. 81(1), 345810104 (2015)]. After the plasma jet leaves the plasma-gun muzzle, a tension force arising from an increasing curvature of the background magnetic field induces in the jet a sheared axial-flow gradient above the theoretical kink-stabilization threshold. We observe that this emergent sheared axial flow stabilizes the n = 1 kink mode in the jet, whereas a kink instability is observed in the jet when there is no background magnetic field present.

  19. Progress In Magnetized Target Fusion Driven by Plasma Liners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thio, Francis Y. C.; Kirkpatrick, Ronald C.; Knapp, Charles E.; Cassibry, Jason; Eskridge, Richard; Lee, Michael; Smith, James; Martin, Adam; Wu, S. T.; Schmidt, George; hide

    2001-01-01

    Magnetized target fusion (MTF) attempts to combine the favorable attributes of magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) for energy confinement with the attributes of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) for efficient compression heating and wall-free containment of the fusing plasma. It uses a material liner to compress and contain a magnetized plasma. For practical applications, standoff drivers to deliver the imploding momentum flux to the target plasma remotely are required. Spherically converging plasma jets have been proposed as standoff drivers for this purpose. The concept involves the dynamic formation of a spherical plasma liner by the merging of plasma jets, and the use of the liner so formed to compress a spheromak or a field reversed configuration (FRC).

  20. Periodical plasma structures controlled by external magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schweigert, I. V.; Keidar, M.

    2017-11-01

    The plasma of Hall thruster type in external magnetic field is studied in 2D3V kinetic simulations using PIC MCC method. The periodical structure with maxima of electron and ion densities is formed and becomes more pronounced with increase of magnetic field incidence angle in the plasma. These ridges of electron and ion densities are aligned with the magnetic field vector and shifted relative each other. This leads to formation of two-dimensional double-layers structure in cylindrical plasma chamber. Depending on Larmor radius and Debye length up to nineteen potential steps appear across the oblique magnetic field. The electrical current gathered on the wall is associated with the electron and ion density ridges.

  1. Analysis of the expanding thermal argon-oxygen plasma gas phase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hest, M F A M van; Haartsen, J R; Weert, M H M van; Schram, D C; Sanden, M C M van de

    2003-01-01

    An expanding thermal argon plasma into which oxygen is injected has been analysed by means of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements. Information is obtained on the ion density profile and the flow pattern in the downstream plasma. A combination of Langmuir and Pitot probe measurements provide information on the total ion flux generated by the plasma source (cascaded arc). It has been found that the ion diffusion is mainly determined by the background pressure in the expansion vessel and the arc current. The ion density is determined by the total power input into the plasma as well as the gas flow in the plasma source. There is an optimum in the power transfer used for ionization from plasma source to the feed gas. Interaction of oxygen with the plasma results in a decrease in the argon ion density and the plasma beam radius. The recirculation pattern of the downstream plasma has been investigated experimentally using the Pitot probe. Due to the low downstream pressure (10-30 Pa), the conventional compressible Pitot probe theory no longer applies. It is concluded that viscous effects start to play an important role at these low pressures and should be taken into account in the analysis of the Pitot probe measurements

  2. Plasma target output from a magnetically augmented, gas-injected, washer-stack plasma gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osher, J.E.

    1982-01-01

    This article describes a new washer-stack gun design developed for the application of plasma target production for the startup of neutral-beam trapping in a fusion research magnetic confinement system. The gun is a Mo anode type that is D 2 injected and has an auxiliary pulsed magnet for control of plasma-flux mapping. One of the principal features of 2--10-ms duration pulses for gun operation in a suitable magnetic field is the formation of an arc column along magnetic field lines from the gun's central cathode electrode to the vacuum chamber walls (at common anode potential). The primary power output from a 5.0-cm-i.d. gun is typically carried along this arc column by a stream of approximately 2000 A of 50--250-eV electrons. This primary stream of relatively low-density energetic electrons efficiently ionizes the injected gas, forming a quasi-dc source of denser secondary plasma of approx.10 13 /cm 3 at a few eV, which is able to flow or diffuse away along a somewhat larger column of magnetic field lines. In plasma-target production tests on a test stand, a gun operated at a D 2 gas flow of 22 Torr ls -1 yielded 250 A of equivalent plasma flow

  3. Production of a large, quiescent, magnetized plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landt, D. L.; Ajmera, R. C.

    1976-01-01

    An experimental device is described which produces a large homogeneous quiescent magnetized plasma. In this device, the plasma is created in an evacuated brass cylinder by ionizing collisions between electrons emitted from a large-diameter electron gun and argon atoms in the chamber. Typical experimentally measured values of the electron temperature and density are presented which were obtained with a glass-insulated planar Langmuir probe. It is noted that the present device facilitates the study of phenomena such as waves and diffusion in magnetized plasmas.

  4. Transport of plasma across a braided magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stix, T.H.

    1976-10-01

    Transport rates are calculated for a plasma immersed in a region through which magnetic lines of force meander in a stochastic fashion and in which the magnetic surfaces are destroyed. Such a magnetic condition, termed magnetic braiding, may be brought about by asymmetric magnetic perturbations, perhaps quite weak, which typically produce overlap of two sets of magnetic islands. Plasma transport is calculated for this environment, using both a fluid and a kinetic drift model. The latter gives an appreciably higher rate, namely, a fast-particle diffusion coefficient equal to ( 1 / 2 )D/sub M/ [absolute value of v/sub ''/], where D/sub M/ is the coefficient of spatial diffusion for the magnetic lines of force. Correction terms, due to polarization-associated E/sub ''/ fields, are small unless components of the braiding field resonate with ion-acoustic or drift waves. Insertion of a Bhatnager--Gross--Krook collision term shows the diffusion rate is unaffected by weak collisions. Diffusion due to magnetic braiding is of interest for tokamaks, particularly with respect to enhanced electron heat transport, enhanced current penetration, plasma disruption, and internal sawtooth oscillations

  5. Electro-Magnetic Fields and Plasma in the Cosmos

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scott, Donald E.

    2006-01-01

    It is becoming widely recognized that a majority of baryons in the cosmos are in the plasma state. But, fundamental disagreements about the properties and behavior of electro-magnetic fields in these plasmas exist between the science of modern astronomy and the experimentally verified laws of electrical engineering and physics. Some astronomers claim that magnetic fields can be open-ended - that they begin on or beneath the Sun's surface and extend outward to infinity. Astrophysicists have claimed that galactic magnetic fields begin and end on molecular clouds. Electrical engineers, most physicists, and the pioneers in electromagnetic field theory disagree - magnetic fields have no beginning or end. Since these two viewpoints are mutually exclusive, both cannot be correct; one must be completely false. Many astrophysicists claim that magnetic fields are 'frozen into' electric plasma. We also examine the basis for this claim. It has been shown to be incorrect in the laboratory. The hypothetical 'magnetic merging' mechanism is also reviewed in light of both theoretical and experimental investigations. The cause of large-scale filamentation in the cosmos is also simply revealed by experimental results obtained in plasma laboratories

  6. Neutrino (antineutrino) effective charge in a magnetized electron-positron plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serbeto, A.; Rios, L.A.; Mendonca, J.T.; Shukla, P.K.

    2004-01-01

    Using dynamical techniques of the plasma physics, the neutrino (antineutrino) effective charge in a magnetized dense electron-positron plasma is determined here. It shown that its value, which is determined by the plasma collective processes, depends mainly on the propagation direction of plasma waves and neutrinos against the external magnetic field direction. The direction dependence of the effective charge occurs due to the fact that the magnetic field breaks the plasma isotropy. The present theory gives a unified picture of the problem which is valid for an external magnetic field below the Landau-Schwinger critical value. Comparison with some of the results from the quantum field theory has been made

  7. Magnetic Probe to Study Plasma Jets for Magneto-Inertial Fusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martens, Daniel [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Hsu, Scott C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2012-08-16

    A probe has been constructed to measure the magnetic field of a plasma jet generated by a pulsed plasma rail-gun. The probe consists of two sets of three orthogonally-oriented commercial chip inductors to measure the three-dimensional magnetic field vector at two separate positions in order to give information about the magnetic field evolution within the jet. The strength and evolution of the magnetic field is one of many factors important in evaluating the use of supersonic plasma jets for forming imploding spherical plasma liners as a standoff driver for magneto-inertial fusion.

  8. Temporally asymmetric laser pulse for magnetic-field generation in plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Mamta; Gopal, Krishna; Gupta, Devki Nandan, E-mail: dngupta@physics.du.ac.in

    2016-04-01

    Of particular interest in this article, the case study of an asymmetric laser pulse interaction with a plasma for magnetic field enhancement has been investigated. The strong ponderomotive force due to the short leading edge of the propagating laser pulse drives a large nonlinear current, producing a stronger quasistatic magnetic field. An analytical expression for the magnetic field is derived and the strength of the magnetic field is estimated for the current laser-plasma parameters. The theoretical results are validated through the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and are in very close agreement with the simulation based estimations. This kind of magnetic field can be useful in the plasma based accelerators as well as in the laser-fusion based experiments. - Highlights: • We employ an asymmetric laser pulse to enhance the magnetic field strength in a plasma. • Short leading front of the pulse drives a strong ponderomotive force. • An analytical expression for the magnetic field is derived. • The strength of the magnetic field is estimated for the current laser–plasma parameters.

  9. Temporally asymmetric laser pulse for magnetic-field generation in plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Mamta; Gopal, Krishna; Gupta, Devki Nandan

    2016-01-01

    Of particular interest in this article, the case study of an asymmetric laser pulse interaction with a plasma for magnetic field enhancement has been investigated. The strong ponderomotive force due to the short leading edge of the propagating laser pulse drives a large nonlinear current, producing a stronger quasistatic magnetic field. An analytical expression for the magnetic field is derived and the strength of the magnetic field is estimated for the current laser-plasma parameters. The theoretical results are validated through the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and are in very close agreement with the simulation based estimations. This kind of magnetic field can be useful in the plasma based accelerators as well as in the laser-fusion based experiments. - Highlights: • We employ an asymmetric laser pulse to enhance the magnetic field strength in a plasma. • Short leading front of the pulse drives a strong ponderomotive force. • An analytical expression for the magnetic field is derived. • The strength of the magnetic field is estimated for the current laser–plasma parameters.

  10. Magnetic monopole plasma oscillations and the survival of Galactic magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, E.N.

    1987-01-01

    This paper explores the general nature of magnetic-monopole plasma oscillations as a theoretical possibility for the observed Galactic magnetic field in the presence of a high abundance of magnetic monopoles. The modification of the hydromagnetic induction equation by the monopole oscillations produces the half-velocity effect, in which the magnetic field is transported bodily with a velocity midway between the motion of the conducting fluid and the monopole plasma. Observational studies of the magnetic field in the Galaxy, and in other galaxies, exclude the half-velocity effect, indicating that the magnetic fields is not associated with monopole oscillations. In any case the phase mixing would destroy the oscillations in less than 100 Myr. The conclusion is that magnetic monopole oscillations do not play a significant role in the galactic magnetic fields. Hence the existence of galactic magnetic fields places a low limit on the monopole flux, so that their detection - if they exist at all - requires a collecting area at least as large as a football field. 47 references

  11. Formation of magnetized plasma stream in the CTCC-I experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikegami, K.; Ozaki, A.; Uyama, T.; Satomi, N.; Watenabe, K. (Osaka Univ., Suita (Japan). Faculty of Engineering)

    1981-10-01

    Magnetized plasma stream with the kinetic energy of more than 500 eV was produced successfully using a coaxial plasma gun with the subsidiary coils for providing the radial magnetic field at its muzzle. It was injected into the drift tube and the characteristics were investigated experimentally using the streak photographs, magnetic probes and flux loops. It was confirmed that this plasma stream had really both toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields.

  12. Magnetic tearing in plasma focus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharkawy, W.

    1994-01-01

    A plasma focus device used is Mather type filled with hydrogen gas at pressure between 0.1 and 1 torr. When connected to a large capacitor ≤10 KV a discharge is started with peak current 100 KA. Under the influence of the radial electric field E r , due to the potential between electrodes, and B φ the plasma will drift in the axial direction with velocity cE r /B φ . An induced axial magnetic field B z has been detected which due to sheath velocity. A propagation of magnetosonic wave has been observed with velocity ≅10 3 m sec -1 . Such a wave might be excited when the magnetic pressure is much greater than the plasma kinetic pressure B 2 /8π>nKT. Assuming (MHD) to be stable, Tearing model was driven which generally has smaller growth rates than (MHD) modes. Using the designed theoretical model and the plasma parameters the electron energy dΦ/dt=Ba 2 /τ R was calculated to be 2.22 KeV, which is comparable with that detected from X-ray measurements. (author)

  13. Nernst Effect in Magnetized Plasmas

    OpenAIRE

    Joglekar, Archis S.; Thomas, Alexander G. R.; Ridgers, Christopher P.; Kingham, Robert J.

    2015-01-01

    We present nanosecond timescale Vlasov-Fokker-Planck-Maxwell modeling of magnetized plasma transport and dynamics in a hohlraum with an applied external magnetic field, under conditions similar to recent experiments. Self-consistent modeling of the kinetic electron momentum equation allows for a complete treatment of the heat flow equation and Ohm's Law, including Nernst advection of magnetic fields. In addition to showing the prevalence of non-local behavior, we demonstrate that effects such...

  14. A steady-state fluid model of the coaxial plasma gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herziger, G.; Krompholz, H.; Schneider, W.; Schoenbach, K.

    1979-01-01

    The plasma layer in a coaxial plasma gun is considered as a shock front driven by expanding magnetic fields. Analytical steady-state solutions of the fluid equations yield the plasma properties, allowing the scaling of plasma focus devices. (Auth.)

  15. Local thermodynamics of a magnetized, anisotropic plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hazeltine, R. D.; Mahajan, S. M.; Morrison, P. J.

    2013-01-01

    An expression for the internal energy of a fluid element in a weakly coupled, magnetized, anisotropic plasma is derived from first principles. The result is a function of entropy, particle density and magnetic field, and as such plays the role of a thermodynamic potential: it determines in principle all thermodynamic properties of the fluid element. In particular it provides equations of state for the magnetized plasma. The derivation uses familiar fluid equations, a few elements of kinetic theory, the MHD version of Faraday's law, and certain familiar stability and regularity conditions.

  16. Formation of magnetized plasma stream in the CTCC-I experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikegami, Kazunori; Ozaki, Atsuhiko; Uyama, Tadao; Satomi, Norio; Watanabe, Kenji

    1981-01-01

    Magnetized plasma stream with the kinetic energy of more than 500 eV was produced successfully using a coaxial plasma gun with the subsidiary coils for providing the radial magnetic field at its muzzle. It was injected into the drift tube and the characteristics were investigated experimentally using the streak photographs, magnetic probes and flux loops. It was confirmed that this plasma stream had really both toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields. (author)

  17. Carbon deposition using an expanding cascaded arc d.c. plasma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beulens, J.J.; Buuron, A.J.M.; Schram, D.C.

    1991-01-01

    In this work a strongly flowing cascaded arc burning on an argon-hydrogen mixture is used to dissociate and ionize hydrocarbons which are injected inside a nozzle which is mounted in the anode of the arc. The thermal plasma (T ˜ 10 000 K, p ˜ 0.5 bar) will then expand supersonically into a vessel

  18. Nonlinear Electrostatic Wave Equations for Magnetized Plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dysthe, K.B.; Mjølhus, E.; Pécseli, Hans

    1984-01-01

    The lowest order kinetic effects are included in the equations for nonlinear electrostatic electron waves in a magnetized plasma. The modifications of the authors' previous analysis based on a fluid model are discussed.......The lowest order kinetic effects are included in the equations for nonlinear electrostatic electron waves in a magnetized plasma. The modifications of the authors' previous analysis based on a fluid model are discussed....

  19. Extreme hydrogen plasma densities achieved in a linear plasma generator

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rooij, van G.J.; Veremiyenko, V.P.; Goedheer, W.J.; Groot, de B.; Kleyn, A.W.; Smeets, P.H.M.; Versloot, T.W.; Whyte, D.G.; Engeln, R.A.H.; Schram, D.C.; Lopes Cardozo, N.J.

    2007-01-01

    A magnetized hydrogen plasma beam was generated with a cascaded arc, expanding in a vacuum vessel at an axial magnetic field of up to 1.6 T. Its characteristics were measured at a distance of 4 cm from the nozzle: up to a 2 cm beam diameter, 7.5×1020 m-3 electron density, ~2 eV electron and ion

  20. The effect of radio-frequency self bias on ion acceleration in expanding argon plasmas in helicon sources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiebold, Matthew D.

    Time-averaged plasma potential differences up to ˜ 165 V over several hundred Debye lengths are observed in low pressure (pn floating potential for argon (Vp ≈ 5kTe/e). In the capacitive mode, the ion acceleration is not well described by an ambipolar relation. The accelerated population decay is consistent with that predicted by charge-exchange collisions. Grounding the upstream endplate increases the self-bias voltage compared to a floating endplate. In the inductive and helicon modes, the ion acceleration more closely follows an ambipolar relation, a result of decreased capacitive coupling due to the decreased RF skin depth. The scaling of the potential gradient with the argon flow rate, magnetic field and RF power are investigated, with the highest potential gradients observed for the lowest flow rates in the capacitive mode. The magnitude of the self-bias voltage agrees well with that predicted for RF sheaths. Use of the self-bias effect in a plasma thruster is explored, possibly for a low thrust, high specific impulse mode in a multi-mode helicon thruster. This work could also explain similar potential gradients in expanding helicon plasmas that are ascribed to double layer formation in the literature.

  1. Magnetic Field Analysis of Plasma Guide in Galathea Trimyx

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Xianji

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available You Galathea Trimyx is a kind of small size, multipole magnetic confinement devices in controlled thermonuclear fusion. Plasma guide is one of important part in Galathea Trimyx which is responsible for transporting fast and slow plasma bunches ejected from plasma gun. The distribution and uniformity of magnetic field in completed plasma guide is analyzed in detail, including in x -axis direction and in z-axis direction. On the basis, the motion of plasma in the guide is discussed.

  2. 3-D MHD modeling and stability analysis of jet and spheromak plasmas launched into a magnetized plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Dustin; Zhang, Yue; Wallace, Ben; Gilmore, Mark; Manchester, Ward; Arge, C. Nick

    2016-10-01

    The Plasma Bubble Expansion Experiment (PBEX) at the University of New Mexico uses a coaxial plasma gun to launch jet and spheromak magnetic plasma configurations into the Helicon-Cathode (HelCat) plasma device. Plasma structures launched from the gun drag frozen-in magnetic flux into the background magnetic field of the chamber providing a rich set of dynamics to study magnetic turbulence, force-free magnetic spheromaks, and shocks. Preliminary modeling is presented using the highly-developed 3-D, MHD, BATS-R-US code developed at the University of Michigan. BATS-R-US employs an adaptive mesh refinement grid that enables the capture and resolution of shock structures and current sheets, and is particularly suited to model the parameter regime under investigation. CCD images and magnetic field data from the experiment suggest the stabilization of an m =1 kink mode trailing a plasma jet launched into a background magnetic field. Results from a linear stability code investigating the effect of shear-flow as a cause of this stabilization from magnetic tension forces on the jet will be presented. Initial analyses of a possible magnetic Rayleigh Taylor instability seen at the interface between launched spheromaks and their entraining background magnetic field will also be presented. Work supported by the Army Research Office Award No. W911NF1510480.

  3. Relativistic degenerate electron plasma in an intense magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delsante, A.E.; Frankel, N.E.

    1978-01-01

    The dielectric response function for a dense, ultra-degenerate relativistic electron plasma in an intense uniform magnetic field is presented. Dispersion relations for plasma oscillations parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field are obtained

  4. SO-FDTD analysis of anisotropic magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Hongwei; Nanjing Univ. of Science and Technology, Nanjing; Yuan Hong; Chen Rushan; Yang Yang

    2007-01-01

    A novel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, called shift operator FDTD (SO-FDTD) method is developed for anisotropic magnetized dispersive media. The recursive relation between operators is used. In this paper, some expressions containing the dielectric constants of magnetized dispersive media are written as rational polynomial function. The SO-FDTD formulation for anisotropic magnetized plasma is derived. The high efficiency and effectiveness of the method are confirmed by computing the reflection and transmission through a magnetized plasma layer, with the direction of the propagation parallel to the direction of the biasing field. A comparison with frequency domain analytic results is included. The CPU time was several times shorter than that of the JEC method. (authors)

  5. Observations of dusty plasmas with magnetized dust grains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Q.-Z.; D'Angelo, N.

    2000-11-01

    We report a newly observed phenomenon in a dusty plasma device of the \\mbox{Q-machine} type. At low plasma densities the time required by the plasma to return to its no-dust conditions, after the dust dispenser is turned off, can be as long as many tens of seconds or longer. A tentative interpretation of this observation in terms of magnetized dust grains is advanced. It appears that an important loss mechanism of fine dust grains is by ion drag along the magnetic field lines. The effect of ion drag is somewhat counteracted by the -µ∇B force present when the magnetic field has a mirror geometry.

  6. Langmuir probe characteristic in a current - carrying magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanojevic, M.; Cercek, M.; Gyergyek, T.

    1995-01-01

    Experimental investigation of the Langmuir probe characteristic is a magnetized plasma with an electron current along the magnetic field direction shows that the standard procedure for determination of the electron temperature and plasma density, which is applicable in a current - free magnetized plasma, gives erroneous results for these plasma parameters. However, more precise values of the plasma parameters can be calculated from the ion saturation currents and electron temperatures obtained with that procedure for two opposite orientations of the one - sided planar probe collecting surface with respect to the direction of the electron drift. With the existing theoretical models only the order of magnitude of the electron drift velocity can be accurately determined from the measured electron saturation currents for the two probe orientations. (author)

  7. Apparatus for magnetic and electrostatic confinement of plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rostoker, Norman; Binderbauer, Michl

    2013-06-11

    An apparatus and method for containing plasma and forming a Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) magnetic topology are described in which plasma ions are contained magnetically in stable, non-adiabatic orbits in the FRC. Further, the electrons are contained electrostatically in a deep energy well, created by tuning an externally applied magnetic field. The simultaneous electrostatic confinement of electrons and magnetic confinement of ions avoids anomalous transport and facilitates classical containment of both electrons and ions. In this configuration, ions and electrons may have adequate density and temperature so that upon collisions ions are fused together by nuclear force, thus releasing fusion energy. Moreover, the fusion fuel plasmas that can be used with the present confinement system and method are not limited to neutronic fuels only, but also advantageously include advanced fuels.

  8. Relaxed plasmas in external magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spies, G.O.; Li, J.

    1991-08-01

    The well-known theory of relaxed plasmas (Taylor states) is extended to external magnetic fields whose field lines intersect the conducting toroidal boundary. Application to an axially symmetric, large-aspect-ratio torus with circular cross section shows that the maximum pinch ratio, and hence the phenomenon of current saturation, is independent of the external field. The relaxed state is explicitly given for an external octupole field. In this case, field reversal is inhibited near parts of the boundary if the octupole generates magnetic x-points within the plasma. (orig.)

  9. Magnum-psi, a plasma generator for plasma-surface interaction research in ITER-like conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Groot, B. de; Rooij, G.J. van; Veremiyenko, V.; Hellermann, M.G. von; Eck, H.J.N. van; Barth, C.J.; Kruijtzer, G.L.; Wolff, J.C.; Goedheer, W.J.; Lopes Cardozo, N.J.; Kleyn, A.W.; Smeets, P.H.M.; Brezinsek, S.; Pospieszczyk, A.; Engeln, R.A.H.; Dahiya, R.P.

    2005-01-01

    The FOM Institute for Plasma Physics is preparing the construction of the linear plasma generator, Magnum-psi. A pilot experiment (Pilot-psi) has been constructed, which we have used to optimize the cascaded arc plasma source and to explore the effect of high magnetic fields on the source operation as well as the expanding plasma beam and the effectiveness of Ohmic heating for manipulating the electron temperature and plasma density after the plasma expansion. Results are presented that demonstrate increasing source efficiency for increasing magnetic fields (up to 1.6 T). Thomson scattering measurements demonstrate that ITER relevant plasma fluxes are presently achieved in Pilot-psi: ∼10 24 m -2 s -1 and that additional heating could elevate the plasma temperature from 1.0 to 1.7 eV

  10. Parametric instabilities in magnetized bi-ion and dusty plasmas

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    -ion or dusty plasma with parametric pumping of the magnetic field is analysed. The equation of motion governing the perturbed plasma is derived and parametrically excited transverse modes propagating along the magnetic field are found.

  11. Nonlinear electron transport in magnetized laser plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kho, T.H.; Haines, M.G.

    1986-01-01

    Electron transport in a magnetized plasma heated by inverse bremsstrahlung is studied numerically using a nonlinear Fokker--Planck model with self-consistent E and B fields. The numerical scheme is described. Nonlocal transport is found to alter many of the transport coefficients derived from linear transport theory, in particular, the Nernst and Righi--Leduc effects, in addition to the perpendicular heat flux q/sub perpendicular/, are substantially reduced near critical surface. The magnetic field, however, remains strongly coupled to the nonlinear q/sub perpendicular/ and, as has been found in hydrosimulations, convective amplification of the magnetic field occurs in the overdense plasma

  12. Hydrodynamization and transient modes of expanding plasma in kinetic theory

    CERN Document Server

    Heller, Michal P.; Spalinski, Michal

    2016-01-01

    We study the transition to hydrodynamics in a weakly-coupled model of quark-gluon plasma given by kinetic theory in the relaxation time approximation. Our studies uncover qualitative similarities to the results on hydrodynamization in strongly coupled gauge theories. In particular, we demonstrate that the gradient expansion in this model has vanishing radius of convergence. The asymptotic character of the hydrodynamic gradient expansion is crucial for the recently discovered applicability of hydrodynamics at large gradients. Furthermore, the analysis of the resurgent properties of the series provides, quite remarkably, indication for the existence of a novel transient, damped oscillatory mode of expanding plasmas in kinetic theory.

  13. Three-dimensional simulation study of compact toroid injection into magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshio Suzuki; Tomohiko Watanabe; Tetsuya Sato; Takaya Hayashi

    1999-01-01

    Three-dimensional dynamics of a compact toroid (CT), which is injected into a magnetized target plasma modeling a part of a fusion device is investigated by using magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations. It is found that the injected CT penetrates into the device region, suffering from a tilting instability. In this process, magnetic reconnection between the CT magnetic field and the device magnetic field takes place, which disrupts the magnetic configuration of the CT. As a result, the high density plasma confined in the CT magnetic field is locally supplied in the device region. Furthermore, the authors examine the penetration depth of the CT high density plasma. And it is revealed that the CT high density plasma is decelerated by the device magnetic field through the compressional heating

  14. Reduced energy conservation law for magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sosenko, P.P.; Decyk, V.K.

    1994-01-01

    A global energy conservation law for a magnetized plasma is studied within the context of a quasiparticle description. A reduced energy conservation law is derived for low-frequency, as compared to the gyromagnetic frequency, plasma motions with regard to both non-uniform mean flows and fluctuations in the plasma. The mean value of plasma energy is calculated and sufficient stability conditions for non-equilibrium plasmas are derived. (orig.)

  15. Three dimensional simulation study of spheromak injection into magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Y.; Watanabe, T.H.; Sato, T.; Hayashi, T.

    2000-01-01

    The three dimensional dynamics of a spheromak-like compact toroid (SCT) plasmoid, which is injected into a magnetized target plasma region, is investigated by using MHD numerical simulations. It is found that the process of SCT penetration into this region is much more complicated than that which has been analysed so far by using a conducting sphere (CS) model. The injected SCT suffers from a tilting instability, which grows with a similar timescale to that of the SCT penetration. The instability is accompanied by magnetic reconnection between the SCT magnetic field and the target magnetic field, which disrupts the magnetic configuration of the SCT. Magnetic reconnection plays a role in supplying the high density plasma, initially confined in the SCT magnetic field, to the target region. The penetration depth of the SCT high density plasma is also examined. It is shown to be shorter than that estimated from the CS model. The SCT high density plasma is decelerated mainly by the Lorentz force of the target magnetic field, which includes not only the magnetic pressure force but also the magnetic tension force. Furthermore, by comparing the SCT plasmoid injection with the bare plasmoid injection, magnetic reconnection is considered to relax the magnetic tension force, i.e. the deceleration of the SCT plasmoid. (author)

  16. Final Technical Report: Magnetic Reconnection in High-Energy Laser-Produced Plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Germaschewski, Kai [Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States); Fox, William [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Bhattacharjee, Amitava [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

    2017-04-06

    This report describes the final results from the DOE Grant DE-SC0007168, “Fast Magnetic Reconnection in HED Laser-Produced Plasmas.” The recent generation of laboratory high-energy-density physics facilities has opened significant physics opportunities for experimentally modeling astrophysical plasmas. The goal of this proposal is to use these new tools to study fundamental problems in plasma physics and plasma astrophysics. Fundamental topics in this area involve study of the generation, amplification, and fate of magnetic fields, which are observed to pervade the plasma universe and govern its evolution. This project combined experiments at DOE laser facilities with kinetic plasma simulation to study these processes. The primary original goal of the project was to study magnetic reconnection using a new experimental platform, colliding magnetized laser-produced plasmas. However through a series of fortuitous discoveries, the work broadened out to allow significant advancement on multiple topics in laboratory astrophysics, including magnetic reconnection, Weibel instability, and collisionless shocks.

  17. Dynamics of a rarefied plasma in a magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sagdeyev, R S; Kadomtsev, B B; Rudakov, L I; Vedyonov, A A

    1958-07-01

    The nature of the motion and properties of high temperature plasma in a magnetic field is of particular interest for the problem of producing controlled thermonuclear reactions. The most general theoretical approach to such problems lies in the description of the plasma by the Boltzmann and Maxwell equations that connect the self-consistent electric and magnetic fields with the ion and electron distribution functions. The exact equations for the motion of plasma in an electromagnetic field can only be solved in certain simple cases especially because the fields are influenced by the collective motion of all the particles. For a certain class of problems it is possible to work out a procedure for decreasing the number of variables and thus simplify the characteristic equations. In this work the following cases are considered and equations derived: equations for the macroscopic motion of the plasma; hydrodynamics of a low pressure plasma; instability of plasma in a magnetic field with an anisotropic ion velocity distribution; stability of a pinched cylindrical plasma using the kinetic equation; non-linear one-dimensional motion of a rarefied plasma.

  18. Dual-function magnetic structure for toroidal plasma devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, R.L.

    1978-01-01

    This invention relates to a support system wherein the iron core and yoke of the plasma current system of a tokamak plasma containment device is redesigned to support the forces of the magnet coils. The containment rings, which occupy very valuable space around the magnet coils, are utilized to serve as yokes for the core such that the conventional yoke is eliminated. The overall result is an improved aspect ratio, reduction in structure, smaller overall size, and improved access to the plasma ring

  19. Plasma flow in a curved magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindberg, L.

    1977-09-01

    A beam of collisionless plasma is injected along a longitudinal magnetic field into a region of curved magnetic field. Two unpredicted phenomena are observed: The beam becomes deflected in the direction opposite to that in which the field is curved, and it contracts to a flat slab in the plane of curvature of the magnetic field. The phenomenon is of a general character and can be expected to occur in a very wide range of densities. The lower density limit is set by the condition for self-polarization, nm sub(i)/epsilon 0 B 2 >> 1 or, which is equivalent, c 2 /v 2 sub(A) >> 1, where c is the velocity of light, and v sup(A) the Alfven velocity. The upper limit is presumably set by the requirement ωsub(e)tau(e) >> 1. The phenomenon is likely to be of importance e.g. for injection of plasma into magnetic bottles and in space and solar physics. The paper illustrates the comlexity of plasma flow phenomena and the importance of close contact between experimental and theoretical work. (author)

  20. Plasma cloud expansion in the ionosphere: Three-dimensional simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, T.Z.; Schunk, R.W.

    1991-01-01

    A three-dimensional time-dependent model was developed to study the characteristics of a plasma cloud expansion in the ionosphere. The electrostatic potential is solved in three dimensions taking into account the large parallel-to-perpendicular conductivity ratio. Three sample simulations are presented: a plasma expansion of a nearly spherical 1 km Ba + cloud, both with and without a background neutral wind, and a long thin Ba + cloudlet. With or without the neutral wind the effective potential, which is different from the electrostatic potential if the electron temperature is included, is constant along the magnetic field for typical cloud sizes. The expanding plasma clouds become elongated in the magnetic field direction. The released Ba + ions push the background O + ions away along the magnetic field as they expand. Consequently, a hole develops in the background O + distribution at the cloud location and on the two sides of the cloud O + bumps form. The entire three-dimensional structure, composed of the plasma cloud and the background plasma embedded in the cloud, slowly rotates about the magnetic field, with the ions and electrons rotating in opposite directions. The cloud configuration takes the shape of a rotating ellipsoid with a major axis that expands with time. Perpendicular to the magnetic field, in the absence of the neutral wind the motion is insignificant compared to the parallel motion. With a neutral wind the motion along the magnetic field and the rotational motion are qualitatively unchanged, but the cloud and the perturbed background structure move in the direction of the wind, with a speed less than the wind speed. Perpendicular to the magnetic field the deformation of the cloud indiced by the wind is characterized by steepening of the backside

  1. Properties of plasma sheath with ion temperature in magnetic fusion devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Jinyuan; Wang Feng; Sun Jizhong

    2011-01-01

    The plasma sheath properties in a strong magnetic field are investigated in this work using a steady state two-fluid model. The motion of ions is affected heavily by the strong magnetic field in fusion devices; meanwhile, the effect of ion temperature cannot be neglected for the plasma in such devices. A criterion for the plasma sheath in a strong magnetic field, which differs from the well-known Bohm criterion for low temperature plasma sheath, is established theoretically with a fluid model. The fluid model is then solved numerically to obtain detailed sheath information under different ion temperatures, plasma densities, and magnetic field strengths.

  2. Simulation of magnetic holes formation in the magnetosheath

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmadi, Narges; Germaschewski, Kai; Raeder, Joachim

    2017-12-01

    Magnetic holes have been frequently observed in the Earth's magnetosheath and are believed to be the consequence of the nonlinear evolution of the mirror instability. Mirror mode perturbations mainly form as magnetic holes in regions where the plasma is marginally mirror stable with respect to the linear instability criterion. We present an expanding box particle-in-cell simulation to mimic the changing conditions in the magnetosheath as the plasma is convected through it that produces mirror mode magnetic holes. We show that in the initial nonlinear evolution, where the plasma conditions are mirror unstable, the magnetic peaks are dominant, while later, as the plasma relaxes toward marginal stability, the fluctuations evolve into deep magnetic holes. While the averaged plasma parameters in the simulation remain close to the mirror instability threshold, the local plasma in the magnetic holes is highly unstable to mirror instability and locally mirror stable in the magnetic peaks.

  3. Characteristics of an elongated plasma column produced by magnetically coupled hollow cathode plasma source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhuva, M. P.; Karkari, S. K.; Kumar, Sunil

    2018-03-01

    An elongated plasma column in the presence of an axial magnetic field has been formed using a cylindrical hollow cathode (HC) and a constricted anode (CA). The plasma characteristics of the central line have been found to vary with the magnetic field strength and the axial distance from the source. It is believed that the primary electrons constituting the discharge current are steered by the axial magnetic field to undertake ionizing collisions along the plasma column. The current carrying electrons from the HC reach the anode by cross-field diffusion towards the central line. The above observation has been substantiated using a phenomenological model which links the observed characteristics of the source with the plasma column. The experimental results are found to be in qualitative agreement with the model.

  4. Electromagnetic Calculation and Plasma Leakage Rate Analysis of the Magnetically Confined Plasma Rocket

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ni Zhipeng; Wang Liangbin; Li Jiangang; Chen Zhiyou; Zhang Yong; Wang Futang

    2008-01-01

    An electromagnetic calculation and the parameters of the magnet system of the magnetically confined plasma rocket were established. By using ANSYS code, it was found that the leakage rate depends on the current intensity of the magnet and the change of the magnet position.

  5. Novel magnetic controlled plasma sputtering method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Axelevich, A.; Rabinovich, E.; Golan, G.

    1996-01-01

    A novel method to improve thin film vacuum sputtering is presented. This method is capable of controlling the sputtering plasma via an external set of magnets, in a similar fashion to the tetrode sputtering method. The main advantage of the Magnetic Controlled Plasma Sputtering (MCPS) is its ability to independently control all deposition parameters without any interference or cross-talk. Deposition rate, using the MCPS, is found to be almost twice the rate of triode and tetrode sputtering techniques. Experimental results using the MCPS to deposit Ni layers are described. It was demonstrated that using the MCPS method the ion beam intensity at the target is a result of the interaction of a homogeneous external magnetic field and the controlling magnetic fields. The MCPS method was therefore found to be beneficial for the production of pure stoichiometric thin solid films with high reproducibility. This method could be used for the production of compound thin films as well. (authors)

  6. Slow convection of a magnetized plasma and the earth plasma sheet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hruska, A.

    1980-01-01

    Stationary convection of an isotropic, infinitely conducting plasma in a magnetic field with non-trivial geometry is discussed under the assumption that the inertial term in the equation of motion may be ignored. The energy gained or lost by a volume element of plasma per unit time does not vary along the field-lines. Simple relations between the components of the current density, depending on the field-line geometry, exist. Similar relations hold for the components of the plasma velocity. The theoretical analysis is applied to the geomagnetically-quiet plasma sheet and a qualitative physical picture of the sheet is suggested. The observed structure of the sheet is compatible with Axford-Hines type of convection perhaps combined with a low-speed flow from a distant neutral point. The magnetic-field-aligned currents are driven by the deformations of the closed field-lines which are enforced by the solar wind. (orig.)

  7. Magnetic field propagation in a two ion species planar plasma opening switch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strauss, H. R.; Doron, R.; Arad, R.; Rubinstein, B.; Maron, Y.; Fruchtman, A.

    2007-01-01

    Three fluid plasma evolution equations are applied to the problem of magnetic field propagation in a planar plasma opening switch. For certain initial conditions in which Hall parameter H∼1, magnetic field penetration due to the Hall field, initially, as expected, either opposes or adds to the hydromagnetic pushing, depending on the polarity of the magnetic field relative to the density gradient. Later, however, the plasma pushing by the magnetic field is found in the case studied here to modify the plasma density in a way that the density gradient tends to align with the magnetic field gradient, effectively turning off the Hall effect. The penetration of the magnetic field then ceases and plasma pushing becomes the dominant process

  8. Polarization transfer in relativistic magnetized plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heyvaerts, Jean; Pichon, Christophe; Prunet, Simon; Thiébaut, Jérôme

    2013-04-01

    The polarization transfer coefficients of a relativistic magnetized plasma are derived. These results apply to any momentum distribution function of the particles, isotropic or anisotropic. Particles interact with the radiation either in a non-resonant mode when the frequency of the radiation exceeds their characteristic synchrotron emission frequency or quasi-resonantly otherwise. These two classes of particles contribute differently to the polarization transfer coefficients. For a given frequency, this dichotomy corresponds to a regime change in the dependence of the transfer coefficients on the parameters of the particle's population, since these parameters control the relative weight of the contribution of each class of particles. Our results apply to either regimes as well as the intermediate one. The derivation of the transfer coefficients involves an exact expression of the conductivity tensor of the relativistic magnetized plasma that has not been used hitherto in this context. Suitable expansions valid at frequencies much larger than the cyclotron frequency allow us to analytically perform the summation over all resonances at high harmonics of the relativistic gyrofrequency. The transfer coefficients are represented in the form of two-variable integrals that can be conveniently computed for any set of parameters by using Olver's expansion of high-order Bessel functions. We particularize our results to a number of distribution functions, isotropic, thermal or power law, with different multipolar anisotropies of low order, or strongly beamed. Specifically, earlier exact results for thermal distributions are recovered. For isotropic distributions, the Faraday coefficients are expressed in the form of a one-variable quadrature over energy, for which we provide the kernels in the high-frequency limit and in the asymptotic low-frequency limit. An interpolation formula extending over the full energy range is proposed for these kernels. A similar reduction to a

  9. Optimal Design of Magnetic ComponentsinPlasma Cutting Power Supply

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, J. F.; Zhu, B. R.; Zhao, W. N.; Yang, X. J.; Tang, H. J.

    2017-10-01

    Phase-shifted transformer and DC reactor are usually needed in chopper plasma cutting power supply. Because of high power rate, the loss of magnetic components may reach to several kilowatts, which seriously affects the conversion efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to research and design low loss magnetic components by means of efficient magnetic materials and optimal design methods. The main task in this paper is to compare the core loss of different magnetic material, to analyze the influence of transformer structure, winding arrangement and wire structure on the characteristics of magnetic component. Then another task is to select suitable magnetic material, structure and wire in order to reduce the loss and volume of magnetic components. Based on the above outcome, the optimization design process of transformer and dc reactor are proposed in chopper plasma cutting power supply with a lot of solutions. These solutions are analyzed and compared before the determination of the optimal solution in order to reduce the volume and power loss of the two magnetic components and improve the conversion efficiency of plasma cutting power supply.

  10. Plasma cluster acceleration by means of external magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kracik, J.; Maloch, J.; Sobra, K.

    1975-01-01

    The electromagnetic shock tubes are used not only for shock wave creation and study but also for pulse plasma acceleration. By applying the rail acceleration the external magnetic field perpendicular to the plasma cluster velocity can be increased. In the present work is theoretically and experimentally confirmed the external magnetic field influence on the plasma cluster acceleration when the 'snow plough' model is used. (Auth.)

  11. Influence of pinches on magnetic reconnection in turbulent space plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olshevsky, Vyacheslav; Lapenta, Giovanni; Markidis, Stefano; Divin, Andrey

    A generally accepted scenario of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas is the breakage of magnetic field lines in X-points. In laboratory, reconnection is widely studied in pinches, current channels embedded into twisted magnetic fields. No model of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas considers both null-points and pinches as peers. We have performed a particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional configuration where null-points are present nitially, and Z-pinches are formed during the simulation. The X-points are relatively stable, and no substantial energy dissipation is associated with them. On contrary, turbulent magnetic reconnection in the pinches causes the magnetic energy to decay at a rate of approximately 1.5 percent per ion gyro period. Current channels and twisted magnetic fields are ubiquitous in turbulent space plasmas, so pinches can be responsible for the observed high magnetic reconnection rates.

  12. Occurrence of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles during Intense Magnetic Storms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao-Song Huang

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available An important issue in low-latitude ionospheric space weather is how magnetic storms affect the generation of equatorial plasma bubbles. In this study, we present the measurements of the ion density and velocity in the evening equatorial ionosphere by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP satellites during 22 intense magnetic storms. The DMSP measurements show that deep ion density depletions (plasma bubbles are generated after the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF turns southward. The time delay between the IMF southward turning and the first DMSP detection of plasma depletions decreases with the minimum value of the IMF Bz, the maximum value of the interplanetary electric field (IEF Ey, and the magnitude of the Dst index. The results of this study provide strong evidence that penetration electric field associated with southward IMF during the main phase of magnetic storms increases the generation of equatorial plasma bubbles in the evening sector.

  13. Collective fluctuations in magnetized plasma: Transition probability approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sosenko, P.P.

    1997-01-01

    Statistical plasma electrodynamics is elaborated with special emphasis on the transition probability approach and quasi-particles, and on modern applications to magnetized plasmas. Fluctuation spectra in the magnetized plasma are calculated in the range of low frequencies (with respect to the cyclotron one), and the conditions for the transition from incoherent to collective fluctuations are established. The role of finite-Larmor-radius effects and particle polarization drift in such a transition is explained. The ion collective features in fluctuation spectra are studied. 63 refs., 30 figs

  14. Influence of magnetic window for mitigating on antenna performance in plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xing Xiaojun; Zhao Qing; Zheng Ling; Tang Jianming; Chen Yuxu; Liu Shuzhang

    2013-01-01

    The communication blackout caused by the plasma sheath around a hypersonic vehicle flying in atmosphere is a problem to aerospace vehicles. When a vehicle enters the communication blackout phase, it loses all communication including GPS signals, data telemetry, and voice communication. The communication blackout becomes an even more critical issue with development of re-entry vehicles missions. During such missions, the communication loss caused by radio blackout introduces significant problems related to the vehicle's safety. This paper analyzes the interaction of electromagnetic waves with plasma in an external magnetic field in theory. The external magnetic field can improve the transmission of electromagnetic waves in plasma from the theoretical analysis. The magnetic window antenna which is designed by integrating the permanent magnet and the helical antenna is proposed. The performance of the helical antenna and magnetic window antenna in plasma is studied. The simulation results show that using the magnetic window antenna can weaken the influence on the antenna performance in plasma. The magnetic window antenna makes it possible for electromagnetic waves to spread in plasma. This provides another way to solve the problem of spacecraft re-entry blackout. (authors)

  15. Research status of fast flows and shocks in laboratory plasmas. Supersonic plasma flow and shock waves in various magnetic channels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inutake, Masaaki; Ando, Akira

    2007-01-01

    Fast plasma flow is produced by Magneto-Plasma-Dynamic Arcjet (MPDA). The properties of fast flow and shock wave in various magnetic channels are reported by the experiment results. Fast plasma flow by MPDA, shocked flow in the magnetic channel, supersonic plasma flow in the divergence magnetic nozzle, ion acoustic wave in the mirror field, transonic flow and sonic throat in the magnetic Laval nozzle, fast flow in the helical magnetic channel, and future subjects are reported. Formation of the supersonic plasma flow by the divergence magnetic nozzle and effects of background gas, helical-kink instability in the fast plasma jet, and formation of convergence magnetic nozzle near outlet are described. From the phase difference of azimuthal and axial probe array signals, the plasma has twisted structure and it rotates in the same direction of the twist. Section of MPDA, principle of magnetic acceleration of MPDA, HITOP, relation among velocities, temperature, and Mach number of He ion and atom and the discharge current, distribution of magnetic-flux density in the direction of electromagnetic field, measurement of magnetic field near MPDA exit are illustrated. (S.Y.)

  16. Relaxational dissipation of magnetic field energy in a rarefied plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vekshtejn, G.E.

    1987-01-01

    A mechanism of solar corona plasma heating connected with relaxation of a magnetic configuration in the corona to the state of the magnetic energy minimum at restrictions imposed by high conductivity of a medium is considered. Photospheric plasma pulsations leading to generation of longitudinal currents in the corona are in this case energy sources. The excess magnetic energy of these currents is dissipated as a result of reclosing of force lines of the magnetic field in narrow current layers. Plasmaturbulence related to the process of magnetic reclosing is phenomenologically described in this case by introducing certain characteristic time of relaxation. Such an approach permits to relate the plasma heating energy with parameters of photospheric motions in the framework of a simple model of the magnetic field

  17. Analysis of plasma behavior and electro-magnetic interaction between plasma and device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kobayashi, Tomofumi

    1980-01-01

    A simulation program for the analysis of plasma behavior and the electromagnetic interaction between plasma and device has been developed. The program consists of a part for the analysis of plasma behavior (plasma system) and a part for the analysis of the electro-magnetic interaction between plasma and devices (circuit system). The parameters which connect the plasma system and the circuit system are the electric resistance of plasma, the internal inductance, and the plasma current. For the plasma system, the simultaneous equations which describe the density distribution of plasma particles, the temperature distribution of electrons and ions, and the space-time variation of current density distribution were derived. The one-dimensional plasma column in γ-direction was considered. The electric resistance and the internal inductance can be deduced. The circuit components are a current transformer, a vertical field coil, a quadrupole field coil, a vacuum chamber and others. An equation which describes plasma position and the shape of cross section is introduced. The plasma position can be known by solving the Mukhavatov's formula of equilibrium. By using this program, the build-up process of plasma current in JT-60 was analysed. It was found that the expansion of plasma sub radius and the control of current distribution by gas injection are the effective methods to obtain high temperature and high density plasma. The eddy current induced in a vacuum vessel shields 40 percent of magnetic field made in the plasma region by a vertical field coil. (Kato, T.)

  18. Experimental study of CF4 conical theta pinch plasma expanding into vacuum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedrow, P.D.; Nasiruddin, A.M.

    1989-01-01

    Langmuir probe, photodiode, and optical multichannel analyzer (OMA) measurements have been made on a pulsed CF 4 conical theta pinch plasma. A cloud of CF 4 gas was puffed into a conical theta pinch coil, converted to plasma, and propelled into the vacuum region ahead of the expanding gas cloud. At a position 67 cm away from the conical theta pinch coil, the plasma arrived in separate packets that were about 20 μs in duration. The average drift velocity of these packets corresponded to an energy of about 3 eV. The OMA measurements showed that the second packet contained neutral atomic fluorine as well as charged particles

  19. Quasiparticles in non-uniformly magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sosenko, P.P.

    1994-01-01

    A quasiparticle concept is generalized for the case of non-uniformly magnetized plasma. Exact and reduced continuity equations for the microscopic density in the quasiparticle phase space are derived, and the nature of quasiparticles is analyzed. The theory is developed for the general case of relativistic particles in electromagnetic fields, besides non-uniform but stationary magnetic fields. Effects of non-stationary magnetic fields are briefly investigated also. 26 refs

  20. METHOD FOR EXCHANGING ENERGY WITH A PLASMA BY MAGNETIC PUMPING

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, L.S.

    1963-12-31

    A method of heating a plasma confined by a static magnetic field is presented. A time-varying magnetic field having a rise time to a predetermined value substantially less than its fall time is applied to a portion of the plasma. Because of the much shorter rise time, the plasma is reversibly heated. This cycle is repeated until the desired plasma temperature is reached. (AEC)

  1. Numerical Analysis of Magnetic Sail Spacecraft

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Daisuke; Yamakawa, Hiroshi; Usui, Hideyuki; Funaki, Ikkoh; Kojima, Hirotsugu

    2008-01-01

    To capture the kinetic energy of the solar wind by creating a large magnetosphere around the spacecraft, magneto-plasma sail injects a plasma jet into a strong magnetic field produced by an electromagnet onboard the spacecraft. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the IMF (interplanetary magnetic field) on the magnetosphere of magneto-plasma sail. First, using an axi-symmetric two-dimensional MHD code, we numerically confirm the magnetic field inflation, and the formation of a magnetosphere by the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetic field. The expansion of an artificial magnetosphere by the plasma injection is then simulated, and we show that the magnetosphere is formed by the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetic field expanded by the plasma jet from the spacecraft. This simulation indicates the size of the artificial magnetosphere becomes smaller when applying the IMF.

  2. Expansion of dense particle clouds in magnetically confined plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lengyel, L.L.

    1988-01-01

    A single-cell Lagrangian model has been developed for calculating the ionization and expansion dynamics of high-density clouds in magnetic fields or in magnetically confined plasmas. The model was tested by means of data from magnetospheric barium cloud experiments and approximately reproduced such global characteristics as expansion rate, stopping radius, stopping time, and magnetic cavity lifetime. Detailed calculations were performed for hydrogen clouds associated with the injection of frozen hydrogen pellets into tokamak plasmas. The dynamic characteristics of the cloud expansion, such as ionization radius, stopping time, lifetime, oscillation frequencies, and amplitudes, etc., are computed as functions of the magnetic field strength, the background plasma temperature, and the cloud mass. The results are analyzed and compared with experimental observations

  3. Spectral line intensity irreversibility in circulatory plasma magnetization processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Z. Q.; Dun, G. T.

    2012-01-01

    Spectral line intensity variation is found to be irreversible in circulatory plasma magnetization process by experiments described in this paper, i.e., the curves illustrating spectral line photon fluxes irradiated from a light source immerged in a magnetic field by increasing the magnetic induction cannot be reproduced by decreasing the magnetic induction within the errors. There are two plasma magnetization patterns found. One shows that the intensities are greater at the same magnetic inductions during the magnetic induction decreasing process after the increasing, and the other gives the opposite effect. This reveals that the magneto-induced excitation and de-excitation process is irreversible like ferromagnetic magnetization. But the two irreversible processes are very different in many aspects stated in the text.

  4. Experimental and numerical study of electromagnetically induced transparency in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamori, Eiichirou; Hsieh, Tung-Yuan; Nishida, Yasushi; Cheng, C-Z

    2012-01-01

    We present a demonstration of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in magnetized plasmas by means of experiment and numerical simulation. EIT in magnetized plasmas is a phenomenon by which a plasma-absorbing electron cyclotron wave is rendered transparent by a pump wave, which is a classical analog to conventional quantum EIT although the plasma EIT is not a quantum-mechanics-based phenomenon. This paper describes an attempt to identify plasma oscillations excited by the mode coupling of a pump wave and a probe wave, which is a key mechanism for achieving magnetized plasma EIT, by an experiment and a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. A preliminary result of the longitudinal electric field measurement indicates an enhancement of the plasma oscillation in the vicinity of the beat frequency between the probe and pump waves. Also the PIC calculation, which simulated the real experiment, shows a plasma oscillation excited by the mode coupling between the probe and pump waves in the magnetized plasma EIT, showing agreement with theory and experiment. (paper)

  5. Plasma flow healing of magnetic islands in stellarators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hegna, C. C.

    2012-01-01

    Recent experiments from the large helical device (LHD) demonstrate a correlation between the “healing” of vacuum magnetic islands in stellarators and changes in the plasma flow. A model explaining this phenomenon is developed based on self-consistent torque balance and island evolution equations. In conventional stellarators, neoclassical flow damping physics plays an important role in establishing the flow profiles. The balance of neoclassical damping and cross-field viscosity produces a radial boundary layer for the plasma rotation profile outside the separatrix of a locked magnetic island. The width of this boundary layer decreases as the plasma becomes less collisional. Associated with these flow effects are plasma currents flowing in the island region that attempt to suppress island formation. These currents are enhanced as the collisionality drops making magnetic island healing occur more readily in high temperature conventional stellarators. The analytic theory produces a critical β for healing that scales monotonically with collisionality and is in qualitative agreement with LHD observations.

  6. Studies on the transmission of sub-THz waves in magnetized inhomogeneous plasma sheath

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Kai; Shen, Linfang; Yao, Ming; Deng, Xiaohua; Chen, Zhou; Hong, Lujun

    2018-01-01

    There have been many studies on the sub-terahertz (sub-THz) wave transmission in reentry plasma sheaths. However, only some of them have paid attention to the transmission of sub-THz waves in magnetized plasma sheaths. In this paper, the transmission of sub-THz waves in both unmagnetized and magnetized reentry plasma sheaths was investigated. The impacts of temporal evolution of the plasma sheath on the wave transmission were studied. The transmission of "atmospheric window" frequencies in a magnetized plasma sheath was discussed in detail. According to the study, the power transmission rates (Tp) for the left hand circular (LHC) and the right hand circular modes in the magnetized plasma sheath are obviously higher and lower than those in the unmagnetized plasma sheath, respectively. The Tp of LHC mode increases with both wave frequency and external magnetic field strength. Also, the Tp of LHC mode in both magnetized and unmagnetized plasma sheaths varies with time due to the temporal evolution of the plasma sheath. Moreover, the performance of sub-THz waves in magnetized plasma sheath hints at a new approach to the "blackout" problem. The new approach, which is in the capability of modern technology, is to utilize the communication system operating at 140 GHz with an onboard magnet installed near the antenna.

  7. Solenoidal magnetic field influences the beam neutralization by a background plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaganovich, I.

    2004-01-01

    An analytical electron fluid model has been developed to describe the plasma response to a propagating ion beam. The model predicts very good charge neutralization during quasi-steady-state propagation, provided the beam pulse duration is much longer than the electron plasma period. In the opposite limit, the beam pulse excites large-amplitude plasma waves. Figure 1 shows the influence of a solenoidal magnetic field on charge and current neutralization. Analytical studies show that the solenoidal magnetic field begins to influence the radial electron motion when ω ce > βω pe . Here, ω ce is the electron gyrofrequency, ω pe is the electron plasma frequency, and β = V b /c is the ion beam velocity. If a solenoidal magnetic field is not applied, plasma waves do not propagate. In contrast, in the presence of a solenoidal magnetic field, whistler waves propagate ahead of the beam and can perturb the plasma ahead of the beam pulse. In the limit ω ce >> βω pe , the electron current completely neutralizes the ion beam current and the beam self magnetic field greatly diminishes. Application of an external solenoidal magnetic field clearly makes the collective processes of ion beam-plasma interactions rich in physics content. Many results of the PIC simulations remain to be explained by analytical theory. Four new papers have been published or submitted describing plasma neutralization of an intense ion beam pulse

  8. Magnetic diagnostic plasma position in the TCA/BR tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galvao, R.M.O.; Kuznetsov, Yu.K.; Nascimento, I.C.

    1996-01-01

    The cross-section of the plasma column is TCA/BR has a nearly circular plasma shape. This allows implementation of simplified methods of magnetic diagnostics. Although these methods were in may tokamaks and are well described, their accuracies are not clearly defined because the very simplified theoretical model of plasma equilibrium on which they are based differs from the real conditions in tokamaks like TCA/BR. In this paper we present the methods of plasma position diagnostics in TCA/BR from external magnetic measurements with an error analysis. (author). 4 refs., 3 figs

  9. Toroidal plasma reactor with low external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beklemishev, A.D.; Khayrutdinov, R.R.; Petviashvili, V.I.; Tajima, T.; Gordin, V.A.; Tajima, T.

    1991-01-01

    A toroidal pinch configuration with safety factor q < 0.5 decreasing from the center to periphery without field reversal is proposed. This is capable of containing high pressure plasma with only small toroidal external magnetic field. Sufficient conditions for magnetohydrodynamic stability are fulfilled in this configuration. The stability is studied by constructing the Lyapunov functional and investigating its extrema both analytically and numerically. Comparison of the Lyapunov stability conditions with the conventional linear theory is carried out. Stable configurations are found with average β near 15%, with magnetic field associated mainly with plasma current. The β value calculated with the external magnetic field can be over 100%. Fast charged particles produced by fusion reactions are asymmetrically confined by the poloidal magnetic field (and due to the lack of strong toroidal field). They thus generate a current in the noncentral part of plasma to reinforce the poloidal field. This current drive can sustain the monotonic decrease of q with radius. 20 refs., 9 figs

  10. Neutral beam injection and plasma convection in a magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okuda, H.; Hiroe, S.

    1988-06-01

    Injection of a neutral beam into a plasma in a magnetic field has been studied by means of numerical plasma simulations. It is found that, in the absence of a rotational transform, the convection electric field arising from the polarization charges at the edges of the beam is dissipated by turbulent plasma convection, leading to anomalous plasma diffusion across the magnetic field. The convection electric field increases with the beam density and beam energy. In the presence of a rotational transform, polarization charges can be neutralized by the electron motion along the magnetic field. Even in the presence of a rotational transform, a steady-state convection electric field and, hence, anomalous plasma diffusion can develop when a neutral beam is constantly injected into a plasma. Theoretical investigations on the convection electric field are described for a plasma in the presence of rotational transform. 11 refs., 19 figs

  11. Magnetic reconnection and self-organized plasma systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, Hantao

    2000-01-01

    In this paper the recent results from the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) at PPPL are discussed along with their relationship to observations from solar flares, the magnetosphere, and current carrying pinch discharges such as tokamaks, reversed field pinches, spheromaks and field reversed configurations. It is found that the reconnection speed decreases as the angle of merging field lines decreases, consistent with the well-established observation in the dayside magnetosphere. This observation can also provide a qualitative interpretation of a generally observed trend in pinch plasmas, namely that magnetic field diffuses (or reconnects) faster when magnetic shear is larger. A recently conceived research project, SPIRIT (Self-organized Plasma with Induction, Reconnection, and Injection Techniques), will also be discussed. (author)

  12. ASYMMETRIC MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN WEAKLY IONIZED CHROMOSPHERIC PLASMAS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murphy, Nicholas A.; Lukin, Vyacheslav S.

    2015-01-01

    Realistic models of magnetic reconnection in the solar chromosphere must take into account that the plasma is partially ionized and that plasma conditions within any two magnetic flux bundles undergoing reconnection may not be the same. Asymmetric reconnection in the chromosphere may occur when newly emerged flux interacts with pre-existing, overlying flux. We present 2.5D simulations of asymmetric reconnection in weakly ionized, reacting plasmas where the magnetic field strengths, ion and neutral densities, and temperatures are different in each upstream region. The plasma and neutral components are evolved separately to allow non-equilibrium ionization. As in previous simulations of chromospheric reconnection, the current sheet thins to the scale of the neutral–ion mean free path and the ion and neutral outflows are strongly coupled. However, the ion and neutral inflows are asymmetrically decoupled. In cases with magnetic asymmetry, a net flow of neutrals through the current sheet from the weak-field (high-density) upstream region into the strong-field upstream region results from a neutral pressure gradient. Consequently, neutrals dragged along with the outflow are more likely to originate from the weak-field region. The Hall effect leads to the development of a characteristic quadrupole magnetic field modified by asymmetry, but the X-point geometry expected during Hall reconnection does not occur. All simulations show the development of plasmoids after an initial laminar phase

  13. Theory of plasma confinement in non-axisymmetric magnetic fields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helander, Per

    2014-08-01

    The theory of plasma confinement by non-axisymmetric magnetic fields is reviewed. Such fields are used to confine fusion plasmas in stellarators, where in contrast to tokamaks and reversed-field pinches the magnetic field generally does not possess any continuous symmetry. The discussion is focussed on magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium conditions, collisionless particle orbits, and the kinetic theory of equilbrium and transport. Each of these topics is fundamentally affected by the absence of symmetry in the magnetic field: the field lines need not trace out nested flux surfaces, the particle orbits may not be confined, and the cross-field transport can be very large. Nevertheless, by tailoring the magnetic field appropriately, well-behaved equilibria with good confinement can be constructed, potentially offering an attractive route to magnetic fusion. In this article, the mathematical apparatus to describe stellarator plasmas is developed from first principles and basic elements underlying confinement optimization are introduced.

  14. Theory of electromagnetic fluctuations for magnetized multi-species plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Navarro, Roberto E., E-mail: roberto.navarro@ug.uchile.cl; Muñoz, Víctor [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago (Chile); Araneda, Jaime [Departamento de Física, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386 (Chile); Moya, Pablo S. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Geospace Physics Laboratory, Mail Code 673, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States); Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. 20064 (United States); Viñas, Adolfo F. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Geospace Physics Laboratory, Mail Code 673, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States); Valdivia, Juan A. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago (Chile); Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios Básicos y Aplicados en Complejidad, CEIBA complejidad, Bogotá (Colombia)

    2014-09-15

    Analysis of electromagnetic fluctuations in plasma provides relevant information about the plasma state and its macroscopic properties. In particular, the solar wind persistently sustains a small but detectable level of magnetic fluctuation power even near thermal equilibrium. These fluctuations may be related to spontaneous electromagnetic fluctuations arising from the discreteness of charged particles. Here, we derive general expressions for the plasma fluctuations in a multi-species plasma following arbitrary distribution functions. This formalism, which generalizes and includes previous works on the subject, is then applied to the generation of electromagnetic fluctuations propagating along a background magnetic field in a plasma of two proton populations described by drifting bi-Maxwellians.

  15. Nonlinear Electron Waves in Strongly Magnetized Plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pécseli, Hans; Juul Rasmussen, Jens

    1980-01-01

    Weakly nonlinear dispersive electron waves in strongly magnetized plasma are considered. A modified nonlinear Schrodinger equation is derived taking into account the effect of particles resonating with the group velocity of the waves (nonlinear Landau damping). The possibility of including the ion...... dynamics in the analysis is also demonstrated. As a particular case the authors investigate nonlinear waves in a strongly magnetized plasma filled wave-guide, where the effects of finite geometry are important. The relevance of this problem to laboratory experiments is discussed....

  16. Study on spatial distribution of plasma parameters in a magnetized inductively coupled plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheong, Hee-Woon; Lee, Woohyun; Kim, Ji-Won; Whang, Ki-Woong, E-mail: kwhang@snu.ac.kr [Plasma Laboratory, Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyuk [Samsung Electronics Co., Banwol-dong, Hwaseong 445-701 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Wanjae [Tokyo Electron Miyagi Ltd., Taiwa-cho, Kurokawa-gun, Miyagi 981-3629 (Japan)

    2015-07-15

    Spatial distributions of various plasma parameters such as plasma density, electron temperature, and radical density in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and a magnetized inductively coupled plasma (M-ICP) were investigated and compared. Electron temperature in between the rf window and the substrate holder of M-ICP was higher than that of ICP, whereas the one just above the substrate holder of M-ICP was similar to that of ICP when a weak (<8 G) magnetic field was employed. As a result, radical densities in M-ICP were higher than those in ICP and the etch rate of oxide in M-ICP was faster than that in ICP without severe electron charging in 90 nm high aspect ratio contact hole etch.

  17. Prospects for x-ray polarimetry measurements of magnetic fields in magnetized liner inertial fusion plasmas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynn, Alan G; Gilmore, Mark

    2014-11-01

    Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experiments, where a metal liner is imploded to compress a magnetized seed plasma may generate peak magnetic fields ∼10(4) T (100 Megagauss) over small volumes (∼10(-10)m(3)) at high plasma densities (∼10(28)m(-3)) on 100 ns time scales. Such conditions are extremely challenging to diagnose. We discuss the possibility of, and issues involved in, using polarimetry techniques at x-ray wavelengths to measure magnetic fields under these extreme conditions.

  18. Plasma transport in mixed magnetic topologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hegna, C.C.; Callen, J.D.

    1992-12-01

    A simple model is introduced to illustrate some features concerning anomalous transport associated with magnetic turbulence. For magnetic topologies that are described as bands of stochasticity separated by regions with good flux surfaces, the transport coefficients deviate significantly from those describing completely stochastic magnetic fields. It is possible to have the electron heat diffusivity exceed a runaway electron diffusion coefficient, despite the existence of widespread magnetic stochasticity. Comparing the ratios of transport coefficients is not an accurate way to determine whether anomalous plasma transport is controlled by electrostatic or electromagnetic fluctuations

  19. Jeans instability of self-gravitating magnetized strongly coupled plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prajapati, R P; Sharma, P K; Sanghvi, R K; Chhajlani, R K

    2012-01-01

    We investigate the Jeans instability of self-gravitating magnetized strongly coupled plasma. The equations of the problem are formulated using the generalized hydrodynamic model and a general dispersion relation is obtained using the normal mode analysis. This dispersion relation is discussed for transverse and longitudinal mode of propagations. The modified condition of Jeans instability is obtained for magnetized strongly coupled plasma. We find that strong coupling of plasma particles modify the fundamental criterion of Jeans gravitational instability. In transverse mode it is found that Jeans instability criterion gets modified due to the presence of magnetic field, shear viscosity and fluid viscosity but in longitudinal mode it is unaffected due to the presence of magnetic field. From the curves we found that all these parameters have stabilizing influence on the growth rate of Jeans instability.

  20. Maximum thermal energy density in magnetically confined plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coppi, B.

    1977-01-01

    The consequences of the limiting value of β that follows from analyzing the onset of high temperature ballooning modes is examined in high temperature regimes where the ideal MHD approximation is not strictly valid and for finite-β configurations exhibiting the main features of those that are obtained by magnetic flux conservation. These modes are localized over periodically space intervals of a given magnetic field line and are driven by the combined effects of finite plasma pressure and the locally unfavorable magnetic curvature. The effects of finite β, insofar as they shorten the effective connection length, steepen the pressure gradient, and influence the magnetic well dug by the plasma, are studied using a model dispersion relation. 14 references

  1. Plasma acceleration by magnetic nozzles and shock waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hattori, Kunihiko; Murakami, Fumitake; Miyazaki, Hiroyuki; Imasaki, Atsushi; Yoshinuma, Mikirou; Ando, Akira; Inutake, Masaaki

    2001-01-01

    We have measured axial profiles of ion acoustic Mach number, M i , of a plasma flow blowing off from an MPD (magneto-plasma-dynamic) arc-jet in various magnetic configurations. It is found that the Mach number increases in a divergent nozzle up to 3, while it stays at about unity in a uniform magnetic channel. When a magnetic bump is added in the exit of the divergent magnetic nozzle, the Mach number suddenly decreases below unity, due to an occurrence of shock wave. The subsonic flow after the shock wave is re-accelerated to a supersonic flow through a magnetic Laval nozzle. This behavior is explained well by the one-dimensional isotropic flow model. The shock wave is discussed in relation to the Rankine-Hugoniot relation. (author)

  2. Comparative measurements of plasma potential with ball-pen and Langmuir probe in low-temperature magnetized plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanáška, M.; Adámek, J.; Peterka, M.; Kudrna, P.; Tichý, M.

    2015-03-01

    The ball-pen probe (BPP) is used for direct plasma potential measurements in magnetized plasma. The probe can adjust the ratio of the electron and ion saturation currents Isat-/Isat+ to be close to one and therefore its I-V characteristic becomes nearly symmetric. If this is achieved, the floating potential of the BPP is close to the plasma potential. Because of its rather simple construction, it offers an attractive probe for measurements in magnetized plasma. Comparative measurements of plasma potential by BPPs of different dimensions as well as one Langmuir probe (LP) in an argon discharge plasma of a cylindrical magnetron were performed at various experimental conditions. An additional comparison by an emissive probe was also performed. All these types of probes provide similar values of plasma potential in a wide range of plasma parameters. Our results for three different BPP dimensions indicate that the BPP can be operated in a cylindrical magnetron DC argon discharge if the value of the ratio of the magnetic field and neutral gas pressure, B/p, is greater than approximately 10 mT/Pa.

  3. MAGNETIC END CLOSURES FOR PLASMA CONFINING AND HEATING DEVICES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Post, R.F.

    1963-08-20

    More effective magnetic closure field regions for various open-ended containment magnetic fields used in fusion reactor devices are provided by several spaced, coaxially-aligned solenoids utilized to produce a series of nodal field regions of uniform or, preferably, of incrementally increasing intensity separated by lower intensity regions outwardly from the ends of said containment zone. Plasma sources may also be provided to inject plasma into said lower intensity areas to increase plasma density therein. Plasma may then be transported, by plasma diffusion mechanisms provided by the nodal fields, into the containment field. With correlated plasma densities and nodal field spacings approximating the mean free partl cle collision path length in the zones between the nodal fields, optimum closure effectiveness is obtained. (AEC)

  4. Laboratory experiments on plasma jets in a magnetic field using high-power lasers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nishio K.

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The experiments to simulate astrophysical jet generation are performed using Gekko XII (GXII HIPER laser system at the Institute of Laser Engineering. In the experiments a fast plasma flow generated by shooting a CH plane (10 μm thickness is observed at the rear side of the plane. By separating the focal spot of the main beams, a non-uniform plasma is generated. The non-uniform plasma flow in an external magnetic field (0.2∼0.3 T perpendicular to the plasma is more collimated than that without the external magnetic field. The plasma β, the ratio between the plasma and magnetic pressure, is ≫ 1, and the magnetic Reynolds number is ∼150 in the collimated plasma. It is considered that the magnetic field is distorted by the plasma flow and enhances the jet collimation.

  5. FDTD analysis of 3-D conducting target coated by anisotropic magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Lijun; Liu Shaobin; Mo Jinjun; Yuan Naichang

    2006-01-01

    The JEC finite-difference time-domain (JEC-FDTD) method is extended to three dimensional anisotropic dispersive media- the magnetized plasma. The problem which incorporates both anisotropy and frequency dispersion at the same time is solved for the electromagnetic wave propagation. The three dimensional JEC-FDTD formulations for anisotropic magnetized plasma are derived. The method is applied to the electromagnetic scattering of dihedral corner reflector and sphere-cone coated with anisotropic magnetized plasma. By simulating the interaction of electromagnetic wave with magnetized plasma, some numerical results are obtained, which indicate that an appropriate plasma coating may efficiently reduce the RCS of a metallic target. (authors)

  6. Fluid model of the magnetic presheath in a turbulent plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stanojevic, M; Duhovnik, J; Jelic, N; Kendl, A; Kuhn, S

    2005-01-01

    A fluid model of the magnetic presheath in a turbulent boundary plasma is presented. Turbulent transport corrections of the classical three-dimensional fluid transport equations, which can be used to study magnetic presheaths in various geometries, are derived by means of the ensemble averaging procedure from the statistical theory of plasma turbulence. Then, the magnetic presheath in front of an infinite plane surface is analysed in detail. The linearized planar magnetic presheath equations are applied to the plasma-presheath-magnetic-presheath boundary (i.e. the magnetic presheath edge), whereas the original non-linear planar magnetic presheath equations are used for the entire magnetic presheath, allowing for various sets of experimentally relevant free model parameters to be applied. Important new results of this study are, among others, new expressions for the fluid Bohm criterion at the Debye sheath edge and for the ion flux density perpendicular to the wall. These new results, which exhibit corrections due to the turbulent charged particle transport, can qualitatively explain the fact that whenever the angle between the magnetic field and the wall is very small (i.e. several degrees) or zero, electric currents, measured by Langmuir probes in the boundary regions of nuclear fusion devices and in various low-temperature plasmas, are anomalously enhanced in comparison with those expected or predicted by other theoretical models

  7. Periodical plasma structures controlled by external magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schweigert, I. V.; Keidar, M.

    2017-06-01

    The characteristics of two-dimensional periodical structures in a magnetized plasma are studied using kinetic simulations. Ridges (i.e. spikes in electron and ion density) are formed and became more pronounced with an increase of magnetic field incidence angle in the plasma volume in the cylindrical chamber. These ridges are shifted relative to each other, which results in the formation of a two-dimensional double-layer structure. Depending on Larmor radius and Debye length up to 19 potential steps appear across the oblique magnetic field. The electrical current gathered into the channels is associated with the electron and ion density ridges.

  8. Interaction of a supersonic plasma jet with a coaxial dipole magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Landes, K.

    1975-01-01

    A low pressure plasma jet of considerable conductivity can be influenced by a magnetic field. On the other hand the influencing magnetic field is changed by currents induced in the plasma jet. New astrophysical examples of suchlike interaction have been found in the investigation of the moon, where the partially not currentfree solar wind is influenced by locally confined magnetic fields. In the experiment reported, the interaction of a supersonic plasma jet with a coaxial, dipole-shaped magnetic field is investigated. A current is superimposed to the plasma jet. (Auth.)

  9. Plasma transport across a braided magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stix, T.H.

    1978-01-01

    Simple fluid and particle models are used to estimate the transport of density, current, and electron heat for a plasma immersed in a region through which magnetic lines of force meander in a stochastic fashion and in which magnetic surfaces are destroyed. (author)

  10. Investigation of MHD Instabilities in Jets and Bubbles Using a Compact Coaxial Plasma Gun in a Background Magnetized Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Y.; Fisher, D. M.; Wallace, B.; Gilmore, M.; Hsu, S. C.

    2016-10-01

    A compact coaxial plasma gun is employed for experimental investigation of launching plasma into a lower density background magnetized plasma. Experiments are being conducted in the linear device HelCat at UNM. Four distinct operational regimes with qualitatively different dynamics are identified by fast CCD camera images. For regime I plasma jet formation, a global helical magnetic configuration is determined by a B-dot probe array data. Also the m =1 kink instability is observed and verified. Furthermore, when the jet is propagating into background magnetic field, a longer length and lifetime jet is formed. Axial shear flow caused by the background magnetic tension force contributes to the increased stability of the jet body. In regime II, a spheromak-like plasma bubble formation is identified when the gun plasma is injected into vacuum. In contrast, when the bubble propagates into a background magnetic field, the closed magnetic field configuration does not hold anymore and a lateral side, Reilgh-Taylor instability develops. Detailed experimental data and analysis will be presented for these cases.

  11. Parametric instabilities in a magnetized and collisional plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Phalswal, D R; Dube, A [Punjabi Univ., Patiala (India). Dept. of Physics

    1980-09-01

    The dispersion relation for a magnetized, collisional and hot plasma in the presence of a pump wave is developed for the case where the pump frequency ..omega../sub 0/ is large compared with the cyclotron frequency ..omega..sub(c) and the plasma frequency ..omega..sub(p). Formulae for the growth rate, the damping rate for the free electron plasma wave and the threshold power are derived and discussed numerically under different conditions. It is found that in a hot plasma (for magnetic fields with ..omega..sub(c)/..omega..sub(p) = 1 and 10) the threshold power Psub(T) is less than or greater than that in a cold plamsa for the (Re..omega../sub 2/)sub(+) or (Re..omega../sub 2/)sub(-) modes respectively. In a weak magnetic field (..omega..sub(c)/..omega..sub(p) = 0.1), Psub(T) does not vary with the direction theta of the magnetic field for the (Re..omega../sub 2/) sub(+) mode. However, Psub(T) for the (Re..omega../sub 2/)sub(-) mode is a minimum at theta = 30deg. and 10deg. for ..omega..sub(c)/ ..omega..sub(p) = 1 and 10 respectively, and it becomes very large (10/sup 5/-10/sup 7/ times its value in a cold unmagnetized plasma) for ..omega..sub(c)/..omega..sub(p) = 0.1. The results for the growth are found to be just the reverse of those for the threshold power.

  12. Implicit Methods for the Magnetohydrodynamic Description of Magnetically Confined Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jardin, S.C.

    2010-01-01

    Implicit algorithms are essential for predicting the slow growth and saturation of global instabilities in today's magnetically confined fusion plasma experiments. Present day algorithms for obtaining implicit solutions to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations for highly magnetized plasma have their roots in algorithms used in the 1960s and 1970s. However, today's computers and modern linear and non-linear solver techniques make practical much more comprehensive implicit algorithms than were previously possible. Combining these advanced implicit algorithms with highly accurate spatial representations of the vector fields describing the plasma flow and magnetic fields and with improved methods of calculating anisotropic thermal conduction now makes possible simulations of fusion experiments using realistic values of plasma parameters and actual configuration geometry.

  13. Magnetized Target Fusion Propulsion: Plasma Injectors for MTF Guns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffin, Steven T.

    2003-01-01

    To achieve increased payload size and decreased trip time for interplanetary travel, a low mass, high specific impulse, high thrust propulsion system is required. This suggests the need for research into fusion as a source of power and high temperature plasma. The plasma would be deflected by magnetic fields to provide thrust. Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) research consists of several related investigations into these topics. These include the orientation and timing of the plasma guns and the convergence and interface development of the "pusher" plasma. Computer simulations of the gun as it relates to plasma initiation and repeatability are under investigation. One of the items under development is the plasma injector. This is a surface breakdown driven plasma generator designed to function at very low pressures. The performance, operating conditions and limitations of these injectors need to be determined.

  14. Probing a dusty magnetized plasma with self-excited dust-density waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadsen, Benjamin; Greiner, Franko; Piel, Alexander

    2018-03-01

    A cloud of nanodust particles is created in a reactive argon-acetylene plasma. It is then transformed into a dusty magnetized argon plasma. Plasma parameters are obtained with the dust-density wave diagnostic introduced by Tadsen et al. [Phys. Plasmas 22, 113701 (2015), 10.1063/1.4934927]. A change from an open to a cylindrically enclosed nanodust cloud, which was observed earlier, can now be explained by a stronger electric confinement if a vertical magnetic field is present. Using two-dimensional extinction measurements and the inverse Abel transform to determine the dust density, a redistribution of the dust with increasing magnetic induction is found. The dust-density profile changes from being peaked around the central void to being peaked at an outer torus ring resulting in a hollow profile. As the plasma parameters cannot explain this behavior, we propose a rotation of the nanodust cloud in the magnetized plasma as the origin of the modified profile.

  15. Low-frequency fluctuations in a pure toroidal magnetized plasma

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    A magnetized, low- plasma in pure toroidal configuration is formed and extensively studied with ion mass as control parameter. Xenon, krypton and argon plasmas are formed at a fixed toroidal magnetic field of 0.024 T, with a peak density of ∼ 1011 cm-3, ∼ 4 × 1010 cm-3 and ∼ 2 × 1010 cm−3 respectively.

  16. Magnetic filtered plasma deposition and implantation technique

    CERN Document Server

    Zhang Hui Xing; Wu Xian Ying

    2002-01-01

    A high dense metal plasma can be produced by using cathodic vacuum arc discharge technique. The microparticles emitted from the cathode in the metal plasma can be removed when the metal plasma passes through the magnetic filter. It is a new technique for making high quality, fine and close thin films which have very widespread applications. The authors describe the applications of cathodic vacuum arc technique, and then a filtered plasma deposition and ion implantation system as well as its applications

  17. Modeling of magnetically enhanced capacitively coupled plasma sources: Ar discharges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kushner, Mark J.

    2003-01-01

    Magnetically enhanced capacitively coupled plasma sources use transverse static magnetic fields to modify the performance of low pressure radio frequency discharges. Magnetically enhanced reactive ion etching (MERIE) sources typically use magnetic fields of tens to hundreds of Gauss parallel to the substrate to increase the plasma density at a given pressure or to lower the operating pressure. In this article results from a two-dimensional hybrid-fluid computational investigation of MERIE reactors with plasmas sustained in argon are discussed for an industrially relevant geometry. The reduction in electron cross field mobility as the magnetic field increases produces a systematic decrease in the dc bias (becoming more positive). This decrease is accompanied by a decrease in the energy and increase in angular spread of the ion flux to the substrate. Similar trends are observed when decreasing pressure for a constant magnetic field. Although for constant power the magnitudes of ion fluxes to the substrate increase with moderate magnetic fields, the fluxes decreased at larger magnetic fields. These trends are due, in part, to a reduction in the contributions of more efficient multistep ionization

  18. Studies of the formation of field reversed plasma by a magnetized co-axial plasma gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turner, W.C.; Granneman, E.H.A.; Hartman, C.W.; Prono, D.S.; Taska, J.; Smith, A.C. Jr.

    1980-01-01

    The gun injects axially into a drift tank followed by a magnetic mirror. For the experiments reported here, only the guide coils outside the vacuum vessel and solenoids on the plasma gun electrodes were used; the mirror coil was not energized. A stainless steel flux conserver is placed in the mirror throat to prevent the plasma from contacting the nonconducting vacuum wall in the region of the mirror. An axis encircling array of magnetic loop probes includes four diamagnetic loops and a loop which measures the azimuthally averaged outward pointing radial component of magnetic field. These loop probes are stainless steel jacketed and form a flux conserving boundary (at a radius = 30 cm) for plasma emitted from the gun. A five tip probe that can be positioned anywhere along the axis of the experiment is used to measure internal components of magnetic field

  19. Production of large volume, strongly magnetized laser-produced plasmas by use of pulsed external magnetic fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Albertazzi, B. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, UPMC, 91128 Palaiseau (France); INRS-EMT, Varennes, Quebec J3X 1S2 (Canada); Beard, J.; Billette, J.; Portugall, O. [LNCMI, UPR 3228, CNRS-UFJ-UPS-INSA, 31400 Toulouse (France); Ciardi, A. [LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, Ecole Normale Superieure, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS UMR 8112, Paris (France); Vinci, T.; Albrecht, J.; Chen, S. N.; Da Silva, D.; Hirardin, B.; Nakatsutsumi, M.; Romagnagni, L.; Simond, S.; Veuillot, E.; Fuchs, J. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, UPMC, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Burris-Mog, T.; Dittrich, S.; Herrmannsdoerfer, T.; Kroll, F.; Nitsche, S. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, P.O. Box 510119, 01314 Dresden (Germany); and others

    2013-04-15

    The production of strongly magnetized laser plasmas, of interest for laboratory astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion studies, is presented. This is achieved by coupling a 16 kV pulse-power system. This is achieved by coupling a 16 kV pulse-power system, which generates a magnetic field by means of a split coil, with the ELFIE laser facility at Ecole Polytechnique. In order to influence the plasma dynamics in a significant manner, the system can generate, repetitively and without debris, high amplitude magnetic fields (40 T) in a manner compatible with a high-energy laser environment. A description of the system and preliminary results demonstrating the possibility to magnetically collimate plasma jets are given.

  20. Plasma confinement in a magnetic field of the internal ring current

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shafranov, Vitaly; Popovich, Paul; Samitov, Marat

    2000-01-01

    Plasma confinement in compact region surrounding an internal ring current is considered. As the limiting case of large aspect ratio system the cylindrical plasma is considered initially. Analysis of the cylindrical tubular plasma equilibrium and stability against the most dangerous flute (m=0) and kink (m=1) modes revealed the possibility of the MHD stable plasma confined by magnetic field of the internal rod current, with rather peaked plasma pressure and maximal local beta β(γ)=0.4. In case of the toroidal internal ring system an additional external magnetic field creates the boundary separatrix witch limits the plasma volume. The dependence of the plasma pressure profiles, marginally stable with respect to the flute modes, from the shape of the external plasma boundary (separatrix) in such kind closed toroidal systems is investigated. The internal ring system with circular poloidal magnetic mirror, where the ring supports could be placed, is proposed. (author)

  1. Chaotic magnetic field line in toroidal plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hatori, Tadatsugu; Abe, Yoshihiko; Urata, Kazuhiro; Irie, Haruyuki.

    1989-05-01

    This is an introductory review of chaotic magnetic field line in plasmas, together with some new results, with emphasis on the long-time tail and the fractional Brownian motion of the magnetic field line. The chaotic magnetic field line in toroidal plasmas is a typical chaotic phenomena in the Hamiltonian dynamical systems. The onset of stochasticity induced by a major magnetic perturbation is thought to cause a macroscopic rapid phenomena called the current disruption in the tokamak discharges. Numerical simulations on the basis of magnetohydrodynamics reveal in fact the disruptive phenomena. Some dynamical models which include the area-preserving mapping such as the standard mapping, and the two-wave Hamiltonian system can model the stochastic magnetic field. Theoretical results with use of the functional integral representation are given regarding the long-time tail on the basis of the radial twist mapping. It is shown that application of renormalization group technique to chaotic orbit in the two-wave Hamiltonian system proves decay of the velocity autocorrelation function with the power law. Some new numerical results are presented which supports these theoretical results. (author)

  2. Confinement of plasma along shaped open magnetic fields from the centrifugal force of supersonic plasma rotation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teodorescu, C; Young, W C; Swan, G W S; Ellis, R F; Hassam, A B; Romero-Talamas, C A

    2010-08-20

    Interferometric density measurements in plasmas rotating in shaped, open magnetic fields demonstrate strong confinement of plasma parallel to the magnetic field, with density drops of more than a factor of 10. Taken together with spectroscopic measurements of supersonic E × B rotation of sonic Mach 2, these measurements are in agreement with ideal MHD theory which predicts large parallel pressure drops balanced by centrifugal forces in supersonically rotating plasmas.

  3. Electromagnetic wave propagation in relativistic magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weiss, I.

    1985-01-01

    An improved mathematical technique and a new code for deriving the conductivity tensor for collisionless plasmas have been developed. The method is applicable to a very general case, including both hot (relativistic) and cold magnetized plasmas, with only isotropic equilibrium distributions being considered here. The usual derivation starts from the relativistic Vlasov equation and leads to an integration over an infinite sum of Bessel functions which has to be done numerically. In the new solution the integration is carried out over a product of two Bessel functions only. This reduces the computing time very significantly. An added advantage over existing codes is our capability to perform the computations for waves propagating obliquely to the magnetic field. Both improvements greatly facilitate investigations of properties of the plasma under conditions hitherto unexplored

  4. Comparative measurements of plasma potential with ball-pen and Langmuir probe in low-temperature magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zanáška, M.; Kudrna, P.; Tichý, M.; Adámek, J.; Peterka, M.

    2015-01-01

    The ball-pen probe (BPP) is used for direct plasma potential measurements in magnetized plasma. The probe can adjust the ratio of the electron and ion saturation currents I sat − /I sat + to be close to one and therefore its I-V characteristic becomes nearly symmetric. If this is achieved, the floating potential of the BPP is close to the plasma potential. Because of its rather simple construction, it offers an attractive probe for measurements in magnetized plasma. Comparative measurements of plasma potential by BPPs of different dimensions as well as one Langmuir probe (LP) in an argon discharge plasma of a cylindrical magnetron were performed at various experimental conditions. An additional comparison by an emissive probe was also performed. All these types of probes provide similar values of plasma potential in a wide range of plasma parameters. Our results for three different BPP dimensions indicate that the BPP can be operated in a cylindrical magnetron DC argon discharge if the value of the ratio of the magnetic field and neutral gas pressure, B/p, is greater than approximately 10 mT/Pa

  5. Comparative measurements of plasma potential with ball-pen and Langmuir probe in low-temperature magnetized plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zanáška, M.; Kudrna, P.; Tichý, M. [Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2 (Czech Republic); Adámek, J. [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Za Slovankou 3, 18200 Prague 8 (Czech Republic); Peterka, M. [Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Ke Karlovu 3, 12116 Prague 2 (Czech Republic); Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Za Slovankou 3, 18200 Prague 8 (Czech Republic)

    2015-03-15

    The ball-pen probe (BPP) is used for direct plasma potential measurements in magnetized plasma. The probe can adjust the ratio of the electron and ion saturation currents I{sub sat}{sup −}/I{sub sat}{sup +} to be close to one and therefore its I-V characteristic becomes nearly symmetric. If this is achieved, the floating potential of the BPP is close to the plasma potential. Because of its rather simple construction, it offers an attractive probe for measurements in magnetized plasma. Comparative measurements of plasma potential by BPPs of different dimensions as well as one Langmuir probe (LP) in an argon discharge plasma of a cylindrical magnetron were performed at various experimental conditions. An additional comparison by an emissive probe was also performed. All these types of probes provide similar values of plasma potential in a wide range of plasma parameters. Our results for three different BPP dimensions indicate that the BPP can be operated in a cylindrical magnetron DC argon discharge if the value of the ratio of the magnetic field and neutral gas pressure, B/p, is greater than approximately 10 mT/Pa.

  6. Effects of a vertical magnetic field on particle confinement in a magnetized plasma torus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, S H; Fasoli, A; Labit, B; McGrath, M; Podestà, M; Poli, F M

    2004-10-15

    The particle confinement in a magnetized plasma torus with superimposed vertical magnetic field is modeled and measured experimentally. The formation of an equilibrium characterized by a parallel plasma current canceling out the grad B and curvature drifts is described using a two-fluid model. Characteristic response frequencies and relaxation rates are calculated. The predictions for the particle confinement time as a function of the vertical magnetic field are verified in a systematic experimental study on the TORPEX device, including the existence of an optimal vertical field and the anticorrelation between confinement time and density.

  7. Instabilities responsible for magnetic turbulence in laboratory rotating plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mikhailovskii, A.B.; Lominadze, J.G.; Churikov, A.P.; Erokhin, N.N.; Pustovitov, V.D.; Konovalov, S.V.

    2008-01-01

    Instabilities responsible for magnetic turbulence in laboratory rotating plasma are investigated. It is shown that the plasma compressibility gives a new driving mechanism in addition to the known Velikhov effect due to the negative rotation frequency gradient. This new mechanism is related to the perpendicular plasma pressure gradient, while the density gradient gives an additional drive depending also on the pressure gradient. It is shown that these new effects can manifest themselves even in the absence of the equilibrium magnetic field, which corresponds to nonmagnetic instabilities

  8. Studies of intense-laser plasma instabilities

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Láska, Leoš; Krása, Josef; Badziak, J.; Jungwirth, Karel; Krouský, Eduard; Margarone, Daniele; Parys, P.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 272, May (2013), 94-98 ISSN 0169-4332 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 7E09092; GA MŠk(CZ) LC528; GA AV ČR IAA100100715 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100523 Keywords : laser plasma instabilities * self-generated magnetic field * longitudinal structure of the expanding plasma Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.538, year: 2013

  9. Alternative lines with magnetic plasma confinement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wobig, H.

    1981-01-01

    Plasma confinement with the aid of a magnetic field is the most common and also the most frequently investigated principle on the way to controlled nuclear fusion. Apart from the Tokamak principle, which is the most advanced principle as far as fusion-relevant plasma parameters are concerned, also other approaches are being investigated, e.g. the mirror device, the bumpy tons, and the stellarator. In principle, all three concepts permit 'stationary' plasma confinement in a stationary fusion reactor. Compared with the pulsed Tokamak reactor, this is a considerable advantage. (orig./GG) [de

  10. High spatial resolution in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of expanding plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siegel, J.; Epurescu, G.; Perea, A.; Gordillo-Vazquez, F.J.; Gonzalo, J.; Afonso, C.N.

    2005-01-01

    We report a technique that is able to achieve high spatial resolution in the measurement of the temporal and spectral emission characteristics of laser-induced expanding plasmas. The plasma is imaged directly onto the slit of an imaging spectrograph coupled to a time-gated intensified camera, with the plasma expansion direction being parallel to the slit extension. In this way, a single hybrid detection system is used to acquire the spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics of the laser induced plasma. The parallel acquisition approach of this technique ensures a much better spatial resolution in the expansion direction, reproducibility and data acquisition speed than commonly obtained by sequential measurements at different distances from the target. We have applied this technique to study the laser-induced plasma in LiNbO 3 and Bi 12 Ge 1 O 20 , revealing phenomena not seen in such detail with standard instruments. These include extreme line broadening up to a few nanometers accompanied by self-absorption near the target surface, as well as different ablation and expansion dynamics for the different species ejected. Overall, the high precision and wealth of quantitative information accessible with this technique open up new possibilities for the study of fundamental plasma expansion processes during pulsed laser ablation

  11. Nonlocality of plasma fluctuations and transport in magnetically confined plasmas nonlocal plasma transport and radial structural formation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toi, Kazuo

    2002-01-01

    Experimental evidence and underlying physical processes of nonlocal characters and structural formation in magnetically confined toroidal plasmas are reviewed. Radial profiles of the plasmas exhibit characteristic structures, depending on the various confinement regimes. Profile stiffness subjected to some global constraint and rapid plasma responses to applied plasma perturbation result from nonlocal transport. Once the plasma is free from the constraint, the plasma state can be changed to a new state exhibiting various types of prominent structural formation such as an internal transport barrier. (author)

  12. Dynamic and Stagnating Plasma Flow Leading to Magnetic-Flux-Tube Collimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    You, S.; Yun, G.S.; Bellan, P.M.

    2005-01-01

    Highly collimated, plasma-filled magnetic-flux tubes are frequently observed on galactic, stellar, and laboratory scales. We propose that a single, universal magnetohydrodynamic pumping process explains why such collimated, plasma-filled magnetic-flux tubes are ubiquitous. Experimental evidence from carefully diagnosed laboratory simulations of astrophysical jets confirms this assertion and is reported here. The magnetohydrodynamic process pumps plasma into a magnetic-flux tube and the stagnation of the resulting flow causes this flux tube to become collimated

  13. Plasma streams mixing in two-channel t-shaped magnetic filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aksyonov, D.S.; Aksenov, I.I.; Luchaninov, A.A.; Reshetnyak, E.N.; Strel'nitskij, V.E.

    2011-01-01

    Ti-Al-N films were deposited by vacuum arc method. T-shaped magnetic filter with two channels was used for films preparation. Deposition was performed after aluminum and titanium separate plasma streams from two plasma sources were mixed into single one inside plasma duct having weakened magnetic field near its output. Obtained films have uniform distribution of composition and thickness on 180 mm diameter substrate surface. It was found that mixing and homogenization degree depends on nitrogen pressure, output magnetic field intensity and output- to-substrate distance. Film self-sputtering and aluminum preferential sputtering were observed for elevated negative substrate bias potentials.

  14. Implicit Methods for the Magnetohydrodynamic Description of Magnetically Confined Plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jardin, S C

    2010-09-28

    Implicit algorithms are essential for predicting the slow growth and saturation of global instabilities in today’s magnetically confined fusion plasma experiments. Present day algorithms for obtaining implicit solutions to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations for highly magnetized plasma have their roots in algorithms used in the 1960s and 1970s. However, today’s computers and modern linear and non-linear solver techniques make practical much more comprehensive implicit algorithms than were previously possible. Combining these advanced implicit algorithms with highly accurate spatial representations of the vector fields describing the plasma flow and magnetic fields and with improved methods of calculating anisotropic thermal conduction now makes possible simulations of fusion experiments using realistic values of plasma parameters and actual configuration geometry.

  15. Magnesium plasma immersion ion implantation in a large straight magnetic duct

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan, Ing Hwie; Ueda, Mario; Dallaqua, Renato S; Rossi, Jose O; Beloto, Antonio F; Abramof, Eduardo; Inoue, Y; Takai, Osamu

    2002-01-01

    Magnesium ions were implanted on silicon wafers using a vacuum arc plasma system with a straight 1 m long magnetic duct, 0.22 m in diameter. Good macroparticle filtering was obtained in samples positioned facing the plasma stream and complete filtering was achieved in samples with surfaces parallel to the plasma stream and magnetic field. Deposition is also minimized by placing sample surfaces parallel to the plasma stream. High resolution x-ray diffraction rocking curves of implanted samples show that the changes in lattice constant are due to compressive strain, and the distortion is larger for higher voltages. Without magnetic field the implantation was a few hundred angstroms deep, as expected, but with magnetic field the depth profile was surprisingly extended to over 0.1 μm, a fact for which we do not yet have a convincing explanation, but could be related to radiation enhanced segregation. The presence of a magnetic field increases substantially the retained implantation dose due to the increase in plasma density by two orders of magnitude

  16. a Novel Method for Improving Plasma Nitriding Efficiency: Pre-Magnetization by DC Magnetic Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovaci, Halim; Yetim, Ali Fatih; Bozkurt, Yusuf Burak; Çelik, Ayhan

    2017-06-01

    In this study, a novel pre-magnetization process, which enables easy diffusion of nitrogen, was used to enhance plasma nitriding efficiency. Firstly, magnetic fields with intensities of 1500G and 2500G were applied to the untreated samples before nitriding. After the pre-magnetization, the untreated and pre-magnetized samples were plasma nitrided for 4h in a gas mixture of 50% N2-50% H2 at 500∘C and 600∘C. The structural, mechanical and morphological properties of samples were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), microhardness tester and surface tension meter. It was observed that pre-magnetization increased the surface energy of the samples. Therefore, both compound and diffusion layer thicknesses increased with pre-magnetization process before nitriding treatment. As modified layer thickness increased, higher surface hardness values were obtained.

  17. Interaction of plasma with magnetic fields in coaxial discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soliman, H.M.; Masoud, M.M.

    1991-01-01

    Previous experiments have shown that, in normal mode of focus operation (67 KJ-20 KV) i.e. without external magnetic fields, the focus exhibits instability growths as revealed by the time integrated X-ray pinhole photographs. A magnetic field which is trapped ahead of the current sheath will reduce the high ejection rate of plasma which occurs during the (r,z) collapse stage. This reduction should lead to a more uniform plasma of larger dimension. If an externally excited axial magnetic field of (10 2 -10 3 G) is introduced at the end of the central electrode of coaxial discharge with 45 μf capacitor bank, U ch =13-17 KV, peak current ∼0.5 MA, the decay rate of the current sheath is slowed down and the minimum radius of the column remains large enough. Experiment investigation of the X-ray emission in axial direction from a (12 KJ/20 KV, 480 KA), Mather type focus, showed that the X-ray intensity changes drastically, by superimposing an axial magnetic field of 55 G on the focus. By introducing an external axial magnetic field of intensity 2.4 KG along the coaxial electrodes, this magnetic field has a radial component at distances approach to muzzle of coaxial discharge with charging voltage 10 KV and peak discharge current 100 KA. Presence of these magnetic fields, will cause an increase in intensity of soft X-ray emission. The main purpose of this work is to study the interactions of axial and transverse magnetic fields with plasma sheath during the axial interelectrode propagation, and its effects on the X-ray emission from plasma focus. (author) 4 refs., 7 figs

  18. Vlasov-Fokker-Planck modeling of magnetized plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas, Alexander [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

    2016-08-01

    Understanding the magnetic fields that can develop in high-power-laser interactions with solid-density plasma is important because such fields significantly modify both the magnitude and direction of electron heat fluxes. The dynamics of such fields evidently have consequences for inertial fusion energy applications, as the coupling of the laser beams with the walls or pellet and the development of temperature inhomogeneities are critical to the uniformity of the implosion and potentially the success of, for example, the National Ignition Facility. To study these effects, we used the code Impacta, a two-dimensional, fully implicit, Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code with self-consistent magnetic fields and a hydrodynamic ion model, designed for nanosecond time-scale laser-plasma interactions. Heat-flux effects in Ohm’s law under non-local conditions was investigated; physics that is not well captured by standard numerical models but is nevertheless important in fusion-related scenarios. Under such conditions there are numerous interesting physical effects, such as collisional magnetic instabilities, amplification of magnetic fields, re-emergence of non-locality through magnetic convection, and reconnection of magnetic field lines and redistribution of thermal energy. In this project highlights included the first full-scale kinetic simulations of a magnetized hohlraum and the discovery of a new magnetic reconnection mechanism, as well as a completed PhD thesis and the production of a new code for Inertial Fusion research.

  19. Vlasov-Fokker-Planck modeling of magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Understanding the magnetic fields that can develop in high-power-laser interactions with solid-density plasma is important because such fields significantly modify both the magnitude and direction of electron heat fluxes. The dynamics of such fields evidently have consequences for inertial fusion energy applications, as the coupling of the laser beams with the walls or pellet and the development of temperature inhomogeneities are critical to the uniformity of the implosion and potentially the success of, for example, the National Ignition Facility. To study these effects, we used the code Impacta, a two-dimensional, fully implicit, Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code with self-consistent magnetic fields and a hydrodynamic ion model, designed for nanosecond time-scale laser-plasma interactions. Heat-flux effects in Ohm's law under non-local conditions was investigated; physics that is not well captured by standard numerical models but is nevertheless important in fusion-related scenarios. Under such conditions there are numerous interesting physical effects, such as collisional magnetic instabilities, amplification of magnetic fields, re-emergence of non-locality through magnetic convection, and reconnection of magnetic field lines and redistribution of thermal energy. In this project highlights included the first full-scale kinetic simulations of a magnetized hohlraum and the discovery of a new magnetic reconnection mechanism, as well as a completed PhD thesis and the production of a new code for Inertial Fusion research.

  20. Laboratory Experiments on Propagating Plasma Bubbles into Vacuum, Vacuum Magnetic Field, and Background Plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynn, Alan G.; Zhang, Yue; Gilmore, Mark; Hsu, Scott

    2014-10-01

    We discuss the dynamics of plasma ``bubbles'' as they propagate through a variety of background media. These bubbles are formed by a pulsed coaxial gun with an externally applied magnetic field. Bubble parameters are typically ne ~1020 m-3, Te ~ 5 - 10 eV, and Ti ~ 10 - 15 eV. The structure of the bubbles can range from unmagnetized jet-like structures to spheromak-like structures with complex magnetic flux surfaces. Some of the background media the bubbles interact with are vacuum, vacuum with magnetic field, and other magnetized plasmas. These bubbles exhibit different qualitative behavior depending on coaxial gun parameters such as gas species, gun current, and gun bias magnetic field. Their behavior also depends on the parameters of the background they propagate through. Multi-frame fast camera imaging and magnetic probe data are used to characterize the bubble evolution under various conditions.

  1. Nonequilibrium quark production in the expanding QCD plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanji, Naoto; Berges, Jürgen

    2018-02-01

    We perform real-time lattice simulations of nonequilibrium quark production in the longitudinally expanding QCD plasma. Starting from a highly occupied gluonic state with vacuum quark sector, we extract the time evolution of quark and gluon number densities per unit transverse area and rapidity. The total quark number shows after an initial rapid increase an almost linear growth with time. Remarkably, this growth rate appears to be consistent with a simple kinetic theory estimate involving only two-to-two scattering processes in small-angle approximation. This extends previous findings about the role of two-to-two scatterings for purely gluonic dynamics in accordance with the early stages of the bottom-up thermalization scenario.

  2. Numerical investigation of three-dimensional single-species plasma equilibria on magnetic surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lefrancois, Remi G.; Pedersen, Thomas Sunn; Boozer, Allen H.; Kremer, Jason P.

    2005-01-01

    Presented for the first time are numerical solutions to the three-dimensional nonlinear equilibrium equation for single-species plasmas confined on magnetic surfaces and surrounded by an equipotential boundary. The major-radial shift of such plasmas is found to be outward, qualitatively similar to the Shafranov shift of quasineutral plasmas confined on magnetic surfaces. However, this is the opposite of what occurs in the pure toroidal field equilibria of non-neutral plasmas (i.e., in the absence of magnetic surfaces). The effect of varying the number of Debye lengths in the plasma for the three-dimensional (3D) model is in agreement with previous 2D calculations: the potential varies significantly on magnetic surfaces for plasmas with few Debye lengths (a d ), and tends to be constant on surfaces when many Debye lengths are present (a > or approx. 10λ d ). For the case of a conducting boundary that does not conform to the outer magnetic surface, the plasma is shifted towards the conductor and the potential varies significantly on magnetic surfaces near the plasma edge. Debye shielding effects are clearly demonstrated when a nonuniform bias is applied to the boundary. Computed equilibrium profiles are presented for the Columbia Non-Neutral Torus [T. S. Pedersen, A. H. Boozer, J. P. Kermer, R. Lefrancois, F. Dahlgren, N. Pomphrey, W. Reiersen, and W. Dorland, Fusion Sci. Technol. 46, 200 (2004)], a stellarator designed to confine non-neutral plasmas

  3. Resonant absorption of radar waves by a magnetized collisional plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Aiping; Tong Honghui; Shen Liru; Tang Deli; Qiu Xiaoming

    2001-01-01

    The propagation of radar waves in a magnetized collisional plasma slab is studied numerically. It is found for uniform plasma that: first, the wave attenuation and absorbed power show a peak value, i.e., resonant absorption when the collision frequency f en = 0.1, 0.5, 1 GHz and the wave frequency nears upper hybrid frequency. Secondly, the attenuation, absorbed, and transmitted power curves become flat at f en = 5, 10 Ghz. thirdly, the attenuation and absorbed power increase with plasma density, and the attenuation and the proportion of absorbed power can reach 100 dB and 80%, respectively, at the plasma density n = 10 11 cm -3 . For nonuniform plasma, the peak value of reflected power is larger than that in uniform plasma. So, uniform magnetized plasma is of more benefit to plasma cloaking

  4. Dynamics of the plasma injected into the gap of a plasma opening switch across a strong magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dolgachev, G. I.; Maslennikov, D. D.; Ushakov, A. G.; Fedotkin, A. S.; Khodeev, I. A.; Shvedov, A. A.

    2011-01-01

    A method is proposed to increase the linear charge density transferred through a plasma opening switch (POS) and, accordingly, reduce the POS diameter by enhancing the external magnetic field in the POS gap. Results are presented from experimental studies of the dynamics of the plasma injected into the POS gap across a strong magnetic field. The possibility of closing the POS gap by the plasma injected across an external magnetic field of up to 60 kG is demonstrated.

  5. Bulk ion acceleration and particle heating during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoo, Jongsoo; Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, Hantao; Jara-Almonte, Jonathan; Myers, Clayton E. [Center for Magnetic Self-Organization, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)

    2014-05-15

    Bulk ion acceleration and particle heating during magnetic reconnection are studied in the collisionless plasma of the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX). The plasma is in the two-fluid regime, where the motion of the ions is decoupled from that of the electrons within the ion diffusion region. The reconnection process studied here is quasi-symmetric since plasma parameters such as the magnitude of the reconnecting magnetic field, the plasma density, and temperature are compatible on each side of the current sheet. Our experimental data show that the in-plane (Hall) electric field plays a key role in ion heating and acceleration. The electrostatic potential that produces the in-plane electric field is established by electrons that are accelerated near the electron diffusion region. The in-plane profile of this electrostatic potential shows a “well” structure along the direction normal to the reconnection current sheet. This well becomes deeper and wider downstream as its boundary expands along the separatrices where the in-plane electric field is strongest. Since the in-plane electric field is 3–4 times larger than the out-of-plane reconnection electric field, it is the primary source of energy for the unmagnetized ions. With regard to ion acceleration, the Hall electric field causes ions near separatrices to be ballistically accelerated toward the outflow direction. Ion heating occurs as the accelerated ions travel into the high pressure downstream region. This downstream ion heating cannot be explained by classical, unmagnetized transport theory; instead, we conclude that ions are heated by re-magnetization of ions in the reconnection exhaust and collisions. Two-dimensional (2-D) simulations with the global geometry similar to MRX demonstrate downstream ion thermalization by the above mechanisms. Electrons are also significantly heated during reconnection. The electron temperature sharply increases across the separatrices and peaks just outside of the

  6. Topics on the formation and stability of magnetic-mirror-confined plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wickham, M.G.

    1981-01-01

    We have investigated two methods of creating a magnetic mirror confined plasma. The first method used the direct cross-field injection of a potassium plasma into a magnetic mirror, and the second applied ion-cyclotron-resonance heating (ICRH) to a barium Q-machine plasma in a simple axisymmetric mirror field. The latter procedure provided a plasma which was particularly suitable for the investigation of MHD stability and kinetic microstability

  7. Electric susceptibility of a magnetized plasma under electromagnetically induced transparency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamori, E

    2011-01-01

    This study derives the electric susceptibility tensor of a cold magnetized plasma under electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) regime (Litvak and Tokman 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 095003, Shvets and Wurtele 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 115003) in which an intense right-hand circularly polarized pump wave is injected parallel to the background magnetic field. A dispersion relation of the wave in the electron cyclotron frequency range for an arbitrary propagation angle is obtained from this susceptibility tensor. In the case of purely parallel propagation of the probe wave, the dispersion relation obtained by Litvak, Shvets and others is recaptured. A new finding is that a stop band emerges between left-hand cutoff and upper hybrid frequencies, in which originally an extraordinary-mode (X) branch exists, in the case of perpendicular propagation to the background magnetic field under the EIT. The bandwidth of the stop band expands as the pump wave is intensified. For the situation of launching the probe wave from the high-field side in a tokamak, the accessibility of the probe wave to the region where the EIT effect appears is investigated. The EIT region which is a resonance layer created by the EIT is accessible to the probe wave, indicating the possibility of the application of EIT to control the spatial position of wave power deposition.

  8. Transient growth of a Vlasov plasma in a weakly inhomogeneous magnetic field

    KAUST Repository

    Ratushnaya, Valeria

    2016-12-17

    We investigate the stability properties of a collisionless Vlasov plasma in a weakly inhomogeneous magnetic field using non-modal stability analysis. This is an important topic in a physics of tokamak plasma rich in various types of instabilities. We consider a thin tokamak plasma in a Maxwellian equilibrium, subjected to a small arbitrary perturbation. Within the framework of kinetic theory, we demonstrate the emergence of short time scale algebraic instabilities evolving in a stable magnetized plasma. We show that the linearized governing operator (Vlasov operator) is non-normal leading to the transient growth of the perturbations on the time scale of several plasma periods that is subsequently followed by Landau damping. We calculate the first-order distribution function and the electric field and study the dependence of the transient growth characteristics on the magnetic field strength and perturbation parameters of the system. We compare our results with uniformly magnetized plasma and field-free Vlasov plasma.

  9. Transient growth of a Vlasov plasma in a weakly inhomogeneous magnetic field

    KAUST Repository

    Ratushnaya, Valeria; Samtaney, Ravi

    2016-01-01

    We investigate the stability properties of a collisionless Vlasov plasma in a weakly inhomogeneous magnetic field using non-modal stability analysis. This is an important topic in a physics of tokamak plasma rich in various types of instabilities. We consider a thin tokamak plasma in a Maxwellian equilibrium, subjected to a small arbitrary perturbation. Within the framework of kinetic theory, we demonstrate the emergence of short time scale algebraic instabilities evolving in a stable magnetized plasma. We show that the linearized governing operator (Vlasov operator) is non-normal leading to the transient growth of the perturbations on the time scale of several plasma periods that is subsequently followed by Landau damping. We calculate the first-order distribution function and the electric field and study the dependence of the transient growth characteristics on the magnetic field strength and perturbation parameters of the system. We compare our results with uniformly magnetized plasma and field-free Vlasov plasma.

  10. Progress towards experimental realization of extreme-velocity flow-dominated magnetized plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, T. E.; Adams, C. S.; Welch, D. R.; Kagan, G.; Bean, I. A.; Henderson, B. R.; Klim, A. J.

    2017-10-01

    Interactions of flow-dominated plasmas with other plasmas, neutral gases, magnetic fields, solids etc., take place with sufficient velocity that kinetic energy dominates the dynamics of the interaction (as opposed to magnetic or thermal energy, which dominates in most laboratory plasma experiments). Building upon progress made by the Magnetized Shock Experiment (MSX) at LANL, we are developing the experimental and modeling capability to increase our ultimate attainable plasma velocities well in excess of 1000 km/s. Ongoing work includes designing new pulsed power switches, triggering, and inductive adder topologies; development of novel high-speed optical diagnostics; and exploration of new numerical techniques to specifically model the unique physics of translating/stagnating flow-dominated plasmas. Furthering our understanding of the physical mechanisms of energy conversion from kinetic to other forms, such as thermal energy, non-thermal tails/accelerated populations, enhanced magnetic fields, and radiation (both continuum and line), has wide-ranging significance in basic plasma science, astrophysics, and plasma technology applications such as inertial confinement fusion and intense radiation sources. This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration. LA-UR-17-25786.

  11. Experimental investigation of axial plasma injection into a magnetic dipole field

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Vagn Orla

    1968-01-01

    A high-density helium plasma, accelerated from a conical pinch, is injected axially into a magnetic dipole field. Magnetic probe measurements show that, near the axis, a compression of the field is super-imposed on the standard diamagnetic depression. The compression starts downstream and moves t...... towards the injector. Simultaneously with the compression, an increase in the electron temperature and reflection of a small amount of plasma are seen. The amount of plasma transmitted through the dipole field is found to be nearly independent of the field strength.......A high-density helium plasma, accelerated from a conical pinch, is injected axially into a magnetic dipole field. Magnetic probe measurements show that, near the axis, a compression of the field is super-imposed on the standard diamagnetic depression. The compression starts downstream and moves...

  12. Performance improvement of magnetized coaxial plasma gun by magnetic circuit on a bias coil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edo, Takahiro; Matsumoto, Tadafumi; Asai, Tomohiko; Kamino, Yasuhiro; Inomoto, Michiaki; Gota, Hiroshi

    2016-10-01

    A magnetized coaxial plasmoid accelerator has been utilized for compact torus (CT) injection to refuel into fusion reactor core plasma. Recently, CT injection experiments have been conducted on the C-2/C-2U facility at Tri Alpha Energy. In the series of experiments successful refueling, i.e. increased particle inventory of field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma, has been observed. In order to improve the performance of CT injector and to refuel in the upgraded FRC device, called C-2W, with higher confinement magnetic field, magnetic circuit consisting of magnetic material onto a bias magnetic coil is currently being tested at Nihon University. Numerical work suggests that the optimized bias magnetic field distribution realizes the increased injection velocity because of higher conversion efficiency of Lorenz self force to kinetic energy. Details of the magnetic circuit design as well as results of the test experiment and field calculations will be presented and discussed.

  13. Rotating structures in low temperature magnetized plasmas - Insight from particle simulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Pierre eBoeuf

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The EXB configuration of various low temperature plasma devices is often responsible for the formation of rotating structures and instabilities leading to anomalous electron transport across the magnetic field. In these devices, electrons are strongly magnetized while ions are weakly or not magnetized and this leads to specific physical phenomena that are not present in fusion plasmas where both electrons and ions are strongly magnetized. In this paper we describe basic phenomena involving rotating plasma structures in simple configurations of low temperature EXB plasma devices on the basis of PIC-MCC (Particle-In-Cell Monte Carlo Collisions simulations. We focus on three examples: rotating electron vortices and rotating spokes in cylindrical magnetrons, and azimuthal electron-cyclotron drift instability in Hall thrusters. The simulations are not intended to give definite answers to the many physics issues related to low temperature EXB plasma devices but are used to illustrate and discuss some of the basic questions that need further studies.

  14. Current control for magnetized plasma in direct-current plasma-immersion ion implantation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang Deli; Chu, Paul K.

    2003-01-01

    A method to control the ion current in direct-current plasma-immersion ion implantation (PIII) is reported for low-pressure magnetized inductively coupled plasma. The ion current can be conveniently adjusted by applying bias voltage to the conducting grid that separates plasma formation and implantation (ion acceleration) zones without the need to alter the rf input power, gas flux, or other operating conditions. The ion current that diminishes with an increase in grid bias in magnetized plasmas can be varied from 48 to 1 mA by increasing the grid voltage from 0 to 70 V at -50 kV sample bias and 0.5 mTorr hydrogen pressure. High implantation voltage and monoenergetic immersion implantation can now be achieved by controlling the ion current without varying the macroscopic plasma parameters. The experimental results and interpretation of the effects are presented in this letter. This technique is very attractive for PIII of planar samples that require on-the-fly adjustment of the implantation current at high implantation voltage but low substrate temperature. In some applications such as hydrogen PIII-ion cut, it may obviate the need for complicated sample cooling devices that must work at high voltage

  15. Velocity space ring-plasma instability, magnetized, Part I: Theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, J.K.; Birdsall, C.K.

    1979-01-01

    The interaction of magnetized monoenergetic ions (a ring in velocity space) with a homogeneous Maxwellian target plasma is studied numerically using linear Vlasov theory. The ring may be produced when an energetic beam is injected perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field. In addition to yielding the previously known results, the present study classifies this flute-like instability into three distinct regimes based on the beam density relative to the plasma density, where many features such as physical mechanisms, dispersion diagrams, and maximum growth rates are quite different. The effects of electron dynamics, plasma or ring thermal spread, the ratio of ω/sub p//ω/sub c/ for plasma ions, and electromagnetic modifications are also considered

  16. Upper Hybrid Resonance of Microwaves with a Large Magnetized Plasma Sheet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huo Wenqing; Guo Shijie; Ding Liang; Xu Yuemin

    2013-01-01

    A large magnetized plasma sheet with size of 60 cm × 60 cm × 2 cm was generated by a linear hollow cathode discharge under the confinement of a uniform magnetic field generated by a Helmholtz Coil. The microwave transmission characteristic of the plasma sheet was measured for different incident frequencies, in cases with the electric field polarization of the incident microwave either perpendicular or parallel to the magnetic field. In this measurement, parameters of the plasma sheet were changed by varying the discharge current and magnetic field intensity. In the experiment, upper hybrid resonance phenomena were observed when the electric field polarization of the incident wave was perpendicular to the magnetic field. These resonance phenomena cannot be found in the case of parallel polarization incidence. This result is consistent with theoretical consideration. According to the resonance condition, the electron density values at the resonance points are calculated under various experimental conditions. This kind of resonance phenomena can be used to develop a specific method to diagnose the electron density of this magnetized plasma sheet apparatus. Moreover, it is pointed out that the operating parameters of the large plasma sheet in practical applications should be selected to keep away from the upper hybrid resonance point to prevent signals from polarization distortion

  17. Plasma parameters, fluctuations and kinetics in a magnetic field line reconnection experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wild, N.C. Jr.

    1983-01-01

    The processes associated with reconnecting magnetic field lines have been studied in a large experimental laboratory plasma. Detailed time- and space-resolved probe measurements of the plasma density, temperature, potential and electric and magnetic fields are discussed. Plasma currents are seen to modify the vacuum magnetic field topology. A flat neutral sheet develops along the separatrix where magnetic flux is transferred from regions of private to common flux. Forced tearing and magnetic island formation are also observed. Rapid electron heating, density and temperature nonuniformities and plasma potential gradients are all observed. The pressure is found to peak at the two edges of the neutral sheet. The dissipation E.J is determined and analyzed in terms of particle heating and fluid acceleration. A consistent, detailed picture of the energy flow via Poynting's theorem is also described. Significant temporal fluctuations in the magnetic fields and electron velocity distribution are measured and seen to give rise to anomalously high values for the plasma resistivity, the ion viscosity and the cross-field thermal conductivity. Electron temperature fluctuations, double layers associated with partial current disruptions, and whistler wave magnetic turbulence have all been identified and studied during the course of the reconnection event

  18. Hybrid Simulation of Supersonic Flow of Weakly Ionized Plasma along Open Field Magnetic Line Effect of Background Pressure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laosunthara, Ampan; Akatsuka, Hiroshi

    2016-09-01

    In previous study, we experimentally examined physical properties of supersonic flow of weakly ionized expanding arc-jet plasma through an open magnetic field line (Bmax 0.16T). We found supersonic velocity of helium plasma up to Mach 3 and the space potential drop at the end of the magnets. To understand the plasma in numerical point of view, the flows of ion and neutral are treated by particle-based Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, electron is treated as a fluid. The previous numerical study, we assumed 2 conditions. Ion and electron temperatures were the same (LTE condition). Ion and electron velocities were the same (current-free condition). We found that ion velocity decreased by collision with residual gas molecules (background pressure). We also found that space potential changing with background pressure. In other words, it was indicated that electric field exists and the current-free assumption is not proper. In this study, we add electron continuity and electron momentum equations to obtain electron velocity and space potential. We find that space potential changing with background pressure slightly. It is indicated that electron is essential to space potential formation than ion.

  19. Magnetic pulse compression circuits for plasma devices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Georgescu, N; Zoita, V; Presura, R [Inst. of Physics and Technology of Radiation Devices, Bucharest (Romania)

    1997-12-31

    Two magnetic pulse compression circuits (MPCC), for two different plasma devices, are presented. The first is a 20 J/pulse, 3-stage circuit designed to trigger a low pressure discharge. The circuit has 16-18 kV working voltage, and 200 nF in each stage. The saturable inductors are realized with toroidal 25 {mu}m strip-wound cores, made of a Fe-Ni alloy, with 1.5 T saturation induction. The total magnetic volume is around 290 cm{sup 3}. By using a 25 kV/1 A thyratron as a primary switch, the time compression is from 3.5 {mu}s to 450 ns, in a short-circuit load. The second magnetic pulser is a 200 J/pulse circuit, designed to drive a high average power plasma focus soft X-ray source, for X-ray microlithography as the main application. The 3-stage pulser should supply a maximum load current of 100 kA with a rise-time of 250 - 300 ns. The maximum pulse voltage applied on the plasma discharge chamber is around 20 - 25 kV. The three saturable inductors in the circuit are made of toroidal strip-wound cores with METGLAS 2605 CO amorphous alloy as the magnetic material. The total, optimized mass of the magnetic material is 34 kg. The maximum repetition rate is limited at 100 Hz by the thyratron used in the first stage of the circuit, the driver supplying to the load about 20 kW average power. (author). 1 tab., 3 figs., 3 refs.

  20. Three-dimensional simulation study of compact toroid plasmoid injection into magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Y.; Watanabe, T.-H.; Sato, T.; Hayashi, T.

    1999-04-01

    Three-dimensional dynamics of a compact toroid (CT) plasmoid, which is injected into a magnetized target plasma region is investigated by using magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations. It is found that the process of the CT penetration into this region is much more complicated than what has been analyzed so far by using a conducting sphere (CS) model. The injected CT suffers from a tilting instability, which grows with the similar time scale as the CT penetration. The instability is accompanied by magnetic reconnection between the CT magnetic field and the target magnetic field, which disrupts the magnetic configuration of the CT. Magnetic reconnection plays a role to supply the high density plasma initially confined in the CT magnetic field into the target region. Also, the penetration depth of the CT high density plasma is examined. It is shown to be shorter than that estimated from the CS model. The CT high density plasma is decelerated mainly by the Lorentz force of the target magnetic field, which includes not only the magnetic pressure force but also the magnetic tension force. Furthermore, by comparing the CT plasmoid injection with the bare plasmoid injection, magnetic reconnection is considered to relax the magnetic tension force, that is the deceleration of the CT plasmoid. (author)

  1. Magnetic field line draping in the plasma depletion layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sibeck, D. G.; Lepping, R. P.; Lazarus, A. J.

    1990-01-01

    Simultaneous IMP 8 solar wind and ISEE 1/2 observations for a northern dawn ISEE 1/2 magnetopause crossing on November 6, 1977. During this crossing, ISEE 1/2 observed quasi-periodic pulses of magnetosheathlike plasma on northward magnetic field lines. The ISEE 1/2 observations were originally interpreted as evidence for strong diffusion of magnetosheath plasma across the magnetopause and the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the inner edge of the low-latitude boundary layer. An alternate explanation, in terms of magnetic field merging and flux transfer events, has also been advocated. In this paper, a third interpretation is proposed in terms of quasi-periodic magnetopause motion which causes the satellites to repeatedly exit the magnetosphere and observe draped northward magnetosheath magnetic field lines in the plasma depletion layer.

  2. Penetration of magnetic fields into plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bengtson, R.D.

    1976-01-01

    A pulsed plasma experiment was constructed to study the penetration of a fast-rising magnetic pulse into an initially unmagnetized, weakly ionized plasma of density 10 11 to 10 13 cm -3 . Magnetic probe data was analyzed using a magnetohydrodynamic approach to obtain detailed information about the dynamics of the penetration mechanism. In particular it is possible to obtain the local resistivity and thus the collision frequency from this data. These collision frequencies compare favorably with theoretical estimates of turbulent collision frequencies. The data indicates that sufficient energy is absorbed to heat the bulk of the plasma to temeratures in excess of 1 keV. A differential rotation of a collisionless theta-pinch column during implosion has been observed and explained by a model in which the driving mechanism is the off-diagonal element p/sub r theta/ of the pressure tensor. Rotational motion was detected by directional probes and spectroscopic techniques. Experimental data were modeled by a one-dimensional hybrid code which included ionization and charge exchange of protons with neutral H atoms

  3. Interaction of plasma with magnetic fields in coaxial discharge

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soliman, H.M.; Masoud, M.M. (National Research Centre, Cairo (Egypt))

    1991-01-01

    Previous experiments have shown that, in normal mode of focus operation (67 KJ-20 KV) i.e. without external magnetic fields, the focus exhibits instability growths as revealed by the time integrated X-ray pinhole photographs. A magnetic field which is trapped ahead of the current sheath will reduce the high ejection rate of plasma which occurs during the (r,z) collapse stage. This reduction should lead to a more uniform plasma of larger dimension. If an externally excited axial magnetic field of (10[sup 2]-10[sup 3] G) is introduced at the end of the central electrode of coaxial discharge with 45 [mu]f capacitor bank, U[sub ch]=13-17 KV, peak current [approx]0.5 MA, the decay rate of the current sheath is slowed down and the minimum radius of the column remains large enough. Experiment investigation of the X-ray emission in axial direction from a (12 KJ/20 KV, 480 KA), Mather type focus, showed that the X-ray intensity changes drastically, by superimposing an axial magnetic field of 55 G on the focus. By introducing an external axial magnetic field of intensity 2.4 KG along the coaxial electrodes, this magnetic field has a radial component at distances approach to muzzle of coaxial discharge with charging voltage 10 KV and peak discharge current 100 KA. Presence of these magnetic fields, will cause an increase in intensity of soft X-ray emission. The main purpose of this work is to study the interactions of axial and transverse magnetic fields with plasma sheath during the axial interelectrode propagation, and its effects on the X-ray emission from plasma focus. (author) 4 refs., 7 figs.

  4. Plasma transport in the Scrape-off-Layer of magnetically confined plasma and the plasma exhaust

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens Juul; Naulin, Volker; Nielsen, Anders Henry

    An overview of the plasma dynamics in the Scrape-off-Layer (SOL) of magnetically confined plasma is presented. The SOL is the exhaust channel of the warm plasma from the core, and the understanding of the SOL plasma dynamics is one of the key issues in contemporary fusion research. It is essential...... for operation of fusion experiments and ultimately fusion power plants. Recent results clearly demonstrate that the plasma transport through the SOL is dominated by turbulent intermittent fluctuations organized into filamentary structures convecting particles, energy, and momentum through the SOL region. Thus......, the transport cannot be described and parametrized by simple diffusive type models. The transport leads to strong localized power loads on the first wall and the plasma facing components, which have serious lasting influence....

  5. Effect of ECRH and resonant magnetic fields on formation of magnetic islands in the T-10 tokamak plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shestakov, E. A.; Savrukhin, P. V.

    2017-10-01

    Experiments in the T-10 tokamak demonstrated possibility of controlling the plasma current during disruption instability using the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and the controlled operation of the ohmic current-holding system. Quasistable plasma discharge with repeating sawtooth oscillations can be restored after energy quench using auxiliary ECRH power when PEC / POH > 2-5. The external magnetic field generation system consisted of eight saddle coils that were arranged symmetrically relative to the equatorial plane of the torus outside of the vacuum vessel of the T-10 tokamak to study the possible resonant magnetic field effects on the rotation frequency of magnetic islands. The saddle coils power supply system is based on four thyristor converters with a total power of 300 kW. The power supply control system is based on Siemens S7 controllers. As shown by preliminary experiments, the interaction efficiency of external magnetic fields with plasma depends on the plasma magnetic configuration. Optimal conditions for slowing the rotation of magnetic islands were determined. Additionally, the direction of the error magnetic field in the T-10 tokamak was determined, and the threshold value of the external magnetic field was determined.

  6. Magnetized plasma kinetic theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hassan, M.H.A.; Watson, C.J.H.

    1977-01-01

    The magnetized Balescu-Lenard Collision integral for a multi-species plasma in the form derived by Hassan and Watson (1976) is approximated by ignoring wave effects. The resulting collision integral is put in Fokker-Planck form and most of the integrals occurring in the coefficients are performed analytically. The remaining integral is evaluated approximately in various limits for ion-electron, electron-electron and electron-ion interactions. (author)

  7. Plasma opening switch with extrinsic magnetic field

    CERN Document Server

    Dolgachev, G; Maslennikov, D

    2001-01-01

    Summary form only given, as follows. We have demonstrated in series of experiments that plasma opening switch (POS) switching voltage (UPOS) is defined by energy density (w) deposited in the POS plasma. If we then consider a plasma erosion mainly responsible for the effect of POS switching (the erosion effect could be described by Hall or Child-Langmuir models) the energy density (w) could be measured as a function of a system "macro-parameter" such as the initial charging voltage of the capacity storage system (the Marx pulsed voltage generator) UMarx. The POS voltage in this case could be given by UPOS"aw=aUMarx4/7, where a is a constant. This report demonstrates that for the high-impedance POS which has limited charge density transferred through the POS plasma a"2.5 (MV3/7) with no external magnetic field applied. The use of the extrinsic magnetic field allows to increase a up to 3.6 (MV3/7) and to achieve higher voltages at the opening phase - UPOS=3.6UMarx4/7. To verify this approach set of experimental ...

  8. Rayleigh scattering for a magnetized cold plasma sphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Yingle; Wang Mingjun; Tang Gaofeng; Li Jin

    2010-01-01

    The transformation of parameter tensors for anisotropic medium in different coordinate systems is derived. The electric field for a magnetized cold plasma sphere and the general expression of scattering field from anisotropic target are obtained. The functional relations of differential scattering cross section and the radar cross section for the magnetized plasma sphere are presented. Simulation results agree with that in the literatures, which shows the method used is correct and therefore the results may provide a theoretical base for anisotropic target identification. (authors)

  9. Dynamics of Plasma Jets and Bubbles Launched into a Transverse Background Magnetic Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yue

    2017-10-01

    A coaxial magnetized plasma gun has been utilized to launch both plasma jets (open B-field) and plasma bubbles (closed B-field) into a transverse background magnetic field in the HelCat (Helicon-Cathode) linear device at the University of New Mexico. These situations may have bearing on fusion plasmas (e.g. plasma injection for tokamak fueling, ELM pacing, or disruption mitigation) and astrophysical settings (e.g. astrophysical jet stability, coronal mass ejections, etc.). The magnetic Reynolds number of the gun plasma is 100 , so that magnetic advection dominates over magnetic diffusion. The gun plasma ram pressure, ρjetVjet2 >B02 / 2μ0 , the background magnetic pressure, so that the jet or bubble can easily penetrate the background B-field, B0. When the gun axial B-field is weak compared to the gun azimuthal field, a current-driven jet is formed with a global helical magnetic configuration. Applying the transverse background magnetic field, it is observed that the n = 1 kink mode is stabilized, while magnetic probe measurements show contrarily that the safety factor q(a) drops below unity. At the same time, a sheared axial jet velocity is measured. We conclude that the tension force arising from increasing curvature of the background magnetic field induces the measured sheared flow gradient above the theoretical kink-stabilization threshold, resulting in the emergent kink stabilization of the injected plasma jet. In the case of injected bubbles, spheromak-like plasma formation is verified. However, when the spheromak plasma propagates into the transverse background magnetic field, the typical self-closed global symmetry magnetic configuration does not hold any more. In the region where the bubble toroidal field opposed the background B-field, the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability has been observed. Details of the experiment setup, diagnostics, experimental results and theoretical analysis will be presented. Supported by the National Science Foundation

  10. Compact dispersion relations for parametric instabilities of electromagnetic waves in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, B.I.

    1987-01-01

    The existence of compact dispersion relations for parametric instabilities of coherent electromagnetic waves in magnetized plasmas is addressed here. In general, comprehensive dispersion relations for parametric instabilities in unmagnetized plasmas become more complicated in the presence of an applied time-independent magnetic field. This is demonstrated with a fluid perturbation theory. A compact dispersion relation for parametric instabilities in unmagnetized plasma is heuristically extended here to the case of a magnetized plasma. This dispersion relation gives the correct results in a variety of circumstances of interest in considering electron cyclotron heating applications

  11. Radiative properties of strongly magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weisheit, J.C.

    1993-11-01

    The influence of strong magnetic fields on quantum phenomena continues to be a topic of much interest to physicists and astronomers investigating a wide array of problems - the formation of high energy-density plasmas in pulsed power experiments, the crustal structure and radiative properties of neutron stars, transport coefficients of matter irradiated by subpicosecond lasers, the spectroscopy of magnetic white dwarf stars, the quantum Hall effect, etc. The passage of time finds more questions being asked than being answered in this subject, where even the hydrogen atom open-quotes paradigmclose quotes remains a major challenge. This theoretical program consists of two distinct parts: (1) investigation into the structure and transport properties of many-electron atoms in fields B > 10 8 Gauss; and (2) extension of spectral lineshape methods for diagnosing fields in strongly magnetized plasmas. Research during the past year continued to be focused on the first topic, primarily because of the interest and skills of Dr. E.P. Lief, the postdoctoral research associate who was hired to work on the proposal

  12. Recent Progress on the magnetic turbulence experiment at the Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaffner, D. A.; Cartagena-Sanchez, C. A.; Johnson, H. K.; Fahim, L. E.; Fiedler-Kawaguchi, C.; Douglas-Mann, E.

    2017-10-01

    Recent progress is reported on the construction, implementation and testing of the magnetic turbulence experiment at the Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory (BMPL). The experiment at the BMPL consists of an ( 300 μs) long coaxial plasma gun discharge that injects magnetic helicity into a flux-conserving chamber in a process akin to sustained slow-formation of spheromaks. A 24cm by 2m cylindrical chamber has been constructed with a high density axial port array to enable detailed simultaneous spatial measurements of magnetic and plasma fluctuations. Careful positioning of the magnetic structure produced by the three separately pulsed coils (one internal, two external) are preformed to optimize for continuous injection of turbulent magnetized plasma. High frequency calibration of magnetic probes is also underway using a power amplifier.

  13. Initial measurements of two- and three-dimensional ordering, waves, and plasma filamentation in the Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas, Edward, E-mail: etjr@auburn.edu; Konopka, Uwe [Physics Department, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849 (United States); Merlino, Robert L. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (United States); Rosenberg, Marlene [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)

    2016-05-15

    The Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment at Auburn University has been operational for over one year. In that time, a number of experiments have been performed at magnetic fields up to B = 2.5 T to explore the interaction between magnetized plasmas and charged, micron-sized dust particles. This paper reports on the initial results from studies of: (a) the formation of imposed, ordered structures, (b) the properties of dust wave waves in a rotating frame, and (c) the generation of plasma filaments.

  14. Studies on limiter confined toroidal plasma in BETA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bera, D.; Reddy, C.; Jayakumar, R.; Kaw, P.K.

    1984-01-01

    Plasma equilibrium and stability in the presence of a toroidal magnetic field and a poloidal limiter is being studied experimentally in the BETA experiment. In a simple toroidal magnetic field, plasma cannot be in equilibrium because of the effect of the magnetic field curvature, which tends to expand the plasma. The electric field, which causes this expansion, is short circuited if a poloidal conducting limiter is placed and this brings about a quasi-equilibrium. In the model the charge separation current flows on the surface of the plasma and closes the path by flowing parallel to the magnetic field away from the limiter and transverse to the field at the limiter. For such an equilibrium, the vertical pressure profile is expected to be uniform, while the radial pressure profile is determined by transport. Such a profile is unstable to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, if the magnetic field gradient and the pressure gradient have the same sense

  15. Laser propagation and soliton generation in strongly magnetized plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feng, W.; Li, J. Q.; Kishimoto, Y. [Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011 (Japan)

    2016-03-15

    The propagation characteristics of various laser modes with different polarization, as well as the soliton generation in strongly magnetized plasmas are studied numerically through one-dimensional (1D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and analytically by solving the laser wave equation. PIC simulations show that the laser heating efficiency substantially depends on the magnetic field strength, the propagation modes of the laser pulse and their intensities. Generally, large amplitude laser can efficiently heat the plasma with strong magnetic field. Theoretical analyses on the linear propagation of the laser pulse in both under-dense and over-dense magnetized plasmas are well confirmed by the numerical observations. Most interestingly, it is found that a standing or moving soliton with frequency lower than the laser frequency is generated in certain magnetic field strength and laser intensity range, which can greatly enhance the laser heating efficiency. The range of magnetic field strength for the right-hand circularly polarized (RCP) soliton formation with high and low frequencies is identified by solving the soliton equations including the contribution of ion's motion and the finite temperature effects under the quasi-neutral approximation. In the limit of immobile ions, the RCP soliton tends to be peaked and stronger as the magnetic field increases, while the enhanced soliton becomes broader as the temperature increases. These findings in 1D model are well validated by 2D simulations.

  16. Magnetorotational and Parker instabilities in magnetized plasma Dean flow as applied to centrifugally confined plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Yimin; Hassam, A.B.

    2003-01-01

    The ideal magnetohydrodynamics stability of a Dean flow plasma supported against centrifugal forces by an axial magnetic field is studied. Only axisymmetric perturbations are allowed for simplicity. Two distinct but coupled destabilization mechanisms are present: flow shear (magnetorotational instability) and magnetic buoyancy (Parker instability). It is shown that the flow shear alone is likely insufficient to destabilize the plasma, but the magnetic buoyancy instability could occur. For a high Mach number (M S ), high Alfven Mach number (M A ) system with M S M A > or approx. πR/a (R/a is the aspect ratio), the Parker instability is unstable for long axial wavelength modes. Implications for the centrifugal confinement approach to magnetic fusion are also discussed

  17. Whistleron gas in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Martino, Salvatore; Falanga, Mariarosaria; Tzenov, Stephan I.

    2005-01-01

    The nonlinear dynamics of whistler waves in magnetized plasmas is studied. Since the plasmas and beam-plasma systems considered here are assumed to be weakly collisional, the point of reference for the analysis performed in the present paper is the system of hydrodynamic and field equations. The renormalization group method is applied to obtain dynamical equations for the slowly varying amplitudes of whistler waves. Further, it has been shown that the amplitudes of eigenmodes satisfy an infinite system of coupled nonlinear Schroedinger equations. In this sense, the whistler eigenmodes form a sort of a gas of interacting quasiparticles, while the slowly varying amplitudes can be considered as dynamical variables heralding the relevant information about the system. An important feature of the approach is that whistler waves do not perturb the initial uniform density of plasma electrons. The plasma response to the induced whistler waves consists in velocity redistribution which follows exactly the behavior of the whistlers. In addition, selection rules governing the nonlinear mode coupling have been derived, which represent another interesting peculiarity of the description presented here

  18. Modified Debye screening potential in a magnetized quantum plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.; Hussain, A.; Sara, I.; Murtaza, G.; Shah, H.A.

    2009-01-01

    The effects of quantum mechanical influence and uniform static magnetic field on the Shukla-Nambu-Salimullah potential in an ultracold homogeneous electron-ion Fermi plasma have been examined in detail. It is noticed that the strong quantum effect arising through the Bohm potential and the ion polarization effect can give rise to a new oscillatory behavior of the screening potential beyond the shielding cloud which could explain a new type of possible robust ordered structure formation in the quantum magnetoplasma. However, the magnetic field enhances the Debye length perpendicular to the magnetic field in the weak quantum limit of the quantum plasma.

  19. Global low-frequency modes in weakly ionized magnetized plasmas: effects of equilibrium plasma rotation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sosenko, P.; Pierre, Th.; Zagorodny, A.

    2004-01-01

    The linear and non-linear properties of global low-frequency oscillations in cylindrical weakly ionized magnetized plasmas are investigated analytically for the conditions of equilibrium plasma rotation. The theoretical results are compared with the experimental observations of rotating plasmas in laboratory devices, such as Mistral and Mirabelle in France, and KIWI in Germany. (authors)

  20. ICTP-IAEA Workshop on Dense Magnetized Plasma and Plasma Diagnostics: an executive summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gribkov, V. A.; Mank, G.; Markowicz, A.; Miklaszewski, R.; Tuniz, C.; Crespo, M. L.

    2011-12-01

    The Workshop on Dense Magnetized Plasma and Plasma Diagnostics was held from 15 to 26 November 2010 at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. It was attended by 60 participants, including 15 lecturers, 2 tutors and 37 trainees, representing 25 countries.

  1. Mini-magnetosphere plasma experiment for space radiation protection in manned spaceflight

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia Xianghong; Xu Feng; Jia Shaoxia; Wan Jun; Wang Shouguo

    2012-01-01

    With the development of Chinese manned spaceflight, the planetary missions will become true in the future. The protection of astronauts from cosmic radiation is an unavoidable problem that should be considered. There are many revolutionary ideas for shielding including Electrostatic Fields, Confined Magnetic Field, Unconfined Magnetic Field and Plasma Shielding etc. The concept using cold plasma to expand a magnetic field was recommended for further assessment. Magnetic field inflation was produced by the injection of plasma onto the magnetic field. The method can be used to deflect charged ions and to reduce space radiation dose. It can supply the suitable radiation protection for astronauts and spacecraft. Principle experiments demonstrated that the magnetic field was inflated by the injection of the plasma in the vacuum chamber and the magnetic field intensity strengthened with the increasing of input RF power in this paper. The mechanism should be studied in following steps. (authors)

  2. Momentum transfer to rotating magnetized plasma from gun plasma injection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shamim, Imran; Hassam, A. B.; Ellis, R. F.; Witherspoon, F. D.; Phillips, M. W.

    2006-01-01

    Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the penetration and momentum coupling of a gun-injected plasma slug into a rotating magnetized plasma. An experiment along these lines is envisioned for the Maryland Centrifugal Experiment (MCX) [R. F. Ellis et al., Phys. Plasmas 8, 2057 (2001)] using a coaxial plasma accelerator gun developed by HyperV Technologies Corp. [F. D. Witherspoon et al., Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 50, LP1 87 (2005)]. The plasma gun would be located in the axial midplane and fired off-axis into the rotating MCX plasma annulus. The numerical simulation is set up so that the initial momentum in the injected plasma slug is of the order of the initial momentum of the target plasma. Several numerical firings are done into the cylindrical rotating plasma. Axial symmetry is assumed. The slug is seen to penetrate readily and deform into a mushroom, characteristic of interchange deformations. It is found that up to 25% of the momentum in the slug can be transferred to the background plasma in one pass across a cylindrical chord. For the same initial momentum, a high-speed low density slug gives more momentum transfer than a low-speed high density slug. Details of the numerical simulations and a scaling study are presented

  3. Electron vortex magnetic holes: A nonlinear coherent plasma structure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haynes, Christopher T., E-mail: c.t.haynes@qmul.ac.uk; Burgess, David; Sundberg, Torbjorn [School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom); Camporeale, Enrico [Multiscale Dynamics, Centrum Wiskunde and Informatica (CWI), Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2015-01-15

    We report the properties of a novel type of sub-proton scale magnetic hole found in two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of decaying turbulence with a guide field. The simulations were performed with a realistic value for ion to electron mass ratio. These structures, electron vortex magnetic holes (EVMHs), have circular cross-section. The magnetic field depression is associated with a diamagnetic azimuthal current provided by a population of trapped electrons in petal-like orbits. The trapped electron population provides a mean azimuthal velocity and since trapping preferentially selects high pitch angles, a perpendicular temperature anisotropy. The structures arise out of initial perturbations in the course of the turbulent evolution of the plasma, and are stable over at least 100 electron gyroperiods. We have verified the model for the EVMH by carrying out test particle and PIC simulations of isolated structures in a uniform plasma. It is found that (quasi-)stable structures can be formed provided that there is some initial perpendicular temperature anisotropy at the structure location. The properties of these structures (scale size, trapped population, etc.) are able to explain the observed properties of magnetic holes in the terrestrial plasma sheet. EVMHs may also contribute to turbulence properties, such as intermittency, at short scale lengths in other astrophysical plasmas.

  4. Production of free radical by magnetized sheet plasma with vertical gas-flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tonegawa, Akira; Takatori, Masahiko; Kawamura, Kazutaka

    1995-01-01

    Free radicals play an important role in plasma processing, environment problem, and space plasma and so on because of their outstanding physical properties. Although much work has been done on the free radicals in the reactive plasma, very little is known about the production mechanism of the free radicals against various plasma parameters. To overcome this problem, we have proposed to do a new system of a magnetized sheet plasma with vertical gas-flow. The sheet plasma is a special type of strongly magnetized highly ionized slab plasma. This system is controlled to the parameters of radicals and plasma independently. Therefore, it is possible to make a quantitative analysis of free radicals as the simple one. In this paper, we describe the magnetized sheet plasma with vertical gas-flow system and report the preliminary results of production of the free radical. In particular, we show to produce and control the OH free radical which has been the most commonly studied combustion species

  5. Transformation of QSPA plasma streams in longitudinal magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Makhlaj, V.A.; Bandura, A.N.; Chebotarev, V.V.; Kulik, N.V.; Wuerz, H.

    2002-01-01

    The main aim of this work is analysis of efficiency of QSPA powerful plasma streams transportation in longitudinal magnetic field in dependence on operational mode of accelerator and plasma stream parameters

  6. Instabilities, turbulence and transport in a magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garbet, X.

    2001-06-01

    The purpose of this work is to introduce the main processes that occur in a magnetized plasma. During the last 2 decades, the understanding of turbulence has made great progress but analytical formulas and simulations are far to produce reliable predictions. The values of transport coefficients in a tokamak plasma exceed by far those predicted by the theory of collisional transport. This phenomenon is called abnormal transport and might be due to plasma fluctuations. An estimation of turbulent fluxes derived from the levels of fluctuations, is proposed. A flow description of plasma allows the understanding of most micro-instabilities. The ballooning representation deals with instabilities in a toric geometry. 3 factors play an important role to stabilize plasmas: density pinch, magnetic shear and speed shear. The flow model of plasma gives an erroneous value for the stability threshold, this is due to a bad description of the resonant interaction between wave and particle. As for dynamics, flow models can be improved by adding dissipative terms so that the linear response nears the kinetic response. The kinetic approach is more accurate but is complex because of the great number of dimensions involved. (A.C.)

  7. Behavior of moving plasma in solenoidal magnetic field in a laser ion source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikeda, S.; Takahashi, K.; Okamura, M.; Horioka, K.

    2016-01-01

    In a laser ion source, a solenoidal magnetic field is useful to guide the plasma and to control the extracted beam current. However, the behavior of the plasma drifting in the magnetic field has not been well understood. Therefore, to investigate the behavior, we measured the plasma ion current and the total charge within a single pulse in the solenoid by changing the distance from the entrance of the solenoid to a detector. We observed that the decrease of the total charge along the distance became smaller as the magnetic field became larger and then the charge became almost constant with a certain magnetic flux density. The results indicate that the transverse spreading speed of the plasma decreased with increasing the field and the plasma was confined transversely with the magnetic flux density. We found that the reason of the confinement was not magnetization of ions but an influence induced by electrons

  8. Behavior of moving plasma in solenoidal magnetic field in a laser ion source

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikeda, S., E-mail: ikeda.s.ae@m.titech.ac.jp [Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8502 (Japan); Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0108 (Japan); Takahashi, K. [Department of Electrical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata 940-2137 (Japan); Okamura, M. [Collider-Accelerator Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000 (United States); Horioka, K. [Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8502 (Japan)

    2016-02-15

    In a laser ion source, a solenoidal magnetic field is useful to guide the plasma and to control the extracted beam current. However, the behavior of the plasma drifting in the magnetic field has not been well understood. Therefore, to investigate the behavior, we measured the plasma ion current and the total charge within a single pulse in the solenoid by changing the distance from the entrance of the solenoid to a detector. We observed that the decrease of the total charge along the distance became smaller as the magnetic field became larger and then the charge became almost constant with a certain magnetic flux density. The results indicate that the transverse spreading speed of the plasma decreased with increasing the field and the plasma was confined transversely with the magnetic flux density. We found that the reason of the confinement was not magnetization of ions but an influence induced by electrons.

  9. Behavior of moving plasma in solenoidal magnetic field in a laser ion source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikeda, S.; Takahashi, K.; Okamura, M.; Horioka, K.

    2016-02-01

    In a laser ion source, a solenoidal magnetic field is useful to guide the plasma and to control the extracted beam current. However, the behavior of the plasma drifting in the magnetic field has not been well understood. Therefore, to investigate the behavior, we measured the plasma ion current and the total charge within a single pulse in the solenoid by changing the distance from the entrance of the solenoid to a detector. We observed that the decrease of the total charge along the distance became smaller as the magnetic field became larger and then the charge became almost constant with a certain magnetic flux density. The results indicate that the transverse spreading speed of the plasma decreased with increasing the field and the plasma was confined transversely with the magnetic flux density. We found that the reason of the confinement was not magnetization of ions but an influence induced by electrons.

  10. Plasma transport through magnetic boundaries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Treumann, R.A.

    1992-01-01

    We examine the overall plasma diffusion processes across tangential discontinuities of which the best known example is the Earth's magnetopause during northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. The existence of the low latitude boundary layer (LLBL) adjacent to the magnetopause during those periods is ample evidence for the presence of so far poorly defined and understood entry processes acting at the magnetopause. We conclude that microscopic instabilities are probably not efficient enough to account for the LLBL. They affect only a small number of resonant particles. It is argued that macroscopic nonresonant turbulence is the most probable mechanism for plasma transport

  11. ICTP-IAEA Workshop on Dense Magnetized Plasma and Plasma Diagnostics: an executive summary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gribkov, V.A.; Mank, G.; Markowicz, A.; Miklaszewski, R.; Tuniz, C.; Crespo, M.L.

    2011-01-01

    The Workshop on Dense Magnetized Plasma and Plasma Diagnostics was held from 15 to 26 November 2010 at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. It was attended by 60 participants, including 15 lecturers, 2 tutors and 37 trainees, representing 25 countries. (conference report)

  12. Three-wave scattering in magnetized plasmas: From cold fluid to quantized Lagrangian.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Yuan; Qin, Hong; Fisch, Nathaniel J

    2017-08-01

    Large amplitude waves in magnetized plasmas, generated either by external pumps or internal instabilities, can scatter via three-wave interactions. While three-wave scattering is well known in collimated geometry, what happens when waves propagate at angles with one another in magnetized plasmas remains largely unknown, mainly due to the analytical difficulty of this problem. In this paper, we overcome this analytical difficulty and find a convenient formula for three-wave coupling coefficient in cold, uniform, magnetized, and collisionless plasmas in the most general geometry. This is achieved by systematically solving the fluid-Maxwell model to second order using a multiscale perturbative expansion. The general formula for the coupling coefficient becomes transparent when we reformulate it as the scattering matrix element of a quantized Lagrangian. Using the quantized Lagrangian, it is possible to bypass the perturbative solution and directly obtain the nonlinear coupling coefficient from the linear response of the plasma. To illustrate how to evaluate the cold coupling coefficient, we give a set of examples where the participating waves are either quasitransverse or quasilongitudinal. In these examples, we determine the angular dependence of three-wave scattering, and demonstrate that backscattering is not necessarily the strongest scattering channel in magnetized plasmas, in contrast to what happens in unmagnetized plasmas. Our approach gives a more complete picture, beyond the simple collimated geometry, of how injected waves can decay in magnetic confinement devices, as well as how lasers can be scattered in magnetized plasma targets.

  13. Dynamo Effects in Magnetized Ideal Plasma Cosmologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleidis, Kostas; Kuiroukidis, Apostolos; Papadopoulos, Demetrios; Vlahos, Loukas

    The excitation of cosmological perturbations in an anisotropic cosmological model and in the presence of a homogeneous magnetic field has been studied, using the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. In this case, the system of partial differential equations which governs the evolution of the magnetized cosmological perturbations can be solved analytically. Our results verify that fast-magnetosonic modes propagating normal to the magnetic field, are excited. But, what is most important, is that, at late times, the magnetic-induction contrast (δB/B) grows, resulting in the enhancement of the ambient magnetic field. This process can be particularly favored by condensations, formed within the plasma fluid due to gravitational instabilities.

  14. Modification and damping of Alfven waves in a magnetized dusty plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.; Dasgupta, B.; Watanabe, K.; Sato, T.

    1994-10-01

    The dispersion characteristics of the circularly polarized electromagnetic waves along a homogeneous magnetic field in a dusty plasma have been investigated theoretically. The Vlasov equation has been employed to find the response of the magnetized plasma particles where the dust grains form a static background of highly charged and massive centers having certain correlation. It is found that in addition to the usual Landau damping which is negligible in the low temperature approximation, a novel mechanism of damping of the Alfven waves due to the dust comes into play. The modification and damping of the Alfven waves depend on the dust perturbation parameters, unequal densities of plasma particles, the average correlation length of the dust grains, temperature of the plasma and the magnetic field. (author)

  15. Nonlinear electrostatic excitations in magnetized dense plasmas with nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic degenerate electrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahmood, S.; Sadiq, Safeer; Haque, Q.

    2013-01-01

    Linear and nonlinear electrostatic waves in magnetized dense electron-ion plasmas are studied with nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic degenerate and singly, doubly charged helium (He + , He ++ ) and hydrogen (H + ) ions, respectively. The dispersion relation of electrostatic waves in magnetized dense plasmas is obtained under both the energy limits of degenerate electrons. Using reductive perturbation method, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation for nonlinear propagation of electrostatic solitons in magnetized dense plasmas is derived for both nonrelativistic and ultra-relativistic degenerate electrons. It is found that variations in plasma density, magnetic field intensity, different mass, and charge number of ions play significant role in the formation of electrostatic solitons in magnetized dense plasmas. The numerical plots are also presented for illustration using the parameters of dense astrophysical plasma situations such as white dwarfs and neutron stars exist in the literature. The present investigation is important for understanding the electrostatic waves propagation in the outer periphery of compact stars which mostly consists of hydrogen and helium ions with degenerate electrons in dense magnetized plasmas

  16. Effect of solenoidal magnetic field on drifting laser plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Kazumasa; Okamura, Masahiro; Sekine, Megumi; Cushing, Eric; Jandovitz, Peter

    2013-04-01

    An ion source for accelerators requires to provide a stable waveform with a certain pulse length appropriate to the application. The pulse length of laser ion source is easy to control because it is expected to be proportional to plasma drifting distance. However, current density decay is proportional to the cube of the drifting distance, so large current loss will occur under unconfined drift. We investigated the stability and current decay of a Nd:YAG laser generated copper plasma confined by a solenoidal field using a Faraday cup to measure the current waveform. It was found that the plasma was unstable at certain magnetic field strengths, so a baffle was introduced to limit the plasma diameter at injection and improve the stability. Magnetic field, solenoid length, and plasma diameter were varied in order to find the conditions that minimize current decay and maximize stability.

  17. Effect of solenoidal magnetic field on drifting laser plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, Kazumasa; Sekine, Megumi; Okamura, Masahiro; Cushing, Eric; Jandovitz, Peter

    2013-01-01

    An ion source for accelerators requires to provide a stable waveform with a certain pulse length appropriate to the application. The pulse length of laser ion source is easy to control because it is expected to be proportional to plasma drifting distance. However, current density decay is proportional to the cube of the drifting distance, so large current loss will occur under unconfined drift. We investigated the stability and current decay of a Nd:YAG laser generated copper plasma confined by a solenoidal field using a Faraday cup to measure the current waveform. It was found that the plasma was unstable at certain magnetic field strengths, so a baffle was introduced to limit the plasma diameter at injection and improve the stability. Magnetic field, solenoid length, and plasma diameter were varied in order to find the conditions that minimize current decay and maximize stability.

  18. Effect of solenoidal magnetic field on drifting laser plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, Kazumasa; Sekine, Megumi [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama 226-8502 (Japan); Okamura, Masahiro [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 (United States) and RIKEN, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198 (United States); Cushing, Eric [Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Jandovitz, Peter [Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)

    2013-04-19

    An ion source for accelerators requires to provide a stable waveform with a certain pulse length appropriate to the application. The pulse length of laser ion source is easy to control because it is expected to be proportional to plasma drifting distance. However, current density decay is proportional to the cube of the drifting distance, so large current loss will occur under unconfined drift. We investigated the stability and current decay of a Nd:YAG laser generated copper plasma confined by a solenoidal field using a Faraday cup to measure the current waveform. It was found that the plasma was unstable at certain magnetic field strengths, so a baffle was introduced to limit the plasma diameter at injection and improve the stability. Magnetic field, solenoid length, and plasma diameter were varied in order to find the conditions that minimize current decay and maximize stability.

  19. Rotation of dust plasma crystals in an axial magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheung, F.; Prior, N.; Mitchell, L.

    2000-01-01

    Full text: Micron-sized melamine formaldehyde particles were introduced into argon plasma. As a result, the particles were negatively charged due to collision with the electrons within the plasma. With the right conditions, these particles formed a stable macroscopic crystal lattice, known as dust plasma crystal. In our experiment we conduct at Flinders University, we apply an external axial magnetic field to various configurations of dust plasma crystal. These configurations include small crystal lattices consisting of one to several particles, and large crystal lattices with many hundreds of particles. The magnetic field strength ranged from 0-32G and was uniform over the extent of the crystal. The crystals were observed to be rotating collectively in the left-handed direction under the influence of the axial magnetic field. In the case of the large crystals, the angular velocity was about 2 complete rotations per minute and was proportional to the applied magnetic field. The angular velocity changes only slightly depending on the plasma conditions. Neither radial variance in the angular velocity nor shear velocity in the vertical direction was observed in the crystal's rotational motion. In the case of the small crystals, we managed to rotate 2-6 particles (whether they are planar, 2 layers or tetrahedral). We discovered that the ease and the uniformity of the rotation of the different crystals increase as its rotational symmetry increases. Also an increase in the magnetic field strength will correspond to an increase in the angular velocity. Crystals in the shape of an annulus were also tested for theoretical reasons. The poster presentation will contain the experimental procedures, a detailed analysis and an explanation for such dust plasma crystal rotational motion

  20. Linear and nonlinear electrostatic modes in a nonuniform magnetized electron plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vranjes, J.; Shukla, P.K.; Kono, M.; Poedts, S.

    2001-01-01

    Linear and nonlinear low-frequency modes in a magnetized electron plasma are studied, taking into account a proper description of the equilibrium plasma state that is inhomogeneous. Assuming a homogeneous magnetic field and sheared plasma flows, flute-like perturbations are studied in the presence of density and potential gradients. Linear analysis reveals the presence of a streaming instability and depicts conditions for global linear spiral mode. In the nonlinear domain, a tripolar vortex, which is driven and carried by the flow, is found. Also investigated are the consequences of a magnetic shear as well as nonuniformities along the magnetic field lines, which are shown to be responsible for the possible annulment of the magnetic shear effects. Streaming along the lines of the sheared magnetic field is also studied. A variety of nonlinear structures (viz. global multipolar vortices, local vortex chains, and tripolar vortices) is shown to be the consequence of the simultaneous action of the parallel and perpendicular flows

  1. Optoelectronic properties of expanding thermal plasma deposited textured zinc oxide : effect of aluminum doping

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groenen, R.; Kieft, E.R.; Linden, J.L.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.

    2006-01-01

    Aluminum-doped zinc oxide films exhibiting a rough surface morphol. are deposited on glass substrates utilizing expanding thermal plasma. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to evaluate optical and electronic film properties. The presence of aluminum donors in doped films is confirmed by a shift in

  2. Generation of zonal flows in rotating fluids and magnetized plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Juul Rasmussen, J.; Garcia, O.E.; Naulin, V.

    2006-01-01

    The spontaneous generation of large-scale flows by the rectification of small-scale turbulent fluctuations is of great importance both in geophysical flows and in magnetically confined plasmas. These flows regulate the turbulence and may set up effective transport barriers. In the present....... The analogy to large-scale flow generation in drift-wave turbulence dynamics in magnetized plasma is briefly discussed....

  3. Pressure and compressibility of a quantum plasma in a magnetic field

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Suttorp, L.G.

    1993-01-01

    The equilibrium pressure tensor that occurs in the momentum balance equation for a quantum plasma in a magnetic field is shown to be anisotropic. Its relation to the pressure that follows from thermodynamics is elucidated. A general proof of the compressibility rule for a magnetized quantum plasma

  4. Endogenous magnetic reconnection and associated high energy plasma processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coppi, B.; Basu, B.

    2018-02-01

    An endogenous reconnection process involves a driving factor that lays inside the layer where a drastic change of magnetic field topology occurs. A process of this kind is shown to take place when an electron temperature gradient is present in a magnetically confined plasma and the evolving electron temperature fluctuations are anisotropic. The width of the reconnecting layer remains significant even when large macroscopic distances are considered. In view of the fact that there are plasmas in the Universe with considerable electron thermal energy contents this feature can be relied upon in order to produce generation or conversion of magnetic energy, high energy particle populations and momentum and angular momentum transport.

  5. High magnetic field generation for laser-plasma experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pollock, B. B.; Froula, D. H.; Davis, P. F.; Ross, J. S.; Fulkerson, S.; Bower, J.; Satariano, J.; Price, D.; Krushelnick, K.; Glenzer, S. H.

    2006-01-01

    An electromagnetic solenoid was developed to study the effect of magnetic fields on electron thermal transport in laser plasmas. The solenoid, which is driven by a pulsed power system supplying 30 kJ, achieves magnetic fields of 13 T. The field strength was measured on the solenoid axis with a magnetic probe and optical Zeeman splitting. The measurements agree well with analytical estimates. A method for optimizing the solenoid design to achieve magnetic fields exceeding 20 T is presented

  6. Magnetic Field Effects and Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Highly Collisional Plasmas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozeman, Steven Paul

    The homogeneity and size of radio frequency (RF) and microwave driven plasmas are often limited by insufficient penetration of the electromagnetic radiation. To investigate increasing the skin depth of the radiation, we consider the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a weakly ionized plasma immersed in a steady magnetic field where the dominant collision processes are electron-neutral and ion-neutral collisions. Retaining both the electron and ion dynamics, we have adapted the theory for cold collisionless plasmas to include the effects of these collisions and obtained the dispersion relation at arbitrary frequency omega for plane waves propagating at arbitrary angles with respect to the magnetic field. We discuss in particular the cases of magnetic field enhanced wave penetration for parallel and perpendicular propagation, examining the experimental parameters which lead to electromagnetic wave propagation beyond the collisional skin depth. Our theory predicts that the most favorable scaling of skin depth with magnetic field occurs for waves propagating nearly parallel to B and for omega << Omega_{rm e} where Omega_{rm e} is the electron cyclotron frequency. The scaling is less favorable for propagation perpendicular to B, but the skin depth does increase for this case as well. Still, to achieve optimal wave penetration, we find that one must design the plasma configuration and antenna geometry so that one generates primarily the appropriate angles of propagation. We have measured plasma wave amplitudes and phases using an RF magnetic probe and densities using Stark line broadening. These measurements were performed in inductively coupled plasmas (ICP's) driven with a standard helical coil, a reverse turn (Stix) coil, and a flat spiral coil. Density measurements were also made in a microwave generated plasma. The RF magnetic probe measurements of wave propagation in a conventional ICP with wave propagation approximately perpendicular to B show an increase in

  7. First experiments probing the collision of parallel magnetic fields using laser-produced plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rosenberg, M. J., E-mail: mros@lle.rochester.edu; Li, C. K.; Séguin, F. H.; Frenje, J. A.; Petrasso, R. D. [Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Fox, W. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Igumenshchev, I.; Stoeckl, C.; Glebov, V. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Town, R. P. J. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

    2015-04-15

    Novel experiments to study the strongly-driven collision of parallel magnetic fields in β ∼ 10, laser-produced plasmas have been conducted using monoenergetic proton radiography. These experiments were designed to probe the process of magnetic flux pileup, which has been identified in prior laser-plasma experiments as a key physical mechanism in the reconnection of anti-parallel magnetic fields when the reconnection inflow is dominated by strong plasma flows. In the present experiments using colliding plasmas carrying parallel magnetic fields, the magnetic flux is found to be conserved and slightly compressed in the collision region. Two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell simulations predict a stronger flux compression and amplification of the magnetic field strength, and this discrepancy is attributed to the three-dimensional (3D) collision geometry. Future experiments may drive a stronger collision and further explore flux pileup in the context of the strongly-driven interaction of magnetic fields.

  8. Classical impurity ion confinement in a toroidal magnetized fusion plasma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, S T A; Den Hartog, D J; Caspary, K J; Magee, R M; Mirnov, V V; Chapman, B E; Craig, D; Fiksel, G; Sarff, J S

    2012-03-23

    High-resolution measurements of impurity ion dynamics provide first-time evidence of classical ion confinement in a toroidal, magnetically confined plasma. The density profile evolution of fully stripped carbon is measured in MST reversed-field pinch plasmas with reduced magnetic turbulence to assess Coulomb-collisional transport without the neoclassical enhancement from particle drift effects. The impurity density profile evolves to a hollow shape, consistent with the temperature screening mechanism of classical transport. Corroborating methane pellet injection experiments expose the sensitivity of the impurity particle confinement time to the residual magnetic fluctuation amplitude.

  9. The vacuum-arc plasma motion in a toroidal magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Timoshenko, A.I.; Gnybida, M.V.; Taran, V.S.; Tereshin, V.I.; Chechelnitskij, O.G.

    2005-01-01

    The separation of the vacuum-arc plasma from macro-particles in the curvilinear plasma filters allows obtaining coatings with especially high characteristics. However, inside such filters the significant plasma losses also have been occurred. At the same time, increasing in the filter's efficiency is a difficult task without an effective mathematical model that really would describe the vacuum-arc plasma motion in a toroidal magnetic field. The description based on the flax-tube model was in fact only the first approximation in the decision of this problem. According to detailed flax-tube analysis of ions passage through the quarter torus plasma guide, the efficiency of the filter should grow up to 85% as the positive potential U, applied to the body of the plasma guide, is on the increase. However, the experiment showed that maximum of transparency reach up to ∼ 12%, at potential about of +18 Volts, and comes down under the further increase in potential. Such big digression from experiment does not justify the use of flux-tube model for designing of curvilinear plasma filters. We offer the new approach to the description of the vacuum-arc plasma motion in a toroidal magnetic field based on the solutions of steady-state (∂/∂t=0) Vlasov-Maxwell equations for the long plasma column aligned parallel to a constant axial magnetic field. The relations for the self-consistent electric polarization fields, which appear due to displacement of the electron component from ionic one on the curvilinear part of motion, were derived within a framework of the drift approximation. The dynamics of the central part of the plasma flow in the electric polarization fields was considered in detail. The displacement of the plasma flow at the output of the plasma guide was calculated for the carbon and titanium plasmas. The good agreement with the experimental data was obtained. (author)

  10. Transparency of Magnetized Plasma at Cyclotron Frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    G. Shvets; J.S. Wurtele

    2002-03-01

    Electromagnetic radiation is strongly absorbed by a magnetized plasma if the radiation frequency equals the cyclotron frequency of plasma electrons. It is demonstrated that absorption can be completely canceled in the presence of a magnetostatic field of an undulator or a second radiation beam, resulting in plasma transparency at the cyclotron frequency. This effect is reminiscent of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of the three-level atomic systems, except that it occurs in a completely classical plasma. Unlike the atomic systems, where all the excited levels required for EIT exist in each atom, this classical EIT requires the excitation of the nonlocal plasma oscillation. The complexity of the plasma system results in an index of refraction at the cyclotron frequency that differs from unity. Lagrangian description was used to elucidate the physics and enable numerical simulation of the plasma transparency and control of group and phase velocity. This control naturally leads to applications for electromagnetic pulse compression in the plasma and electron/ion acceleration

  11. A Revised Piecewise Linear Recursive Convolution FDTD Method for Magnetized Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Song; Zhong Shuangying; Liu Shaobin

    2005-01-01

    The piecewise linear recursive convolution (PLRC) finite-different time-domain (FDTD) method improves accuracy over the original recursive convolution (RC) FDTD approach and current density convolution (JEC) but retains their advantages in speed and efficiency. This paper describes a revised piecewise linear recursive convolution PLRC-FDTD formulation for magnetized plasma which incorporates both anisotropy and frequency dispersion at the same time, enabling the transient analysis of magnetized plasma media. The technique is illustrated by numerical simulations of the reflection and transmission coefficients through a magnetized plasma layer. The results show that the revised PLRC-FDTD method has improved the accuracy over the original RC FDTD method and JEC FDTD method

  12. Plasma diffusion in systems with disrupted magnetic surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morozov, D.K.; Pogutse, O.P.

    1982-01-01

    Plasma diffusion is analyzed in the case in which the system of magnetic surfaces is disrupted by a stochastic perturbation of the magnetic field. The diffusion coefficient is related to the statistical properties of the field. The statistical characteristics of the field are found when the magnetic surfaces near the separatrix are disrupted by an external perturbation. The diffusion coefficient is evaluated in the region in which the magnetic surfaces are disrupted. In this region the diffusion coefficient is of the Bohm form

  13. Low-dimensional model of resistive interchange convection in magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bazdenkov, S.; Sato, Tetsuya

    1997-09-01

    Self-organization and generation of large shear flow component in turbulent resistive interchange convection in magnetized plasma is considered. The effect of plasma density-electrostatic potential coupling via the inertialess electron dynamics along the magnetic field is shown to play significant role in the onset of shear component. The results of large-scale numerical simulation and low-dimensional (reduced) model are presented and compared. (author)

  14. Thermal fluctuations and critical behavior in a magnetized, anisotropic plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hazeltine, R. D.; Mahajan, S. M.

    2013-01-01

    Thermal fluctuations in a magnetized, anisotropic plasma are studied by applying standard methods, based on the Einstein rule, to the known thermodynamic potential of the system. It is found in particular that magnetic fluctuations become critical when the anisotropy p ∥ −p ⊥ changes sign. By examining the critical region, additional insight on the equations of state for near-critical anisotropic plasma is obtained

  15. Magnetic and electrostatic confinement of plasma with tuning of electrostatic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rostoker, Norman [Irvine, CA; Binderbauer, Michl [Irvine, CA; Qerushi, Artan [Irvine, CA; Tahsiri, Hooshang [Irvine, CA

    2008-10-21

    A system and method for containing plasma and forming a Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) magnetic topology are described in which plasma ions are contained magnetically in stable, non-adiabatic orbits in the FRC. Further, the electrons are contained electrostatically in a deep energy well, created by tuning an externally applied magnetic field. The simultaneous electrostatic confinement of electrons and magnetic confinement of ions avoids anomalous transport and facilitates classical containment of both electrons and ions. In this configuration, ions and electrons may have adequate density and temperature so that upon collisions they are fused together by nuclear force, thus releasing fusion energy. Moreover, the fusion fuel plasmas that can be used with the present confinement system and method are not limited to neutronic fuels only, but also advantageously include advanced fuels.

  16. Plasma injection from the independent SHF-source in the open configuration 2. Magnetic fields of magnetic mirror configurations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beriya, Z.R.; Gogashvili, G.E.; Nanobashvili, S.I.

    1992-01-01

    The investigation was aimed at studying the characteristics and properties of plasma injected from independent stationary SHF source into an open magnetic trap of mirror geometry within a wide range of change in the experimental conditions. The investigations were primarily based on measurements of the distribution of charged particles in a plasma along the trap and on the dependence of the concentration on plasma production conditions in a SHF source. It is shown that the aggregate of the experimental data enables a conclusion that independent of SHF plasma can be succesfully used for filling on open magnetic trap of mirror configuration with plasma

  17. Dynamic identification of plasma magnetic contour in fusion machines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bettini, P.; Trevisan, F.; Cavinato, M.

    2005-01-01

    The paper presents a method to identify the plasma magnetic contour in fusion machines, when eddy currents are present in the conducting structures surrounding the plasma. The approach presented is based on the integration of an electromagnetic model of the plasma with a lumped parameters model of the conducting structures around the plasma. This approach has been validated against experimental data from RFX, a reversed field pinch machine. (author)

  18. On the Magnetic Shield for a Vlasov-Poisson Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caprino, Silvia; Cavallaro, Guido; Marchioro, Carlo

    2017-12-01

    We study the screening of a bounded body Γ against the effect of a wind of charged particles, by means of a shield produced by a magnetic field which becomes infinite on the border of Γ . The charged wind is modeled by a Vlasov-Poisson plasma, the bounded body by a torus, and the external magnetic field is taken close to the border of Γ . We study two models: a plasma composed by different species with positive or negative charges, and finite total mass of each species, and another made of many species of the same sign, each having infinite mass. We investigate the time evolution of both systems, showing in particular that the plasma particles cannot reach the body. Finally we discuss possible extensions to more general initial data. We show also that when the magnetic lines are straight lines, (that imposes an unbounded body), the previous results can be improved.

  19. High throughput deposition of hydrogenated amorphous carbon coatings on rubber with expanding thermal plasma

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pei, Y.T.; Eivani, A.R.; Zaharia, T.; Kazantis, A.V.; Sanden, van de M.C.M.; De Hosson, J.T.M.

    2014-01-01

    Flexible hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin film coated on rubbers has shown outstanding protection of rubber seals from friction and wear. This work concentrates on the potential advances of expanding thermal plasma (ETP) process for a high throughput deposition of a-C:H thin films in

  20. Experimental investigation of plasma sheaths in magnetic mirror and cusp configurations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Zhengqi; Wei, Zi-an; Ma, J. X.

    2017-11-01

    Sheath structures near a metal plate in a magnetized plasma were experimentally investigated in magnetic mirror and cusp configurations. Plasma parameters and the sheath potential distributions were probed by a planar and an emissive probe, respectively. The measured sheath profiles in the mirror configuration show that the sheath thickness first decreases and then increases when the magnetic strength is raised. A magnetic flux-tube model was used to explain this result. In the cusp configuration, the measured sheath thickness decreases with the increase of the coil current creating the magnetic cusp. However, when normalized by the electron Debye length, the dependence of the sheath thickness on the coil current is reversed.

  1. Pattern formation and filamentation in low temperature, magnetized plasmas - a numerical approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menati, Mohamad; Konopka, Uwe; Thomas, Edward

    2017-10-01

    In low-temperature discharges under the influence of high magnetic field, pattern and filament formation in the plasma has been reported by different groups. The phenomena present themselves as bright plasma columns (filaments) oriented parallel to the magnetic field lines at high magnetic field regime. The plasma structure can filament into different shapes from single columns to spiral and bright rings when viewed from the top. In spite of the extensive experimental observations, the observed effects lack a detailed theoretical and numerical description. In an attempt to numerically explain the plasma filamentation, we present a simplified model for the plasma discharge and power deposition into the plasma. Based on the model, 2-D and 3-D codes are being developed that solve Poisson's equation along with the fluid equations to obtain a self-consistent description of the plasma. The model and preliminary results applied to the specific plasma conditions will be presented. This work was supported by the US Dept. of Energy and NSF, DE-SC0016330, PHY-1613087.

  2. Direct-current cathodic vacuum arc system with magnetic-field mechanism for plasma stabilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, H-S; Komvopoulos, K

    2008-07-01

    Filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) deposition is characterized by plasma beam directionality, plasma energy adjustment via substrate biasing, macroparticle filtering, and independent substrate temperature control. Between the two modes of FCVA deposition, namely, direct current (dc) and pulsed arc, the dc mode yields higher deposition rates than the pulsed mode. However, maintaining the dc arc discharge is challenging because of its inherent plasma instabilities. A system generating a special configuration of magnetic field that stabilizes the dc arc discharge during film deposition is presented. This magnetic field is also part of the out-of-plane magnetic filter used to focus the plasma beam and prevent macroparticle film contamination. The efficiency of the plasma-stabilizing magnetic-field mechanism is demonstrated by the deposition of amorphous carbon (a-C) films exhibiting significantly high hardness and tetrahedral carbon hybridization (sp3) contents higher than 70%. Such high-quality films cannot be produced by dc arc deposition without the plasma-stabilizing mechanism presented in this study.

  3. Direct-current cathodic vacuum arc system with magnetic-field mechanism for plasma stabilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, H.-S.; Komvopoulos, K.

    2008-01-01

    Filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) deposition is characterized by plasma beam directionality, plasma energy adjustment via substrate biasing, macroparticle filtering, and independent substrate temperature control. Between the two modes of FCVA deposition, namely, direct current (dc) and pulsed arc, the dc mode yields higher deposition rates than the pulsed mode. However, maintaining the dc arc discharge is challenging because of its inherent plasma instabilities. A system generating a special configuration of magnetic field that stabilizes the dc arc discharge during film deposition is presented. This magnetic field is also part of the out-of-plane magnetic filter used to focus the plasma beam and prevent macroparticle film contamination. The efficiency of the plasma-stabilizing magnetic-field mechanism is demonstrated by the deposition of amorphous carbon (a-C) films exhibiting significantly high hardness and tetrahedral carbon hybridization (sp 3 ) contents higher than 70%. Such high-quality films cannot be produced by dc arc deposition without the plasma-stabilizing mechanism presented in this study

  4. Novel Technique for Direct Measurement of the Plasma Diffusion Coefficient in Magnetized Plasma

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Brotánková, Jana; Martines, E.; Adámek, Jiří; Stöckel, Jan; Popa, G.; Costin, C.; Ionita, G.; Schrittwieser, R.; Van Oost, G.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 48, 5-7 (2008), s. 418-423 ISSN 0863-1042. [International Workshop on Electrical Probes in Magnetized Plasmas/7th./. Praha, 22.07.2007-25.07.2007] Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : Tokamak * probe diagnostics * diffusion coefficient Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.250, year: 2008

  5. Ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of unmagnetized dense plasma jet injection into a hot strongly magnetized plasma

    OpenAIRE

    Liu, Wei; Hsu, Scott C.

    2010-01-01

    We present results from three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of unmagnetized dense plasma jet injection into a uniform hot strongly magnetized plasma, with the aim of providing insight into core fueling of a tokamak with parameters relevant for ITER and NSTX (National Spherical Torus Experiment). Unmagnetized dense plasma jet injection is similar to compact toroid injection but with much higher plasma density and total mass, and consequently lower required injection velocit...

  6. Expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition of ZnO:Al layers for CIGS solar cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sharma, K.; Williams, B.L.; Mittal, A.; Knoops, H.C.M.; Kniknie, B.J.; Bakker, N.J.; Kessels, W.M.M.; Schropp, R.E.I.; Creatore, M.

    2014-01-01

    Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) grown by expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition (ETP-CVD) has demonstrated excellent electrical and optical properties, which make it an attractive candidate as a transparent conductive oxide for photovoltaic applications. However, when depositing

  7. Collisionless scattering of plasma cloud in a dipole magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osipyan, D.A.

    2006-01-01

    Results of numerical simulation of dense plasma cloud scattering dynamics in a magnetized background and MHD indignations generation are presented. The magnetic field has dipole structure. The initial system of equations includes the Vlasov equations for ionic components of plasma, hydrodynamic approach for electrons and Maxwell's system of equations. The method of solution is based on the use of the method of particles in cells and finite difference splitting schemes. Quantitative characteristics of dependence of scattering cloud parameters from the Mach-Alfven number and parameter of magnetic laminar interaction are observed. In particular, a condition of more effective deformation of a cloud is large values of the Mach-Alfven numbers and small parameters of the magnetic laminar interaction

  8. Effect of duct bias on transport of vacuum arc plasmas through curved magnetic filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anders, A.; Anders, S.; Brown, I.G.

    1994-01-01

    The plasma output of a 90 degree magnetic macroparticle filter of vacuum arc plasma was monitored by a Langmuir probe as a function of bias of the duct wall and guiding magnetic field. Maximum plasma transport through the filter was found at a positive bias of about 20 V. A relatively small magnetic field of 10--30 mT is sufficient for effective guiding of the plasma, and further increase of the guiding field improves the filter efficiency only gradually. The potential of a floating duct changes from negative to positive when the guiding field is increased. This can be explained by the balance of electron and ion flux transverse to the magnetic field. Saturation in the plasma output at high guiding field (>120 mT) is observed for carbon but not for heavy elements. The transport of plasma through bent ducts is made possible by the magnetic pressure of the guiding field, and by sheath and space-charge electric fields

  9. Explosive X-point collapse in relativistic magnetically dominated plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyutikov, Maxim; Sironi, Lorenzo; Komissarov, Serguei S.; Porth, Oliver

    2017-12-01

    The extreme properties of the gamma-ray flares in the Crab nebula present a clear challenge to our ideas on the nature of particle acceleration in relativistic astrophysical plasma. It seems highly unlikely that standard mechanisms of stochastic type are at work here and hence the attention of theorists has switched to linear acceleration in magnetic reconnection events. In this series of papers, we attempt to develop a theory of explosive magnetic reconnection in highly magnetized relativistic plasma which can explain the extreme parameters of the Crab flares. In the first paper, we focus on the properties of the X-point collapse. Using analytical and numerical methods (fluid and particle-in-cell simulations) we extend Syrovatsky's classical model of such collapse to the relativistic regime. We find that the collapse can lead to the reconnection rate approaching the speed of light on macroscopic scales. During the collapse, the plasma particles are accelerated by charge-starved electric fields, which can reach (and even exceed) values of the local magnetic field. The explosive stage of reconnection produces non-thermal power-law tails with slopes that depend on the average magnetization . For sufficiently high magnetizations and vanishing guide field, the non-thermal particle spectrum consists of two components: a low-energy population with soft spectrum that dominates the number census; and a high-energy population with hard spectrum that possesses all the properties needed to explain the Crab flares.

  10. Electron cooling and finite potential drop in a magnetized plasma expansion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez-Sanchez, M. [Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Navarro-Cavallé, J. [Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Plaza Cardenal Cisneros 3, Madrid 28040 (Spain); Ahedo, E. [Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. Universidad 30, Leganés 28911, Madrid (Spain)

    2015-05-15

    The steady, collisionless, slender flow of a magnetized plasma into a surrounding vacuum is considered. The ion component is modeled as mono-energetic, while electrons are assumed Maxwellian upstream. The magnetic field has a convergent-divergent geometry, and attention is restricted to its paraxial region, so that 2D and drift effects are ignored. By using the conservation of energy and magnetic moment of particles and the quasi-neutrality condition, the ambipolar electric field and the distribution functions of both species are calculated self-consistently, paying attention to the existence of effective potential barriers associated to magnetic mirroring. The solution is used to find the total potential drop for a set of upstream conditions, plus the axial evolution of various moments of interest (density, temperatures, and heat fluxes). The results illuminate the behavior of magnetic nozzles, plasma jets, and other configurations of interest, showing, in particular, in the divergent plasma the collisionless cooling of electrons, and the generation of collisionless electron heat fluxes.

  11. Boundary conditions for plasma fluid models at the magnetic presheath entrance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loizu, J.; Ricci, P.; Halpern, F. D.; Jolliet, S.

    2012-01-01

    The proper boundary conditions at the magnetic presheath entrance for plasma fluid turbulence models based on the drift approximation are derived, focusing on a weakly collisional plasma sheath with T i ≪T e and a magnetic field oblique to a totally absorbing wall. First, the location of the magnetic presheath entrance is rigorously derived. Then boundary conditions at the magnetic presheath entrance are analytically deduced for v ||i , v ||e , n, φ, T e , and for the vorticity ω=∇ ⊥ 2 φ. The effects of E × B and diamagnetic drifts on the boundary conditions are also investigated. Kinetic simulations are performed that confirm the analytical results. Finally, the new set of boundary conditions is implemented in a three-dimensional global fluid code for the simulation of plasma turbulence and, as an example, the results of a tokamak scrape-off layer simulation are discussed. The framework presented can be generalized to obtain boundary conditions at the magnetic presheath entrance in more complex scenarios.

  12. Spectroscopic Investigation of Nitrogen Loaded ECR Plasmas

    CERN Document Server

    Ullmann, F; Zschornack, G; Küchler, D; Ovsyannikov, V P

    1999-01-01

    Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy on ions in the plasma and magnetic q/A-analysis of the extracted ions were used to determine the plasmaproperties of nitrogen loaded ECR plasmas.As the beam expands from a limited plasma region and the ion extraction process alters the plasma properties in the extraction meniscus thebeam composition does not correspond to the bulk plasma composition. The analysis of measured spectra of characteristic X-rays delivers a method to determine the ion charge state distribution and the electron energy distribution inside the plasma and does not alter the plasma anddoes not depend on the extraction and transmission properties of the ion extraction and transport system. Hence this method seems to be moreaccurate than the traditional magnetic analysis and allows to analyse different plasma regions.A comparison between ion charge state distributions determined from X-ray spectra and such from q/A-analysis shows significant differencesfor the mean ion charge states in the source plasm...

  13. Ion heating and magnetic flux pile-up in a magnetic reconnection experiment with super-Alfvénic plasma inflows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suttle, L. G.; Hare, J. D.; Lebedev, S. V.; Ciardi, A.; Loureiro, N. F.; Burdiak, G. C.; Chittenden, J. P.; Clayson, T.; Halliday, J. W. D.; Niasse, N.; Russell, D.; Suzuki-Vidal, F.; Tubman, E.; Lane, T.; Ma, J.; Robinson, T.; Smith, R. A.; Stuart, N.

    2018-04-01

    This work presents a magnetic reconnection experiment in which the kinetic, magnetic, and thermal properties of the plasma each play an important role in the overall energy balance and structure of the generated reconnection layer. Magnetic reconnection occurs during the interaction of continuous and steady flows of super-Alfvénic, magnetized, aluminum plasma, which collide in a geometry with two-dimensional symmetry, producing a stable and long-lasting reconnection layer. Optical Thomson scattering measurements show that when the layer forms, ions inside the layer are more strongly heated than electrons, reaching temperatures of Ti˜Z ¯ Te≳300 eV—much greater than can be expected from strong shock and viscous heating alone. Later in time, as the plasma density in the layer increases, the electron and ion temperatures are found to equilibrate, and a constant plasma temperature is achieved through a balance of the heating mechanisms and radiative losses of the plasma. Measurements from Faraday rotation polarimetry also indicate the presence of significant magnetic field pile-up occurring at the boundary of the reconnection region, which is consistent with the super-Alfvénic velocity of the inflows.

  14. Pressure profiles of plasmas confined in the field of a magnetic dipole

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davis, Matthew S; Mauel, M E; Garnier, Darren T; Kesner, Jay

    2014-01-01

    Equilibrium pressure profiles of plasmas confined in the field of a dipole magnet are reconstructed using magnetic and x-ray measurements on the levitated dipole experiment (LDX). LDX operates in two distinct modes: with the dipole mechanically supported and with the dipole magnetically levitated. When the dipole is mechanically supported, thermal particles are lost along the field to the supports, and the plasma pressure is highly peaked and consists of energetic, mirror-trapped electrons that are created by electron cyclotron resonance heating. By contrast, when the dipole is magnetically levitated losses to the supports are eliminated and particles are lost via slower cross-field transport that results in broader, but still peaked, plasma pressure profiles. (paper)

  15. Dynamics of Dust in a Plasma Sheath with Magnetic Field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan Ping; Liu Jinyuan; Gon Ye; Liu Yue; Wang Xiaogang

    2007-01-01

    Dynamics of dust in a plasma sheath with a magnetic field was investigated using a single particle model. The result shows that the radius, initial position, initial velocity of the dust particles and the magnetic field do effect their movement and equilibrium position in the plasma sheath. Generally, the dust particles with the same size, whatever original velocity and position they have, will locate at the same position in the end under the net actions of electrostatic, gravitational, neutral collisional, and Lorentz forces. But the dust particles will not locate in the plasma sheath if their radius is beyond a certain value

  16. Manipulating Electromagnetic Waves in Magnetized Plasmas: Compression, Frequency Shifting, and Release

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avitzour, Yoav; Shvets, Gennady

    2008-01-01

    A new approach to manipulating the duration and frequency of microwave pulses using magnetized plasmas is demonstrated. The plasma accomplishes two functions: (i) slowing down and spatially compressing the incident wave, and (ii) modifying the propagation properties (group velocity and frequency) of the wave in the plasma during a uniform in space adiabatic in time variation of the magnitude and/or direction of the magnetic field. The increase in the group velocity results in the shortening of the temporal pulse duration. Depending on the plasma parameters, the frequency of the outgoing compressed pulse can either change or remain unchanged. Such dynamic manipulation of radiation in plasma opens new avenues for manipulating high power microwave pulses

  17. Instabilities observed at the bubble edge of a laser produced plasma during its expansion in an ambient tenuous plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Bo Ram; Clark, S. E.; Hoffmann, D. H. H.; Niemann, C.

    2014-10-01

    The Raptor kJ class 1053 nm Nd:Glass laser in the Phoenix laser laboratory at University of California, Los Angeles, is used to ablate a dense debris plasma from a graphite or plastic target embedded in a tenuous, uniform, and quiescent ambient magnetized plasma in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) which provides a peak plasma density of ni ~ 1013 cm-3. Its background magnetic field can vary between 200 and 1200 G. Debris ions from laser produced plasma expand out conically with super-Alfvénic speed (MA ~ 2) and expel the background magnetic field and ambient ions to form a diamagnetic bubble. The debris plasma interacts with the ambient plasma and the magnetic field and acts as a piston which can create collisionless shocks. Flute-type instabilities, which are probably large Larmor radius Rayleigh Taylor instabilities or lower hybrid drift instabilities, are developed at the bubble edge and also observed in the experiment. The amplitude and wavelength dependence of the instabilities, which might be a strong function of debris to ambient mass to charge ratio, is studied and the experimental results are compared to the two dimensional hybrid simulations. the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the framework of the Excellence Initiative Darmstadt Graduate School of Energy Science and Engineering (GSC1070).

  18. Production and study of high-beta plasma confined by a superconducting dipole magnet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garnier, D.T.; Hansen, A.; Mauel, M.E.; Ortiz, E.; Boxer, A.C.; Ellsworth, J.; Karim, I.; Kesner, J.; Mahar, S.; Roach, A.

    2006-01-01

    The Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) [J. Kesner et al., in Fusion Energy 1998, 1165 (1999)] is a new research facility that is exploring the confinement and stability of plasma created within the dipole field produced by a strong superconducting magnet. Unlike other configurations in which stability depends on curvature and magnetic shear, magnetohydrodynamic stability of a dipole derives from plasma compressibility. Theoretically, the dipole magnetic geometry can stabilize a centrally peaked plasma pressure that exceeds the local magnetic pressure (β>1), and the absence of magnetic shear allows particle and energy confinement to decouple. In initial experiments, long-pulse, quasi-steady-state microwave discharges lasting more than 10 s have been produced that are consistent with equilibria having peak beta values of 20%. Detailed measurements have been made of discharge evolution, plasma dynamics and instability, and the roles of gas fueling, microwave power deposition profiles, and plasma boundary shape. In these initial experiments, the high-field superconducting floating coil was supported by three thin supports. The plasma is created by multifrequency electron cyclotron resonance heating at 2.45 and 6.4 GHz, and a population of energetic electrons, with mean energies above 50 keV, dominates the plasma pressure. Creation of high-pressure, high-beta plasma is possible only when intense hot electron interchange instabilities are stabilized by sufficiently high background plasma density. A dramatic transition from a low-density, low-beta regime to a more quiescent, high-beta regime is observed when the plasma fueling rate and confinement time become sufficiently large

  19. Formation of a three-dimensional plasma boundary after decay of the plasma response to resonant magnetic perturbation fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmitz, O.; Evans, T. E.; Fenstermacher, M. E.; Lanctot, M. J.; Lasnier, C. L.; Mordijck, S.; Moyer, R. A.; Reimerdes, H.; the DIII-D Team

    2014-01-01

    First time experimental evidence is presented for a direct link between the decay of a n = 3 plasma response and the formation of a three-dimensional (3D) plasma boundary. We inspect a lower single-null L-mode plasma which first reacts at sufficiently high rotation with an ideal resonant screening response to an external toroidal mode number n = 3 resonant magnetic perturbation field. Decay of this response due to reduced bulk plasma rotation changes the plasma state considerably. Signatures such as density pump out and a spin up of the edge rotation—which are usually connected to formation of a stochastic boundary—are detected. Coincident, striation of the divertor single ionized carbon emission and a 3D emission structure in double ionized carbon at the separatrix is seen. The striated C II pattern follows in this stage the perturbed magnetic footprint modelled without a plasma response (vacuum approach). This provides for the first time substantial experimental evidence, that a 3D plasma boundary with direct impact on the divertor particle flux pattern is formed as soon as the internal plasma response decays. The resulting divertor structure follows the vacuum modelled magnetic field topology. However, the inward extension of the perturbed boundary layer can still not directly be determined from these measurements.

  20. Numerical analysis of plasma-wall interaction for an oblique magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chodura, R.

    1982-01-01

    A numerical code is used to calculate energy and incidence angle of plasma ions and electrons impinging on an absorbing wall. Plasma particles coming from a plasma of given density and temperature traverse a transition layer with an electric space charge field perpendicular to the wall and a given magnetic field of arbitrary angle before being adsorbed in the wall. The 1d electrostatic particle code determines the electric field and the change of particle velocity distributions in the transition layer. When the incidence angle psi of the magnetic field is varied from 0 0 (normal) to 90 0 (tangential), the impact energies W of ions and electrons at the wall stay nearly unchanged. Electrons reach the wall according to an isotropic Maxwellian distribution except for large angles psi where only electrons travelling along the magnetic field have a chance to escape the plasma. Ions hit the wall at increasing angles theta for increasing psi. The incidence angle of cold ions (Tsub(i0) = 0) is always steeper than that of the magnetic field. For nearly grazing incidence angle of the magnetic field psi →90 0 the ion incidence angle theta becomes grazing as well. After the distribution function is determined the sputtering yield of wall incident ions is calculated for different magnetic field angles psi showing maximum yield for psi near to 90 0 . (orig.)

  1. Self-compression of intense short laser pulses in relativistic magnetized plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olumi, M.; Maraghechi, B., E-mail: behrouz@aut.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Amirkabir University of Technology, Post code 15916-34311 Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2014-11-15

    The compression of a relativistic Gaussian laser pulse in a magnetized plasma is investigated. By considering relativistic nonlinearity and using non-linear Schrödinger equation with paraxial approximation, a second-order differential equation is obtained for the pulse width parameter (in time) to demonstrate the longitudinal pulse compression. The compression of laser pulse in a magnetized plasma can be observed by the numerical solution of the equation for the pulse width parameter. The effects of magnetic field and chirping are investigated. It is shown that in the presence of magnetic field and negative initial chirp, compression of pulse is significantly enhanced.

  2. Atomic and ionic density measurement by laser absorption spectroscopy of magnetized or non-magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Gourrierec, P.

    1989-11-01

    Laser absorption spectroscopy is an appreciated diagnostic in plasma physics to measure atomic and ionic densities. We used it here more specifically on metallic plasmas. Firstly, a uranium plasma was created in a hollow cathode. 17 levels of U.I and U.II (12 for U.I and 5 for U.II) are measured by this method. The results are compared with the calculated levels of two models (collisional-radiative and LTE). Secondly, the theory of absorption in presence of a magnetic field is recalled and checked. Then, low-density magnetized plasma produced on our ERIC experiment (acronym for Experiment of Resonance Ionic Cyclotron), have been diagnosed successfully. The use of this technique on a low density plasma has not yet been published to our knowledge. The transverse temperature and the density of a metastable atomic level of a barium plasma has been derived. The evolution of a metastable ionic level of this element is studied in terms of two source parameters (furnace temperature and injected hyperfrequency power) [fr

  3. Magnetized and collimated millimeter scale plasma jets with astrophysical relevance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brady, Parrish C.; Quevedo, Hernan J.; Valanju, Prashant M.; Bengtson, Roger D.; Ditmire, Todd

    2012-01-01

    Magnetized collimated plasma jets are created in the laboratory to extend our understanding of plasma jet acceleration and collimation mechanisms with particular connection to astrophysical jets. In this study, plasma collimated jets are formed from supersonic unmagnetized flows, mimicking a stellar wind, subject to currents and magnetohydrodynamic forces. It is found that an external poloidal magnetic field, like the ones found anchored to accretion disks, is essential to stabilize the jets against current-driven instabilities. The maximum jet length before instabilities develop is proportional to the field strength and the length threshold agrees well with Kruskal-Shafranov theory. The plasma evolution is modeled qualitatively using MHD theory of current-carrying flux tubes showing that jet acceleration and collimation arise as a result of electromagnetic forces.

  4. Investigation of effect of solenoid magnet on emittances of ion beam from laser ablation plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikeda, Shunsuke; Sekine, Megumi; Romanelli, Mark; Cinquegrani, David; Kumaki, Masafumi; Fuwa, Yasuhiro; Kanesue, Takeshi; Okamura, Masahiro; Horioka, Kazuhiko

    2014-01-01

    A magnetic field can increase an ion current of a laser ablation plasma and is expected to control the change of the plasma ion current. However, the magnetic field can also make some fluctuations of the plasma and the effect on the beam emittance and the emission surface is not clear. To investigate the effect of a magnetic field, we extracted the ion beams under three conditions where without magnetic field, with magnetic field, and without magnetic field with higher laser energy to measure the beam distribution in phase space. Then we compared the relations between the plasma ion current density into the extraction gap and the Twiss parameters with each condition. We observed the effect of the magnetic field on the emission surface

  5. Investigation of effect of solenoid magnet on emittances of ion beam from laser ablation plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikeda, Shunsuke; Romanelli, Mark; Cinquegrani, David; Sekine, Megumi; Kumaki, Masafumi; Fuwa, Yasuhiro; Kanesue, Takeshi; Okamura, Masahiro; Horioka, Kazuhiko

    2014-02-01

    A magnetic field can increase an ion current of a laser ablation plasma and is expected to control the change of the plasma ion current. However, the magnetic field can also make some fluctuations of the plasma and the effect on the beam emittance and the emission surface is not clear. To investigate the effect of a magnetic field, we extracted the ion beams under three conditions where without magnetic field, with magnetic field, and without magnetic field with higher laser energy to measure the beam distribution in phase space. Then we compared the relations between the plasma ion current density into the extraction gap and the Twiss parameters with each condition. We observed the effect of the magnetic field on the emission surface.

  6. Investigation of effect of solenoid magnet on emittances of ion beam from laser ablation plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikeda, Shunsuke, E-mail: shunsuke.ikeda@riken.jp; Sekine, Megumi [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Japan); Riken, Wako, Saitama (Japan); Romanelli, Mark [Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850 (United States); Cinquegrani, David [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States); Kumaki, Masafumi [Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo (Japan); Fuwa, Yasuhiro [Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto (Japan); Kanesue, Takeshi; Okamura, Masahiro [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States); Horioka, Kazuhiko [Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Japan)

    2014-02-15

    A magnetic field can increase an ion current of a laser ablation plasma and is expected to control the change of the plasma ion current. However, the magnetic field can also make some fluctuations of the plasma and the effect on the beam emittance and the emission surface is not clear. To investigate the effect of a magnetic field, we extracted the ion beams under three conditions where without magnetic field, with magnetic field, and without magnetic field with higher laser energy to measure the beam distribution in phase space. Then we compared the relations between the plasma ion current density into the extraction gap and the Twiss parameters with each condition. We observed the effect of the magnetic field on the emission surface.

  7. Adiabatic Expansion of Electron Gas in a Magnetic Nozzle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Charles, Christine; Boswell, Rod; Ando, Akira

    2018-01-01

    A specially constructed experiment shows the near perfect adiabatic expansion of an ideal electron gas resulting in a polytropic index greater than 1.4, approaching the adiabatic value of 5 /3 , when removing electric fields from the system, while the polytropic index close to unity is observed when the electrons are trapped by the electric fields. The measurements were made on collisionless electrons in an argon plasma expanding in a magnetic nozzle. The collision lengths of all electron collision processes are greater than the scale length of the expansion, meaning the system cannot be in thermodynamic equilibrium, yet thermodynamic concepts can be used, with caution, in explaining the results. In particular, a Lorentz force, created by inhomogeneities in the radial plasma density, does work on the expanding magnetic field, reducing the internal energy of the electron gas that behaves as an adiabatically expanding ideal gas.

  8. The Influence of the Axial Magnetic Field Upon-the Coaxial Plasma Gun Parameters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Aragi, G.M.; EL-Demrdash, A.

    2001-01-01

    This study concerns with the influence of an applied axial magnetic field upon the electrical parameters of a coaxial plasma gun device. The experimental results are investigated with 0.5 KJ plasma gun device operated with argon gas at a pressure of 3.5 Torr. An axial time independent magnetic field with intensity of 550 G is introduced along the plasma current sheath axial region, within the annular space between the two coaxial electrodes. From the measurements of the discharge current I(t) and the voltage V(t), the electrical discharge parameters of the plasma gun device and the plasma current sheath implosion velocity are estimated, in normal mode of plasma gun operation and in the mode of presence external axial magnetic field. A comparison between these two modes is studied

  9. Electromagnetic wave in a relativistic magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krasovitskiy, V. B.

    2009-01-01

    Results are presented from a theoretical investigation of the dispersion properties of a relativistic plasma in which an electromagnetic wave propagates along an external magnetic field. The dielectric tensor in integral form is simplified by separating its imaginary and real parts. A dispersion relation for an electromagnetic wave is obtained that makes it possible to analyze the dispersion and collisionless damping of electromagnetic perturbations over a broad parameter range for both nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic plasmas.

  10. Magnetically insulated ion diode with a gas-breakdown plasma anode

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greenly, J.B.; Ueda, M.; Rondeau, G.D.; Hammer, D.A.

    1987-12-01

    An active anode plasma source has been developed for use in a magnetically insulated ion diode operated on a 10 sup(10)W pulsed power generator. This source uses an inductive voltage from a single turn coil to break down an annular gas puff produced by a supersonic nozzle. The resulting plasma is magnetically driven toward the radial insulating magnetic field in the diode accelerating gap and stagnates at a well-defined surface after about 300ns to form a plasma anode layer defined by magnetic flux surfaces. An ion beam is then extracted from this plasma layer by applying a 150kV, 1 μs pulse to the accelerating gap. Optimization of the timing of the gas puff, the plasma production discharge and the high voltage pulse has resulted in 1μs duration 75-150KeV ion beam pulses with >100A/cm sup(2) peak ion current density over an area of about 400cm sup(2). Up to 5J/cm sup(2) has been collected by a 4cm sup(2) calorimeter. The diode impedance history can be varied so that rising, flat, and falling voltage pulse waveforms can be produced. Streak photographs of beamlets impinging on a scintillator and time integrated targets both show beam divergence angles ≤3 sup(0). However, under certain operating conditions, large excursions (∼25 sup(0)) in mean aiming angle on time scales of 20-200ns are observed. (author)

  11. Impact of magnetic perturbation fields on tokamak plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fietz, Sina; Maraschek, Marc; Suttrop, Wolfgang; Zohm, Hartmut [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany); Classen, Ivo [FOM-Institute DIFFER, Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Collaboration: the ASDEX Upgrade Team

    2015-05-01

    Non-axisymmetric external magnetic perturbation (MP) fields arise in every tokamak e.g. due to not perfectly positioned external coils. Additionally many tokamaks, like ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), are equipped with a set of external coils, which produce a 3D MP field in addition to the equilibrium field. This field is used to either compensate for the intrinsic MP field or to influence MHD instabilities such as Edge Localised Modes (ELMs) or Neoclassical Tearing Modes (NTMs). But these MP fields can also give rise to a more global plasma response. The resonant components can penetrate the plasma and influence the stability of existing NTMs or even lead to their formation via magnetic reconnection. In addition they exert a local torque on the plasma. These effects are less pronounced at high plasma rotation where the resonant field components are screened. The non-resonant components do not influence NTMs directly but slow down the plasma rotation globally via the neoclassical toroidal viscous torque. The island formation caused by the MP field as well as the interaction of pre-existing islands with the MP field at AUG is presented. It is shown that these effects can be modelled using a simple forced reconnection theory. Also the effect of resonant and non-resonant MPs on the plasma rotation at AUG is discussed.

  12. Active transfer of poloidal magnetic energy during plasma disruptions in J-TEXT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Jun; Rao, Bo; Chen, Zhongyong; Li, Xiaolong; Xu, Wendi; Pan, Yuan; Yu, Kexun

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • An alternative plasma disruption mitigation method by transferring partial poloidal magnetic energy out of the vacuum vessel has been presented in this paper. • This method can reduced the magnetic energy dissipated inside the vacuum vessel during disruption and mitigated the disruption damage. • This method has been experimentally verified in J-TEXT with an experiment system set up. • According to the experimental results, the magnetic energy dissipated inside the vacuum vessel during disruption can be reduced by 20% or more and the loop voltage can be reduced by 58%. - Abstract: The magnitude of the damaging effects of plasma disruptions on vacuum vessel (VV) components increases with the thermal energy and poloidal magnetic energy dissipated inside the VV. This study focuses on an alternative method, by which partial poloidal magnetic energy is transferred out of the VV. The quantity of the poloidal magnetic energy dissipated inside the VV (W_d_i_s) can be reduced with this method, and the damaging effects can be mitigated. Partial magnetic energy is transferred based on magnetic coupling by a group of energy transfer coils (ETCs) that are coupled with the plasma current. This method, which is called magnetic energy transfer (MET), has been experimentally verified in J-TEXT. W_d_i_s can be reduced by approximately 20%, and the loop voltage can be reduced by 58%. MET is established as a novel, promising, and effective plasma disruption mitigation method.

  13. A modified Katsumata probe - ion sensitive probe for measurement in non-magnetized plasmas

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Čada, Martin; Hubička, Zdeněk; Adámek, Petr; Olejníček, Jiří; Kment, Štěpán; Adámek, Jiří; Stöckel, Jan

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 86, č. 7 (2015), "073510-1"-"073510-7" ISSN 0034-6748 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LH12043 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 ; RVO:61389021 Keywords : Katsumata probe * non-magnetized plasma * magnetron * ion temperature * non-magnetized plasmas Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 1.336, year: 2015

  14. Non-modal stability analysis and transient growth in a magnetized Vlasov plasma

    KAUST Repository

    Ratushnaya, V.

    2014-12-01

    Collisionless plasmas, such as those encountered in tokamaks, exhibit a rich variety of instabilities. The physical origin, triggering mechanisms and fundamental understanding of many plasma instabilities, however, are still open problems. We investigate the stability properties of a 3-dimensional collisionless Vlasov plasma in a stationary homogeneous magnetic field. We narrow the scope of our investigation to the case of Maxwellian plasma and examine its evolution with an electrostatic approximation. For the first time using a fully kinetic approach we show the emergence of the local instability, a transient growth, followed by classical Landau damping in a stable magnetized plasma. We show that the linearized Vlasov operator is non-normal leading to the algebraic growth of the perturbations using non-modal stability theory. The typical time scales of the obtained instabilities are of the order of several plasma periods. The first-order distribution function and the corresponding electric field are calculated and the dependence on the magnetic field and perturbation parameters is studied. Our results offer a new scenario of the emergence and development of plasma instabilities on the kinetic scale.

  15. Non-modal stability analysis and transient growth in a magnetized Vlasov plasma

    KAUST Repository

    Ratushnaya, V.; Samtaney, Ravi

    2014-01-01

    Collisionless plasmas, such as those encountered in tokamaks, exhibit a rich variety of instabilities. The physical origin, triggering mechanisms and fundamental understanding of many plasma instabilities, however, are still open problems. We investigate the stability properties of a 3-dimensional collisionless Vlasov plasma in a stationary homogeneous magnetic field. We narrow the scope of our investigation to the case of Maxwellian plasma and examine its evolution with an electrostatic approximation. For the first time using a fully kinetic approach we show the emergence of the local instability, a transient growth, followed by classical Landau damping in a stable magnetized plasma. We show that the linearized Vlasov operator is non-normal leading to the algebraic growth of the perturbations using non-modal stability theory. The typical time scales of the obtained instabilities are of the order of several plasma periods. The first-order distribution function and the corresponding electric field are calculated and the dependence on the magnetic field and perturbation parameters is studied. Our results offer a new scenario of the emergence and development of plasma instabilities on the kinetic scale.

  16. Intrinsic electromagnetic solitary vortices in magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, J.; Horton, W.

    1986-01-01

    Several Rossby type vortex solutions constructed for electromagnetic perturbations in magnetized plasma encounter the difficulty that the perturbed magnetic field and the parallel current are not continuous on the boundary between two regions. We find that fourth order differential equations must be solved to remove this discontinuity. Special solutions for two types of boundary value problems for the fourth order partial differential equations are presented. By applying these solutions to different nonlinear equations in magnetized plasma, the intrinsic electromagnetic solitary drift-Alfven vortex (along with solitary Alfven vortex) and the intrinsic electromagnetic solitary electron vortex (along with short-wavelength drift vortex) are constructed. While still keeping a localized dipole structure, these new vortices have more complicated radial structures in the inner and outer regions than the usual Rossby wave vortex. The new type of vortices guarantees the continuity of the perturbed magnetic field deltaB/sub perpendicular/ and the parallel current j/sub parallel/ on the boundary between inner and outer regions of the vortex. The allowed regions of propagation speeds for these vortices are analyzed, and we find that the complementary relation between the vortex propagating speeds and the corresponding phase velocities of the linear modes no longer exists

  17. Evaluation of Electromagnetic Forces in an Axially-Magnetized MPD Arcjet Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tobari, Hiroyuki; Yoshino, Kyohei; Hattori, Kunihiko; Ando, Akira; Inutake, Masaaki

    2003-01-01

    Characteristics of an axially-magnetized plasma flow has been investigated in the vicinity of a magneto-plasma-dynamic arcjet (MPDA) by use of spectroscopy, Mach probes and magnetic probes. Axial and rotational flow velocity and temperature of He ion and atom near the muzzle region of MPDA are measured by Doppler shift and broadening of the HeI (λ = 578.56 nm) and HeII (λ = 468.58 nm) lines. It has been observed that the plasma rotates with a rigid body and that ion temperature increases extraordinarily in a factor of 2-3 at several cm downstream from MPD outlet when a discharge current increases with a lower mass-flow-rate of He gas. Therefore, the ion acoustic Mach number saturates at near unity. To clarify mechanisms of ion heating and electromagnetic acceleration, spatial distribution of induced magnetic fields are measured in the vicinity of MPD outlet by magnetic probes. Spatial structure of magnetic field and plasma current density is clarified experimentally in the muzzle region of MPDA. Among three components of jxB force F, radial component Fr is dominant and axial component Fz is much smaller than Fr because of a generation of a drag force canceling an acceleration force

  18. Properties of highly electronegative plasmas produced in a multipolar magnetic-confined device with a transversal magnetic filter

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Draghici, Mihai; Stamate, Eugen

    2010-01-01

    Highly electronegative plasmas were produced in Ar/SF6 gas mixtures in a dc discharge with multipolar magnetic confinement and transversal magnetic filter. Langmuir probe and mass spectrometry were used for plasma diagnostics. Plasma potential drift, the influence of small or large area biased...... electrodes on plasma parameters, the formation of the negative ion sheath and etching rates by positive and negative ions have been investigated for different experimental conditions. When the electron temperature was reduced below 1 eV the density ratio of negative ion to electron exceeded 100 even for very...... low amounts of SF6 gas. The plasma potential drift could be controlled by proper wall conditioning. A large electrode biased positively had no effect on plasma potential for density ratios of negative ions to electrons larger than 50. For similar electronegativities or higher a negative ion sheath...

  19. Axisymmetric magnetic mirrors for plasma confinement. Recent development and perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruglyakov, E.P.; Dimov, G.I.; Ivanov, A.A.; Koidan, V.S.

    2003-01-01

    Mirrors are the only one class of fusion systems which completely differs topologically from the systems with closed magnetic configurations. At present, three modern types of different mirror machines for plasma confinement and heating exist in Novosibirsk (Gas Dynamic Trap,- GDT, Multi-mirror,- GOL-3, and Tandem Mirror,- AMBAL-M). All these systems are attractive from the engineering point of view because of very simple axisymmetric geometry of magnetic configurations. In the present paper, the status of different confinement systems is presented. The experiments most crucial for the mirror concept are described such as a demonstration of different principles of suppression of electron heat conductivity (GDT, GOL-3), finding of MHD stable regimes of plasma confinement in axisymmetric geometry of magnetic field (GDT, AMBAL-M), an effective heating of a dense plasma by relativistic electron beam (GOL-3), observation of radial diffusion of quiescent plasma with practically classical diffusion coefficient (AMBAL-M), etc. It should be mentioned that on the basis of the GDT it is possible to make a very important intermediate step. Using 'warm' plasma and oblique injection of fast atoms of D and T one can create a powerful 14 MeV neutron source with a moderate irradiation area (about 1 square meter) and, accordingly, with low tritium consumption. The main plasma parameters achieved are presented and the future perspectives of different mirror machines are outlined. (author)

  20. Propagation of quasi-static wave and resonance cone in magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serbeto, A.P.B.

    1980-08-01

    The potential created by an oscillating punctual source in a magnetized homogeneous cold plasma, using quasistatic approximation is studied. The resonance cone structure in this plasma is theoretically obtained and it is verified that the conic field structure remains finite for an inhomogeneous cold plasma. The temperature effect in the resonance cone structure in layers where w->Ω e ,w->w PC and w->w nh for magnetized homogeneous electron plasma is studied. An approximated expression for dispersion relations is obtained, so that an analytical solution for the potential in these layers can be calculated. The theorem of energy conservation for quasistatic waves is developed. (M.C.K.) [pt

  1. Kinetic stability constraints on magnetized plasma equilibria: Quasi-particle approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sosenko, P.; Weiland, J.

    1996-01-01

    Macroscopic adiabatic invariants for the magnetized plasma are studied within the context of the quasi-particle description, as well as constraints which they impose on energy transfer and stable plasma equilibria. 6 refs

  2. Magnetized Target Fusion Driven by Plasma Liners

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thio, Y. C. Francis; Cassibry, Jason; Eskridge, Richard; Kirkpatrick, Ronald C.; Knapp, Charles E.; Lee, Michael; Martin, Adam; Smith, James; Wu, S. T.; Rodgers, Stephen L. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    For practical applications of magnetized target fusion, standoff drivers to deliver the imploding momentum flux to the target plasma remotely are required. Quasi-spherically converging plasma jets have been proposed as standoff drivers for this purpose. The concept involves the dynamic formation of a quasi-spherical plasma liner by the merging of plasma jets, and the use of the liner so formed to compress a spheromak or a field reversed configuration (FRC). Theoretical analysis and computer modeling of the concept are presented. It is shown that, with the appropriate choice of the flow parameters in the liner and the target, the impact between the liner and the target plasma can be made to be shockless in the liner or to generate at most a very weak shock in the liner. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

  3. Density and magnetic field measurements in the Tormac IV-c plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coonrod, J.W. Jr.

    1978-01-01

    Tormac is a concept for magnetically confining a high-β fusion plasma in a toroidal, stuffed line cusp. A Tormac plasma has two regions: an interior confined on the closed toroidal field lines of the stuffing field, and an exterior sheath on open, cusped field lines. The interior plasma gives the device a longer confinement time than a standard mirror, while the favorable curvature of the cusp fields allow the plasma to be stable at higher values of β (the ratio of the plasma pressure to magnetic pressure) than a totally closed configuration like Tokamak. This thesis describes the design, construction and operation of Tormac IV-c, and reports on the results, with emphasis on describing the behavior of the density compression and field penetration

  4. Magnetic sensorless control of plasma position and shape in a tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, K.; Luo, J.R.; Wang, H.Z.

    2005-01-01

    Magnetic sensorless sensing and control experiments of the plasma horizontal position have been carried out in the superconducting tokamak HT-7. The sensing is made focusing on the ripple frequency component of the power supply with thyristor and directly from them without time integration. There is no drift problem of integrator of magnetic sensors. Two kinds of control experiments were carried out, to keep the position constant and swing the position in a triangular waveform. And magnetic sensorless sensing of plasma shape is discussed. (author)

  5. Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for a bounded plasma flow in a longitudinal magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burinskaya, T. M.; Shevelev, M. M.; Rauch, J.-L.

    2011-01-01

    Kelvin-Helmholtz MHD instability in a plane three-layer plasma is investigated. A general dispersion relation for the case of arbitrarily orientated magnetic fields and flow velocities in the layers is derived, and its solutions for a bounded plasma flow in a longitudinal magnetic field are studied numerically. Analysis of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for different ion acoustic velocities shows that perturbations with wavelengths on the order of or longer than the flow thickness can grow in an arbitrary direction even at a zero temperature. Oscillations excited at small angles with respect to the magnetic field exist in a limited range of wavenumbers even without allowance for the finite width of the transition region between the flow and the ambient plasma. It is shown that, in a low-temperature plasma, solutions resulting in kink-like deformations of the plasma flow grow at a higher rate than those resulting in quasi-symmetric (sausage-like) deformations. The transverse structure of oscillatory-damped eigenmodes in a low-temperature plasma is analyzed. The results obtained are used to explain mechanisms for the excitation of ultra-low-frequency long-wavelength oscillations propagating along the magnetic field in the plasma sheet boundary layer of the Earth’s magnetotail penetrated by fast plasma flows.

  6. Rayleigh-Taylor-instability evolution in colliding-plasma-jet experiments with magnetic and viscous stabilization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adams, Colin Stuart [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

    2015-01-15

    The Rayleigh-Taylor instability causes mixing in plasmas throughout the universe, from micron-scale plasmas in inertial confinement fusion implosions to parsec-scale supernova remnants. The evolution of this interchange instability in a plasma is influenced by the presence of viscosity and magnetic fields, both of which have the potential to stabilize short-wavelength modes. Very few experimental observations of Rayleigh-Taylor growth in plasmas with stabilizing mechanisms are reported in the literature, and those that are reported are in sub-millimeter scale plasmas that are difficult to diagnose. Experimental observations in well-characterized plasmas are important for validation of computational models used to make design predictions for inertial confinement fusion efforts. This dissertation presents observations of instability growth during the interaction between a high Mach-number, initially un-magnetized plasma jet and a stagnated, magnetized plasma. A multi-frame fast camera captures Rayleigh-Taylor-instability growth while interferometry, spectroscopy, photodiode, and magnetic probe diagnostics are employed to estimate plasma parameters in the vicinity of the collision. As the instability grows, an evolution to longer mode wavelength is observed. Comparisons of experimental data with idealized magnetohydrodynamic simulations including a physical viscosity model suggest that the observed instability evolution is consistent with both magnetic and viscous stabilization. These data provide the opportunity to benchmark computational models used in astrophysics and fusion research.

  7. Screening of the field of a static charge in an anisotropic magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arsenin, V.V.; Puzitskii, M.L.

    1991-01-01

    The field of a static charge placed in an equilibrium plasma is screened at a distance of the order of the Debye radius. Debye screening occurs both with and without an external magnetic field. This property also persists when the plasma is not an equilibrium plasma but the velocity distribution function of the particles is isotropic (the screening radius in this case contains the characteristic value of the energy instead of the temperature). The situation can change if the distribution is anisotropic. First, the drop in the field can become non-Debye. In particular, in an unmagnetized plasma some distribution functions are characterized by a power-law decrease of the field. Second, a static test charge induces a magnetic as well as an electrostatic field in an anisotropic plasma. In this communication the authors describe the anomalies of screening of the field of a static charge in a magnetized plasma. For definiteness they consider a situation (typical, e.g., of magnetic mirror systems) when the ionic component is anisotropic. The simplifications for the sake of computations are limited to the case of a charge which extends along the magnetic field and only harmonics much longer than the Debye length are significant in the Fourier expansion of the density of this charge in the longitudinal coordinate

  8. Toroidal magnetic confinement of non-neutral plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Zensho; Ogawa, Yuichi; Morikawa, Junji; Himura, Haruhiko; Kondo, Shigeo; Nakashima, Chihiro; Kakuno, Shuichi; Iqbal, Muhamad; Volponi, Francesco; Shibayama, Norihisa; Tahara, Shigeru

    1999-01-01

    A new method of toroidal non-neutral plasma trap has been developed with applying the chaos-induced radial transport of particles near a magnetic null point. A pure electron plasma is produced by injecting an electron beam. The poloidal gyroradius of an electron at the energy of 1 keV is of order 10 mm, which determines the length scale of the chaotic region. Amongst various applications of toroidal non-neutral plasmas, a possibility of producing very high-β plasma, which is suitable for advanced fusion, has been examined. The self-electric field of a non-neutral plasma can generate a strong shear flow. When the flow velocity is comparable to the Alfven speed (which is smaller than the ion sound speed, if β>1), a high-β equilibrium can be produced in which the plasma pressure is primarily balanced by the dynamic pressure of the flow. This configuration is described by a generalized Bernoulli law

  9. Plasma cleaning of ITER First Mirrors in magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moser, Lucas, E-mail: lucas.moser@unibas.ch [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland); Steiner, Roland [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland); Leipold, Frank; Reichle, Roger [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon-sur-Verdon, 13115 St Paul-lez-Durance (France); Marot, Laurent; Meyer, Ernst [Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland)

    2015-08-15

    To avoid reflectivity losses in ITER’s optical diagnostic systems, plasma sputtering of metallic First Mirrors is foreseen in order to remove deposits coming from the main wall (mainly beryllium and tungsten). Therefore plasma cleaning has to work on large mirrors (up to a size of 200 × 300 mm) and under the influence of strong magnetic fields (several Tesla). This work presents the results of plasma cleaning of aluminium and aluminium oxide (used as beryllium proxy) deposited on molybdenum mirrors. Using radio frequency (13.56 MHz) argon plasma, the removal of a 260 nm mixed aluminium/aluminium oxide film deposited by magnetron sputtering on a mirror (98 mm diameter) was demonstrated. 50 nm of pure aluminium oxide were removed from test mirrors (25 mm diameter) in a magnetic field of 0.35 T for various angles between the field lines and the mirrors surfaces. The cleaning efficiency was evaluated by performing reflectivity measurements, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

  10. Effects of ion acoustic waves on diffusion in a magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, Yukio; Akazaki, Masanori; Fujiyama, Hiroshi.

    1975-01-01

    This paper describes on the behavior of ion acoustic waves in magnetized plasma. The plasma was produced with a discharge tube placed in an air-core coil. The pressure of argon gas in the discharge tube was 1--10 mTorr. The plasma was entracted along the externally applied magnetic field through a nozzle into a measuring part. The condition of stabilization of drift waves was investigated. Four small glass tubes were placed in contact with the wall of the discharge tube, and the drift wave was remarkably suppressed. Then the ion acoustic waves can be observed. The magnetic field dependence of the frequency of ion acoustic waves was studied. The frequency depends on magnetic field and gas pressure. The magnetic field dependence of the frequency is caused by the variation of electron temperature. The Timofee's theory can explain the magnetic field of generating ion acoustic waves. The ion acoustic waves being excited naturally propagate to the direction of the diamagnetic drift of electrons, and their spectra are monochromatic. The dependence of Dsub(perpendicular), diffusion constant, on magnetic field is explained by two-pole diffusion, and the effect of the monochromatic ion acoustic waves on diffusion is small. (Kato, T.)

  11. Magnetic fields in laser heated plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amiranoff, F.; Brackbill, J.; Colombant, D.; Grandjouan, N.

    1984-01-01

    With a fixed-ion code for the study of self-generated magentic fields in laser heated plasmas, the inhibition of thermal transport and the effect of the Nernst term are modeled for a KrF laser. For various values of the flux limiter, the response of a foil to a focused laser is calculated without a magnetic field and compared with the response calculated with a magnetic field. The results are: The Nernst term convects the magnetic field to densities above critical as found by Nishiguchi et al. (1984), but the field does not strongly inhibit transport into the foil. The field is also transported to sub-critical densities, where it inhibits thermal diffusion and enhance lateral transport by convection

  12. An auxiliary differential equation FDTD method for anisotropic magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Shaobin; Mo Jinjun; Yuan Naichang

    2004-01-01

    An auxiliary differential equation finite-difference time-domain (ADE-FDTD) methodology for anisotropic magnetized plasmas is derived. The method is based on a difference approximation of the auxiliary differential equation. A comparison with the JEC method is included. The CPU time saving by several times and accuracy of the method are confirmed by computing the reflection and transmission through a magnetized plasma layer with the direction of propagation parallel to the direction of the biasing field

  13. Exponential frequency spectrum and Lorentzian pulses in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pace, D. C.; Shi, M.; Maggs, J. E.; Morales, G. J.; Carter, T. A.

    2008-01-01

    Two different experiments involving pressure gradients across the confinement magnetic field in a large plasma column are found to exhibit a broadband turbulence that displays an exponential frequency spectrum for frequencies below the ion cyclotron frequency. The exponential feature has been traced to the presence of solitary pulses having a Lorentzian temporal signature. These pulses arise from nonlinear interactions of drift-Alfven waves driven by the pressure gradients. In both experiments the width of the pulses is narrowly distributed resulting in exponential spectra with a single characteristic time scale. The temporal width of the pulses is measured to be a fraction of a period of the drift-Alfven waves. The experiments are performed in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD-U) [W. Gekelman et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)] operated by the Basic Plasma Science Facility at the University of California, Los Angeles. One experiment involves a controlled, pure electron temperature gradient associated with a microscopic (6 mm gradient length) hot electron temperature filament created by the injection a small electron beam embedded in the center of a large, cold magnetized plasma. The other experiment is a macroscopic (3.5 cm gradient length) limiter-edge experiment in which a density gradient is established by inserting a metallic plate at the edge of the nominal plasma column of the LAPD-U. The temperature filament experiment permits a detailed study of the transition from coherent to turbulent behavior and the concomitant change from classical to anomalous transport. In the limiter experiment the turbulence sampled is always fully developed. The similarity of the results in the two experiments strongly suggests a universal feature of pressure-gradient driven turbulence in magnetized plasmas that results in nondiffusive cross-field transport. This may explain previous observations in helical confinement devices, research tokamaks, and arc plasmas.

  14. Conceptual design Alcator C-MOD magnetic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schultz, J.H.; Becker, H.; Fertl, K.; Gwinn, D.; Montgomery, D.B.; Pierce, N.T.; Pillsbury, R.D. Jr.; Thome, R.J.

    1986-01-01

    The conceptual designs of the magnetic systems for Alcator C-MOD, a proposed tokamak at M.I.T., are described, including the toroidal magnet, the poloidal field coils and the cryogenic system. The toroidal magnet is constructed from rectangular plates, connected by sliding joints. Toroidal magnet forces are contained by a steel superstructure. Poloidal coil system options are largely or wholly inside the TF magnet, in order to control plasmas with high current, strong shaping, and expanded boundaries. All magnets are cryocooled by the natural circulation of boiling liquid nitrogen. 3 refs., 5 figs

  15. Laboratory Observation of a Plasma-Flow-State Transition from Diverging to Stretching a Magnetic Nozzle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Ando, Akira

    2017-06-02

    An axial magnetic field induced by a plasma flow in a divergent magnetic nozzle is measured when injecting the plasma flow from a radio frequency (rf) plasma source located upstream of the nozzle. The source is operated with a pulsed rf power of 5 kW, and the high density plasma flow is sustained only for the initial ∼100  μsec of the discharge. The measurement shows a decrease in the axial magnetic field near the source exit, whereas an increase in the field is detected at the downstream side of the magnetic nozzle. These results demonstrate a spatial transition of the plasma-flow state from diverging to stretching the magnetic nozzle, where the importance of both the Alfvén and ion Mach numbers is shown.

  16. Magnetic flux conversion and relaxation toward a minimum-energy state in S-1 spheromak plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janos, A.

    1985-09-01

    S-1 Spheromak currents and magnetic fluxes have been measured with Rogowski coils and flux loops external to the plasma. Toroidal plasma currents up to 350 kA and spheromak configuration lifetimes over 1.0 msec have been achieved at moderate power levels. The plasma formation in the S-1 Spheromak device is based on an inductive transfer of poloidal and toroidal magnetic flux from a toroidal ''flux core'' to the plasma. Formation is programmed to guide the configuration into a force-free, minimum-energy Taylor state. Properly detailed programming of the formation process is found not to be essential since plasmas adjust themselves during formation to a final equilibrium near the Taylor state. After formation, if the plasma evolves away from the stable state, then distinct relaxation oscillation events occur which restore the configuration to that stable state. The relaxation process involves reconnection of magnetic field lines, and conversion of poloidal to toroidal magnetic flux (and vice versa) has been observed and documented. The scaling of toroidal plasma current and toroidal magnetic flux in the plasma with externally applied currents is consistent with the establishment of a Taylor state after formation. In addition, the magnetic helicity is proportional to that injected from the flux core, independent of how that helicity is generated

  17. Plasma heating and confinement in toroidal magnetic bottle by means of microwave slowing-down structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Datlov, J.; Klima, R.; Kopecky, V.; Musil, J.; Zacek, F.

    1977-01-01

    An invention is described concerning high-frequency plasma heating and confinement in toroidal magnetic vessels. Microwave energy is applied to the plasma via one or more slowing-down structures exciting low phase velocity waves whose energy may be efficiently absorbed by plasma electrons. The wave momentum transfer results in a toroidal electrical current whose magnetic field together with an external magnetic field ensure plasma confinement. The low-frequency modulation of microwave energy may also be used for heating the ion plasma component. (J.U.)

  18. Model of magnetic reconnection in space and astrophysical plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boozer, Allen H. [Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)

    2013-03-15

    Maxwell's equations imply that exponentially smaller non-ideal effects than commonly assumed can give rapid magnetic reconnection in space and astrophysical plasmas. In an ideal evolution, magnetic field lines act as stretchable strings, which can become ever more entangled but cannot be cut. High entanglement makes the lines exponentially sensitive to small non-ideal changes in the magnetic field. The cause is well known in popular culture as the butterfly effect and in the theory of deterministic dynamical systems as a sensitive dependence on initial conditions, but the importance to magnetic reconnection is not generally recognized. Two-coordinate models are too constrained geometrically for the required entanglement, but otherwise the effect is general and can be studied in simple models. A simple model is introduced, which is periodic in the x and y Cartesian coordinates and bounded by perfectly conducting planes in z. Starting from a constant magnetic field in the z direction, reconnection is driven by a spatially smooth, bounded force. The model is complete and could be used to study the impulsive transfer of energy between the magnetic field and the ions and electrons using a kinetic plasma model.

  19. Model of magnetic reconnection in space and astrophysical plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boozer, Allen H.

    2013-01-01

    Maxwell's equations imply that exponentially smaller non-ideal effects than commonly assumed can give rapid magnetic reconnection in space and astrophysical plasmas. In an ideal evolution, magnetic field lines act as stretchable strings, which can become ever more entangled but cannot be cut. High entanglement makes the lines exponentially sensitive to small non-ideal changes in the magnetic field. The cause is well known in popular culture as the butterfly effect and in the theory of deterministic dynamical systems as a sensitive dependence on initial conditions, but the importance to magnetic reconnection is not generally recognized. Two-coordinate models are too constrained geometrically for the required entanglement, but otherwise the effect is general and can be studied in simple models. A simple model is introduced, which is periodic in the x and y Cartesian coordinates and bounded by perfectly conducting planes in z. Starting from a constant magnetic field in the z direction, reconnection is driven by a spatially smooth, bounded force. The model is complete and could be used to study the impulsive transfer of energy between the magnetic field and the ions and electrons using a kinetic plasma model.

  20. Radiation from a pulsed dipole source in a moving magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gavrilenko, V. G.; Petrov, E. Yu.; Pikulin, V. D.; Sutyagina, D. A.

    2006-01-01

    The problem of radiation from a pulsed dipole source in a moving magnetized plasma described by a diagonal permittivity tensor is considered. An exact solution describing the spatiotemporal behavior of the excited electromagnetic field is obtained. The shape of an electromagnetic pulse that is generated by the source and propagates at different angles to both the direction of the external magnetic field and the direction of plasma motion is investigated. It is found that even nonrelativistic motion of the plasma medium can substantially influence the parameters of radiation from prescribed unsteady sources

  1. Mirror Fusion Test Facility magnet system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    VanSant, J.H.; Kozman, T.A.; Bulmer, R.H.; Ng, D.S.

    1981-01-01

    In 1979, R.H. Bulmer of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) discussed a proposed tandem-mirror magnet system for the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) at the 8th symposium on Engineering Problems in Fusion Research. Since then, Congress has voted funds for expanding LLNL's MFTF to a tandem-mirror facility (designated MFTF-B). The new facility, scheduled for completion by 1985, will seek to achieve two goals: (1) Energy break-even capability (Q or the ratio of fusion energy to plasma heating energy = 1) of mirror fusion, (2) Engineering feasibility of reactor-scale machines. Briefly stated, 22 superconducting magnets contained in a 11-m-diam by 65-m-long vacuum vessel will confine a fusion plasma fueled by 80 axial streaming-plasma guns and over 40 radial neutral beams. We have already completed a preliminary design of this magnet system

  2. Amplification of magnetic modes in laser-created plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matte, J.P.; Bendib, A.; Luciani, J.F.

    1987-01-01

    The amplification of magnetic (Weibel) modes in laser-plasma interaction is investigated by use of unperturbed distribution functions given by Fokker-Planck simulations and a dispersion relation valid for all collisionality regimes. In the five cases studied, a strongly growing mode is found in the underdense plasma, where v-bar/sub x/ 2 2 , and the usual slowly growing one in the overdense plasma. The first mode grows convectively outwards by more than 10 4 . The convection velocities are found to be very different from Nernst values

  3. Magnetic energy density and plasma energy density in the Venus wake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez De Tejada, H. A.; Durand-Manterola, H. J.; Lundin, R.; Barabash, S.; Zhang, T.; Reyes-Ruiz, M.; Sauvaud, J.

    2013-05-01

    Magnetic energy density and plasma energy density in the Venus wake H. Pérez-de-Tejada1, H. Durand-Manterola1, R. Lundin2, S. Barabash2, T. L. Zhang3, A. Sauvaud4, M. Reyes-Ruiz5. 1 - Institute of Geophysics, UNAM, México, D. F. 2 - Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Umea, Sweden 3 - Space Research Institute, Graz, Austria 4 - CESR, Toulouse, France 5 - Institute of Astronomy, UNAM, Ensenada, México Measurements conducted in the Venus wake with the magnetometer and the Aspera-4 plasma instrument of the Venus Express spacecraft show that average values of the kinetic energy density of the plasma in that region are comparable to average local values of the magnetic energy density. Observations were carried out in several orbits of the Venus Express near the midnight plane and suggest that the total energy content in the Venus wake is distributed with nearly comparable values between the plasma and the magnetic field. Processes associated with the solar wind erosion of planetary ions from the polar magnetic regions of the ionosphere are involved in the comparable distribution of both energy components.

  4. Steady state models for filamentary plasma structures associated with force free magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marklund, G.

    1978-05-01

    This paper presents a model for filamentary plasma structures associated with force-free magnetic fields. A homogenous electric field parallel to the symmetry axis of the magnetic field is assumed. Under the influence of these fields, the plasma will drift radially inwards resulting in an accumulation of plasma in the central region. We assume recombination losses to keep the central plasma density at a finite value, and the recombined plasma i.e. the neutrals to diffuse radially outwards. Plasma density and some neutral gas density distributions for a steady state situation are calculated for various cases

  5. Frequency threshold for ion beam formation in expanding RF plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty Thakur, Saikat; Harvey, Zane; Biloiu, Ioana; Hansen, Alex; Hardin, Robert; Przybysz, William; Scime, Earl

    2008-11-01

    We observe a threshold frequency for ion beam formation in expanding, low pressure, argon helicon plasma. Mutually consistent measurements of ion beam energy and density relative to the background ion density obtained with a retarding field energy analyzer and laser induced fluorescence indicate that a stable ion beam of 15 eV appears for source frequencies above 11.5 MHz. Reducing the frequency increases the upstream beam amplitude. Downstream of the expansion region, a clear ion beam is seen only for the higher frequencies. At lower frequencies, large electrostatic instabilities appear and an ion beam is not observed. The upstream plasma density increases sharply at the same threshold frequency that leads to the appearance of a stable double layer. The observations are consistent with the theoretical prediction that downstream electrons accelerated into the source by the double layer lead to increased ionization, thus balancing the higher loss rates upstream [1]. 1. M. A. Lieberman, C. Charles and R. W. Boswell, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 39 (2006) 3294-3304

  6. Magnetic Cavitation and the Reemergence of Nonlocal Transport in Laser Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ridgers, C. P.; Kingham, R. J.; Thomas, A. G. R.

    2008-01-01

    We present the first fully kinetic Vlasov-Fokker-Planck simulations of nanosecond laser-plasma interactions including self-consistent magnetic fields and hydrodynamic plasma expansion. For the largest magnetic fields externally applied to long-pulse laser-gas-jet experiments (12 T) a significant degree of cavitation of the B field (>40%) will be shown to occur from the laser-heated region in under half a nanosecond. This is due to the Nernst effect and leads to the reemergence of nonlocality even if the initial value of the magnetic field strength is sufficient to localize the transport

  7. Runaway tails in magnetized plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moghaddam-Taaheri, E.; Vlahos, L.; Rowland, H. L.; Papadopoulos, K.

    1985-01-01

    The evolution of a runaway tail driven by a dc electric field in a magnetized plasma is analyzed. Depending on the strength of the electric field and the ratio of plasma to gyrofrequency, there are three different regimes in the evolution of the tail. The tail can be (1) stable with electrons accelerated to large parallel velocities, (2) unstable to Cerenkov resonance because of the depletion of the bulk and the formation of a positive slope, (3) unstable to the anomalous Doppler resonance instability driven by the large velocity anisotropy in the tail. Once an instability is triggered (Cerenkov or anomalous Doppler resonance) the tail relaxes into an isotropic distribution. The role of a convection type loss term is also discussed.

  8. General Relativistic Simulations of Magnetized Plasmas Around Merging Supermassive Black Holes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giacomazzo, Bruno; Baker, John G.; Miller, M. Coleman; Reynolds, Christopher S.; van Meter, James R.

    2012-01-01

    Coalescing supermassive black hole binaries are produced by the mergers of galaxies and are the most powerful sources of gravitational waves accessible to space-based gravitational observatories. Some such mergers may occur in the presence of matter and magnetic fields and hence generate an electromagnetic counterpart. In this paper we present the first general relativistic simulations of magnetized plasma around merging supermassive black holes using the general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic code Whisky. By considering different magnetic field strengths, going from non-magnetically dominated to magnetically dominated regimes, we explore how magnetic fields affect the dynamics of the plasma and the possible emission of electromagnetic signals. In particular we observe, total amplification of the magnetic field of approx 2 orders of magnitude which is driven by the accretion onto the binary and that leads to stronger electromagnetic signals than in the force-free regime where such amplifications are not possible.

  9. Transparency of magnetized plasma at the cyclotron frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shvets, G.; Wurtele, J.S.

    2002-01-01

    Electromagnetic radiation is strongly absorbed by a magnetized plasma if the radiation frequency equals the cyclotron frequency of plasma electrons. It is demonstrated that absorption can be completely canceled in the presence of a magnetostatic field of an undulator, or a second radiation beam, resulting in plasma transparency at the cyclotron frequency. This effect is reminiscent of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of three-level atomic systems, except that it occurs in a completely classical plasma. Unlike the atomic systems, where all the excited levels required for EIT exist in each atom, this classical EIT requires the excitation of nonlocal plasma oscillation. A Lagrangian description was used to elucidate the physics of the plasma transparency and control of group and phase velocity. This control leads to applications for electromagnetic pulse compression and electron/ion acceleration

  10. Classical anomalous absorption in strongly magnetized plasmas and effective shielding length

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuda, K.

    1981-01-01

    The high-frequency conductivity tensor of a plasma in a magnetic field has been evaluated. An anomalous perpendicular conductivity is obtained for a strongly magnetized plasma. Contrarily to the previous prediction, the effective shielding length is found to be the Debye length even when the Debye length is larger than the electron gyroradius. The effective shielding length is further discussed by presenting the generalized Balescu-Lenard equation

  11. Computers in plasma physics: remote data access and magnetic configuration design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blackwell, B.D.; McMillan, B.F.; Searle, A.C.; Gardner, H.J.; Price, D.M.; Fredian, T.W.

    2000-01-01

    Full text: Two graphically intensive examples of the application of computers in plasma physics are described remote data access for plasma confinement experiments, and a code for real-time magnetic field tracing and optimisation. The application for both of these is the H-1NF National Plasma Fusion Research Facility, a Commonwealth Major National Research Facility within the Research School of Physical Science, Institute of Advanced Studies, ANU. It is based on the 'flexible' heliac stellarator H-1, a plasma confinement device in which the confining fields are generated solely by external conductors. These complex, fully three dimensional magnetic fields are used as examples for the magnetic design application, and data from plasma physics experiments are used to illustrate the remote access techniques. As plasma fusion experiments grow in size, increased remote access allows physicists to participate in experiments and data analysis from their home base. Three types of access will be described and demonstrated - a simple Java-based web interface, an example TCP client-server built around the widely used MDSPlus data system and the visualisation package IDL (RSI Inc), and a virtual desktop Environment (VNC: AT and T Research) that simulates terminals local to the plasma facility. A client server TCP/IP - web interface to the programmable logic controller that provides user interface to the programmable high power magnet power supplies is described. A very general configuration file allows great flexibility, and allows new displays and interfaces to be created (usually) without changes to the underlying C++ and Java code. The magnetic field code BLINE provides accurate calculation of complex magnetic fields, and 3D visualisation in real time, using a low cost multiprocessor computer and an OpenGL-compatible graphics accelerator. A fast, flexible multi-mesh interpolation method is used for tracing vacuum magnetic field lines created by arbitrary filamentary

  12. A laboratory plasma experiment for studying magnetic dynamics of accretion discs and jets

    OpenAIRE

    Hsu, S. C.; Bellan, P. M.

    2002-01-01

    This work describes a laboratory plasma experiment and initial results which should give insight into the magnetic dynamics of accretion discs and jets. A high-speed multiple-frame CCD camera reveals images of the formation and helical instability of a collimated plasma, similar to MHD models of disc jets, and also plasma detachment associated with spheromak formation, which may have relevance to disc winds and flares. The plasmas are produced by a planar magnetized coaxial gun. The resulting...

  13. One-step isolation of plasma membrane proteins using magnetic beads with immobilized concanavalin A

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lee, Yu-Chen; Block, Gregory; Chen, Huiwen

    2008-01-01

    We have developed a simple method for isolating and purifying plasma membrane proteins from various cell types. This one-step affinity-chromatography method uses the property of the lectin concanavalin A (ConA) and the technique of magnetic bead separation to obtain highly purified plasma membrane...... proteins from crude membrane preparations or cell lines. ConA is immobilized onto magnetic beads by binding biotinylated ConA to streptavidin magnetic beads. When these ConA magnetic beads were used to enrich plasma membranes from a crude membrane preparation, this procedure resulted in 3.7-fold enrichment...... of plasma membrane marker 5'-nucleotidase activity with 70% recovery of the activity in the crude membrane fraction of rat liver. In agreement with the results of 5'-nucleotidase activity, immunoblotting with antibodies specific for a rat liver plasma membrane protein, CEACAM1, indicated that CEACAM1...

  14. A reduced set of gyrofluid equations for plasma flow in a diverging magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robertson, Scott

    2016-01-01

    Plasmas are often generated in a small diameter source with a strong magnetic field and subsequently flow into a region with greater diameter and smaller field. The magnetic mirror force that accelerates plasma in a diverging magnetic field appears in the gyrofluid equations developed for applications to toroidal devices, but this force is often absent from fluid equations. A set of gyrofluid equations with reduced complexity is developed in which drifts are assumed negligible and the mirror force is retained. The Chew–Goldberger–Low equations of state are used for a simple closure. These reduced gyrofluid equations are applied to plasma equilibrium in a magnetic mirror, to acceleration of plasma in a magnetic nozzle, and to space charge neutralization of an ion beam by electrons in a diverging magnetic field. The results from gyrofluid theory are compared with results from drift kinetic theory to find the accuracy of the gyrofluid approximation in these applications.

  15. Nonlinear modulation of ion acoustic waves in a magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bharuthram, R.; Shukla, P.K.

    1987-01-01

    The quasistatic plasma slow response to coherent ion acoustic waves in a magnetized plasma is considered. A multidimensional cubic nonlinear Schroedinger equation is derived. It is found that the ion acoustic waves remain modulationally stable against oblique perturbations

  16. Plasma Flows in Crossed Magnetic and Electric Fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belikov, A.G.

    2005-01-01

    The effect of the magnitude and direction of an external electric field on the plasma flowing through a magnetic barrier is studied by numerically solving two-fluid MHD equations. The drift velocity of the plasma flow and the distribution of the flow electrons over transverse velocities are found to depend on the magnitude and direction of the electric field. It is shown that the direction of the induced longitudinal electric field is determined by the direction of the external field and that the electric current generated by the plasma flow significantly disturbs the barrier field

  17. Fast reconnection of magnetic fields in a plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, P.N.

    1983-01-01

    Reconnection process of magnetic fields in a plasma is analytically studied by perturbing the boundary conditions on a slab of incompressible plasma with a resonant surface inside. It is found, for small resistivity, that the reconnection takes place on Alfven time scale and continues into a slow time scale t 1 = eta/sup 1/3/t. Both time scales are faster than the usual tearing time scale. Furthermore, the plasma evolves globally from its initial equilibrium on the slow time scale and settles down to a different final equilibrium

  18. Perpendicular relativistic shocks in magnetized pair plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plotnikov, Illya; Grassi, Anna; Grech, Mickael

    2018-04-01

    Perpendicular relativistic (γ0 = 10) shocks in magnetized pair plasmas are investigated using two dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. A systematic survey, from unmagnetized to strongly magnetized shocks, is presented accurately capturing the transition from Weibel-mediated to magnetic-reflection-shaped shocks. This transition is found to occur for upstream flow magnetizations 10-3 10-2, it leaves place to a purely electromagnetic precursor following from the strong emission of electromagnetic waves at the shock front. Particle acceleration is found to be efficient in weakly magnetized perpendicular shocks in agreement with previous works, and is fully suppressed for σ > 10-2. Diffusive Shock Acceleration is observed only in weakly magnetized shocks, while a dominant contribution of Shock Drift Acceleration is evidenced at intermediate magnetizations. The spatial diffusion coefficients are extracted from the simulations allowing for a deeper insight into the self-consistent particle kinematics and scale with the square of the particle energy in weakly magnetized shocks. These results have implications for particle acceleration in the internal shocks of AGN jets and in the termination shocks of Pulsar Wind Nebulae.

  19. Parametric instabilities in shallow water magnetohydrodynamics of astrophysical plasma in external magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Klimachkov, D.A., E-mail: klimachkovdmitry@gmail.com [Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Science, 84/32, Profsoyuznaya str., Moscow, 117997 (Russian Federation); Petrosyan, A.S. [Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Science, 84/32, Profsoyuznaya str., Moscow, 117997 (Russian Federation); Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), 9 Institutskyi per., Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141700 (Russian Federation)

    2017-01-15

    This article deals with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows of a thin rotating layer of astrophysical plasma in external magnetic field. We use the shallow water approximation to describe thin rotating plasma layer with a free surface in a vertical external magnetic field. The MHD shallow water equations with external vertical magnetic field are revised by supplementing them with the equations that are consequences of the magnetic field divergence-free conditions and reveal the existence of third component of the magnetic field in such approximation providing its relation with the horizontal magnetic field. It is shown that the presence of a vertical magnetic field significantly changes the dynamics of the wave processes in astrophysical plasma compared to the neutral fluid and plasma layer in a toroidal magnetic field. The equations for the nonlinear wave packets interactions are derived using the asymptotic multiscale method. The equations for three magneto-Poincare waves interactions, for three magnetostrophic waves interactions, for the interactions of two magneto-Poincare waves and for one magnetostrophic wave and two magnetostrophic wave and one magneto-Poincare wave interactions are obtained. The existence of parametric decay and parametric amplifications is predicted. We found following four types of parametric decay instabilities: magneto-Poincare wave decays into two magneto-Poincare waves, magnetostrophic wave decays into two magnetostrophic waves, magneto-Poincare wave decays into one magneto-Poincare wave and one magnetostrophic wave, magnetostrophic wave decays into one magnetostrophic wave and one magneto-Poincare wave. Following mechanisms of parametric amplifications are found: parametric amplification of magneto-Poincare waves, parametric amplification of magnetostrophic waves, magneto-Poincare wave amplification in magnetostrophic wave presence and magnetostrophic wave amplification in magneto-Poincare wave presence. The instabilities growth rates

  20. Ultra-low-frequency electrostatic modes in a magnetized dusty plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.; Amin, M.R.; Roy Chowdhury, A.R.; Salahuddin, M.

    1997-11-01

    A study on the extremely low-frequency possible electrostatic modes in a finite temperature magnetized dusty plasma taking the charged dust grains as the third component has been carried out using the appropriate Vlasov-kinetic theory for the dynamics of the electrons, ions and the dust particles. It is found that the inequalities of charge and number density of plasma species, and the finite-Larmor-radius thermal kinetic effects of the mobile charged dust grains, introduce the existence of very low-frequency electrostatic eigenmodes in the three-component homogeneous magnetized dusty plasma. The relevance of the present investigation to space and astrophysical situations as well as laboratory experiments for dust Coulomb crystallization has been pointed out. (author)

  1. Model of a source-driven plasma interacting with a wall in an oblique magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahedo, E.; Carralero, D.

    2009-01-01

    A fluid model of a magnetized source-driven plasma is discussed for regimes with (Debye length)<<(ion Larmor radius)<<(plasma size and collisional mean-free path). Plasma collection by the wall is determined in terms of angle of incidence, magnetic strength, and plasma collisionality. For nonparallel incidence, a three-scale asymptotic analysis reveals a three-region matched structure consisting of a magnetically aligned bulk region, the Chodura layer, and the Debye sheath. Sonic Chodura and Bohm conditions define the singular region transitions. For near-parallel incidence, a separate analysis demonstrates the presence of a diffusive-collisional bulk region followed by a thin collisionless layer, which differs partially from the Chodura layer. A parametric analysis unveils the presence of four regimes depending on plasma collisionality: (1) a collisionless regime, with the magnetically channeled bulk region governed by plasma production; (2) a resistive semicollisional regime, where collisions retard the plasma transport in the bulk region; (3) a diffusive semicollisional regime, where the ExB drift dominates the ion flux in the bulk region; and (4) a collisional regime, where collisions cancel out magnetic effects. At grazing incidence, plasma collection is found to vary nonmonotonically with plasma collisionality. Nonzero Debye-length effects are discussed briefly.

  2. PIC Simulations of Hypersonic Plasma Instabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niehoff, D.; Ashour-Abdalla, M.; Niemann, C.; Decyk, V.; Schriver, D.; Clark, E.

    2013-12-01

    The plasma sheaths formed around hypersonic aircraft (Mach number, M > 10) are relatively unexplored and of interest today to both further the development of new technologies and solve long-standing engineering problems. Both laboratory experiments and analytical/numerical modeling are required to advance the understanding of these systems; it is advantageous to perform these tasks in tandem. There has already been some work done to study these plasmas by experiments that create a rapidly expanding plasma through ablation of a target with a laser. In combination with a preformed magnetic field, this configuration leads to a magnetic "bubble" formed behind the front as particles travel at about Mach 30 away from the target. Furthermore, the experiment was able to show the generation of fast electrons which could be due to instabilities on electron scales. To explore this, future experiments will have more accurate diagnostics capable of observing time- and length-scales below typical ion scales, but simulations are a useful tool to explore these plasma conditions theoretically. Particle in Cell (PIC) simulations are necessary when phenomena are expected to be observed at these scales, and also have the advantage of being fully kinetic with no fluid approximations. However, if the scales of the problem are not significantly below the ion scales, then the initialization of the PIC simulation must be very carefully engineered to avoid unnecessary computation and to select the minimum window where structures of interest can be studied. One method of doing this is to seed the simulation with either experiment or ion-scale simulation results. Previous experiments suggest that a useful configuration for studying hypersonic plasma configurations is a ring of particles rapidly expanding transverse to an external magnetic field, which has been simulated on the ion scale with an ion-hybrid code. This suggests that the PIC simulation should have an equivalent configuration

  3. MAGNETIC NULL POINTS IN KINETIC SIMULATIONS OF SPACE PLASMAS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olshevsky, Vyacheslav; Innocenti, Maria Elena; Cazzola, Emanuele; Lapenta, Giovanni; Deca, Jan; Divin, Andrey; Peng, Ivy Bo; Markidis, Stefano

    2016-01-01

    We present a systematic attempt to study magnetic null points and the associated magnetic energy conversion in kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of various plasma configurations. We address three-dimensional simulations performed with the semi-implicit kinetic electromagnetic code iPic3D in different setups: variations of a Harris current sheet, dipolar and quadrupolar magnetospheres interacting with the solar wind, and a relaxing turbulent configuration with multiple null points. Spiral nulls are more likely created in space plasmas: in all our simulations except lunar magnetic anomaly (LMA) and quadrupolar mini-magnetosphere the number of spiral nulls prevails over the number of radial nulls by a factor of 3–9. We show that often magnetic nulls do not indicate the regions of intensive energy dissipation. Energy dissipation events caused by topological bifurcations at radial nulls are rather rare and short-lived. The so-called X-lines formed by the radial nulls in the Harris current sheet and LMA simulations are rather stable and do not exhibit any energy dissipation. Energy dissipation is more powerful in the vicinity of spiral nulls enclosed by magnetic flux ropes with strong currents at their axes (their cross sections resemble 2D magnetic islands). These null lines reminiscent of Z-pinches efficiently dissipate magnetic energy due to secondary instabilities such as the two-stream or kinking instability, accompanied by changes in magnetic topology. Current enhancements accompanied by spiral nulls may signal magnetic energy conversion sites in the observational data

  4. Start-up assist by magnetized plasma flow injection in TPE-RX reversed-field pinch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asai, T. [College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 1-8 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8308 (Japan)]. E-mail: asai@phys.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp; Nagata, M. [Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, Himeji (Japan); Koguchi, H. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Hirano, Y. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Sakakita, H. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Yambe, K. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Kiyama, S. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)

    2006-11-15

    A reversed-field pinch (RFP) start-up assisted by a magnetized plasma flow injection was demonstrated for the first time on a TPE-RX machine. This sequence of experiments aimed to establish a new method of ionization, gas-fill and helicity injection in the start-up phase of an RFP. In this start-up method, magnetized and well-ionized plasma is formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun and injected into the torus chamber as an initial pre-ionized plasma for RFP formation. In the initial experiments, attenuated density pump-out and comparatively slow decay of the toroidal flux and plasma current were observed as evidence of its being an effective start-up method.

  5. Transparency of Magnetized Plasma at Cyclotron Frequency; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    G. Shvets; J.S. Wurtele

    2002-01-01

    Electromagnetic radiation is strongly absorbed by a magnetized plasma if the radiation frequency equals the cyclotron frequency of plasma electrons. It is demonstrated that absorption can be completely canceled in the presence of a magnetostatic field of an undulator or a second radiation beam, resulting in plasma transparency at the cyclotron frequency. This effect is reminiscent of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of the three-level atomic systems, except that it occurs in a completely classical plasma. Unlike the atomic systems, where all the excited levels required for EIT exist in each atom, this classical EIT requires the excitation of the nonlocal plasma oscillation. The complexity of the plasma system results in an index of refraction at the cyclotron frequency that differs from unity. Lagrangian description was used to elucidate the physics and enable numerical simulation of the plasma transparency and control of group and phase velocity. This control naturally leads to applications for electromagnetic pulse compression in the plasma and electron/ion acceleration

  6. Effective Ohm's law for magnetized plasmas with anisotropic inhomogeneities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shamma, S.E.; Martinez-Sanchez, M.; Louis, J.F.

    1978-01-01

    Reduction formulae for the effective, or macroscopic, Ohm's law parameters are derived for inhomogeneous plasmas with anisotropic conductivity fluctuations having two general types of geometry: (a) elongated or shortened in the direction of the magnetic field and (b) two-dimensional, with the direction of constant properties lying in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. In each case, two approaches are used: (a) a small perturbation method and (b) an approximate method where each region in the plasma is considered separately, and consistency conditions are used to relate the results corresponding to each separate region to the effective properties of the whole plasma. Both methods are found to agree well when the fluctuations are weak, but differences appear at high fluctuation levels and, for nonuniformities very elongated along B, when the Hall parameter β is high. Comparison with available exact solutions valid at high β and strong fluctuation levels indicates that the self-consistency method gives accurate results even in these cases. The results of these analyses are used to evaluate the performance reduction in magnetohydrodynamic channels with plasma nonuniformities of several geometries, including axial streamers, perfectly isotropic fluctuations, and fluctuations elongated along B; the power density is reduced most strongly when β and the rms of the fluctuations are high, and also when the inhomogeneities are stretched along the magnetic field

  7. Dust confinement and dust acoustic waves in a magnetized plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piel, A.

    2005-10-01

    Systematic laboratory experiments on dust acoustic waves require the confinement of dust particles. Here we report on new experiments in a magnetized plasma region in front of an additional positively biased disk electrode in a background plasma which is generated in argon at 27MHz between a disk and grid electrode. The plasma diffuses through the grid along the magnetic field. The three-dimensional dust distribution is measured with a horizontal sheet of laser light and a CCD camera, which are mounted on a vertical translation stage. Depending on magnetic field and discharge current, cigar or donut-shaped dust clouds are generated, which tend to rotate about the magnetic field direction. Measurements with emissive probes show that the axial confinement of dust particles with diameters between 0.7-2 μm is achieved by a balance of ion-drag force and electric field force. Dust levitation and radial confinement is due to a strong radial electric field. Dust acoustic waves are destabilized by the ion flow or can be stimulated by a periodic bias on the disk electrode. The observed wave dispersion is compared with fluid and kinetic models of the dust acoustic wave.

  8. Degenerate mixing of plasma waves on cold, magnetized single-species plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, M. W.; O'Neil, T. M.; Dubin, D. H. E.; Gould, R. W.

    2011-10-01

    In the cold-fluid dispersion relation ω =ωp/[1+(k⊥/kz)2]1/2 for Trivelpiece-Gould waves on an infinitely long magnetized plasma cylinder, the transverse and axial wavenumbers appear only in the combination k⊥/kz. As a result, for any frequency ω plasma column, these degenerate waves reflect into one another at the ends; thus, each standing-wave normal mode of the bounded plasma is a mixture of many degenerate waves, not a single standing wave as is often assumed. A striking feature of the many-wave modes is that the short-wavelength waves often add constructively along resonance cones given by dz /dr=±(ωp2/ω2-1)1/2. Also, the presence of short wavelengths in the admixture for a predominantly long-wavelength mode enhances the viscous damping beyond what the single-wave approximation would predict. Here, numerical solutions are obtained for modes of a cylindrical plasma column with rounded ends. Exploiting the fact that the modes of a spheroidal plasma are known analytically (the Dubin modes), a perturbation analysis is used to investigate the mixing of low-order, nearly degenerate Dubin modes caused by small deformations of a plasma spheroid.

  9. Nonlinear electrostatic wave equations for magnetized plasmas - II

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dysthe, K. B.; Mjølhus, E.; Pécseli, H. L.

    1985-01-01

    For pt.I see ibid., vol.26, p.443-7 (1984). The problem of extending the high frequency part of the Zakharov equations for nonlinear electrostatic waves to magnetized plasmas, is considered. Weak electromagnetic and thermal effects are retained on an equal footing. Direction dependent (electrosta......For pt.I see ibid., vol.26, p.443-7 (1984). The problem of extending the high frequency part of the Zakharov equations for nonlinear electrostatic waves to magnetized plasmas, is considered. Weak electromagnetic and thermal effects are retained on an equal footing. Direction dependent...... (electrostatic) cut-off implies that various cases must be considered separately, leading to equations with rather different properties. Various equations encountered previously in the literature are recovered as limiting cases....

  10. Convective plasma stability consistent with MHD equilibrium in magnetic confinement systems with a decreasing field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsventoukh, M. M.

    2010-01-01

    A study is made of the convective (interchange, or flute) plasma stability consistent with equilibrium in magnetic confinement systems with a magnetic field decreasing outward and large curvature of magnetic field lines. Algorithms are developed which calculate convective plasma stability from the Kruskal-Oberman kinetic criterion and in which the convective stability is iteratively consistent with MHD equilibrium for a given pressure and a given type of anisotropy in actual magnetic geometry. Vacuum and equilibrium convectively stable configurations in systems with a decreasing, highly curved magnetic field are calculated. It is shown that, in convectively stable equilibrium, the possibility of achieving high plasma pressures in the central region is restricted either by the expansion of the separatrix (when there are large regions of a weak magnetic field) or by the filamentation of the gradient plasma current (when there are small regions of a weak magnetic field, in which case the pressure drops mainly near the separatrix). It is found that, from the standpoint of equilibrium and of the onset of nonpotential ballooning modes, a kinetic description of convective stability yields better plasma confinement parameters in systems with a decreasing, highly curved magnetic field than a simpler MHD model and makes it possible to substantially improve the confinement parameters for a given type of anisotropy. For the Magnetor experimental compact device, the maximum central pressure consistent with equilibrium and stability is calculated to be as high as β ∼ 30%. It is shown that, for the anisotropy of the distribution function that is typical of a background ECR plasma, the limiting pressure gradient is about two times steeper than that for an isotropic plasma. From a practical point of view, the possibility is demonstrated of achieving better confinement parameters of a hot collisionless plasma in systems with a decreasing, highly curved magnetic field than those

  11. Influence of Rotational Transform and Magnetic Shear on the Energy Content of TJ-II Plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Estrada, T.; Ascasibar, E.; Castejon, F.; Jimenez, J. A.; Lopez-Bruna, D.; Pastor, I.

    2002-07-01

    In the magnetic configuration scans performed in TJ-II stellarator, low plasma energy content is found to be related to the presence of low order rational surfaces within the confinement region in low plasma density experiments. Plasma currents of about-1 kA (mainly bootstrap driven) can substantially increase the magnetic shear in TJ-II and under these conditions the confinement is no longer deteriorated by low order rational surfaces. Experiments with higher plasma currents (OH induced currents up to +/-10 kA) show a non-symmetric dependence on the sign of the magnetic shear. Preliminary results show a substantial improvement of the confinement in the case of negative plasma current, while minor changes are observed in the plasma energy content when positive current is induced in magnetic configurations that in vacuum exclude low order rational surfaces. (Author) 12 refs.

  12. Influence of Rotational Transform and Magnetic Shear on the Energy Content of TJ-II Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Estrada, T.; Ascasibar, E.; Castejon, F.; Jimenez, J. A.; Lopez-Bruna, D.; Pastor, I.

    2002-01-01

    In the magnetic configuration scans performed in TJ-II stellarator, low plasma energy content is found to be related to the presence of low order rational surfaces within the confinement region in low plasma density experiments. Plasma currents of about-1 kA (mainly bootstrap driven) can substantially increase the magnetic shear in TJ-II and under these conditions the confinement is no longer deteriorated by low order rational surfaces. Experiments with higher plasma currents (OH induced currents up to +/-10 kA) show a non-symmetric dependence on the sign of the magnetic shear. Preliminary results show a substantial improvement of the confinement in the case of negative plasma current, while minor changes are observed in the plasma energy content when positive current is induced in magnetic configurations that in vacuum exclude low order rational surfaces. (Author) 12 refs

  13. Determination of the plasma column shape in the Tokamak Novillo cross section by magnetic probes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hernandez Omana, A.

    1993-01-01

    The determination of plasma cross section shape in Tokamaks is an important diagnostic method for equilibrium conditions analysis. In this work, it is obtained a time dependent variation of the plasma column cross section in Novillo Tokamak. The experimental method is based on using one magnetic probe, which is installed inside of the vacuum vessel in a 1 mm. wall thickness stainless steel tube, in the protected region of the limiter shadow. The plasma column cross section is determined measuring the poloidal magnetic field produced by the plasma current. This method, now running for determining the plasma column shape, requires the measurement of magnetic present field outside plasma column. The measurements are carried out from a set of small coils, which are located inside the vacuum chamber in the radial and poloidal direction, so we can measure magnetic field with no current attenuations produced by the penetration time of the stainless steel vacuum chamber. The magnetic probe detect a real time variation of magnetic flux passing through them. In order to obtain the magnetic field values, it is required that the electric signals coming from the magnetic probe be integrated, this operation is carried out by active circuits located between the probe signal and one oscilloscope. The integrated signals can be exhibited photographed on the oscilloscope display. (Author)

  14. Magnetic confinement in plasmas in nuclear devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tull, C.G.

    1979-01-01

    The main emphasis of the magnetic fusion energy research program today lies in the development of two types of confinement schemes: magnetic mirrors and tokamaks. Experimental programs for both of these confinement schemes have shown steady progress toward achieving fusion power breakeven. The scaling of the current machines to a reactor operating regime and newly developed methods for plasma heating will very likely produce power breakeven within the next decade. Predictions are that the efficiency in a fusion power plant should exceed 32%

  15. Method and means for measuring the anisotropy of a plasma in a magnetic field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shohet, J.L.; Greene, D.G.S.

    1973-10-23

    Anisotropy is measured of a free-free-bremsstrahlungradiation-generating plasma in a magnetic field by collimating the free-free bremsstrahlung radiation in a direction normal to the magnetic field and scattering the collimated free- free bremsstrahlung radiation to resolve the radiation into its vector components in a plane parallel to the electric field of the bremsstrahlung radiation. The scattered vector components are counted at particular energy levels in a direction parallel to the magnetic field and also normal to the magnetic field of the plasma to provide a measure of anisotropy of the plasma. (Official Gazette)

  16. Nonlinear magnetic reconnection in low collisionality plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ottaviani, M [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Porcelli, F [Politecnico di Torino, Turin (Italy)

    1994-07-01

    The magnetic reconnection in collisionless regimes, where electron inertia is responsible for the decoupling of the plasma motion from that of the field lines, is discussed. Since the linear theory of m=1 modes breaks down for very small magnetic island widths, a non linear analysis is called for. Thus, the behaviour of a collisionless, 2-D fluid slab model in the limit {rho}/d -> 0, is analyzed. The main result is that, when the island size is larger than the linear layer but smaller than the equilibrium scale length, the reconnection rate exhibits a quasi-explosive time behaviour, during which a current density sub-layer narrower than the skin depth is formed. It is believed that the inclusion of the electron initial term in Ohm`s law opens the possibility to understand the rapidity of relaxation process observed in low collisionality plasmas. 7 refs., 6 figs.

  17. Two-dimensional plasma expansion in a magnetic nozzle: Separation due to electron inertia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahedo, Eduardo; Merino, Mario

    2012-01-01

    A previous axisymmetric model of the supersonic expansion of a collisionless, hot plasma in a divergent magnetic nozzle is extended here in order to include electron-inertia effects. Up to dominant order on all components of the electron velocity, electron momentum equations still reduce to three conservation laws. Electron inertia leads to outward electron separation from the magnetic streamtubes. The progressive plasma filling of the adjacent vacuum region is consistent with electron-inertia being part of finite electron Larmor radius effects, which increase downstream and eventually demagnetize the plasma. Current ambipolarity is not fulfilled and ion separation can be either outwards or inwards of magnetic streamtubes, depending on their magnetization. Electron separation penalizes slightly the plume efficiency and is larger for plasma beams injected with large pressure gradients. An alternative nonzero electron-inertia model [E. Hooper, J. Propul. Power 9, 757 (1993)] based on cold plasmas and current ambipolarity, which predicts inwards electron separation, is discussed critically. A possible competition of the gyroviscous force with electron-inertia effects is commented briefly.

  18. 3+1 dimensional envelop waves and its stability in magnetized dusty plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan Wenshan

    2006-01-01

    It is well known that there are envelope solitary waves in unmagnetized dusty plasmas which are described by a nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE). A three dimension nonlinear Schrodinger equation for small but finite amplitude dust acoustic waves is first obtained for magnetized dusty plasma in this paper. It suggest that in magnetized dusty plasmas the envelope solitary waves exist. The modulational instability for three dimensional NLSE is studied as well. The regions of stability and instability are well determined in this paper

  19. Carbon distribution during plasma detachment triggered by edge magnetic island formation in LHD

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, C.F.; Morita, S.; Kobayashi, M.; Oishi, T.; Goto, M.; Wang, E.H.; Huang, X.L.

    2013-01-01

    The detached plasma has been successfully achieved by applying the edge 1/1 magnetic island in Large Helical Device (LHD). Carbon, which is uniquely the dominant intrinsic impurity in general LHD discharges, is considered to be the main radiating species in the island-triggered detached plasma. The vertical profile of CIV measured from general discharges of LHD is characterized by a single edge intensity peak. In detached plasmas triggered by the edge magnetic island formation, however, the vertical profile of CIV shows a significant difference. Double edge peaks of CIV are found during the plasma detachment and the CIV radiation is also remarkably enhanced in the vicinity of X-point, whereas the vertical profile of CVI does not show any significant difference in both the attached and detached plasmas. In this proceeding the carbon distribution during the plasma detachment is presented and the results are discussed with edge magnetic field structure. (author)

  20. Development of supersonic plasma flows by use of a magnetic nozzle and an ICRF heating

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Inutake, M.; Ando, A.; Hattori, K.; Tobari, H.; Hosokawa, Y.; Sato, R.; Hatanaka, M.; Harata, K. [Tohoku Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Sendai (Japan)

    2004-07-01

    A high-beta, supersonic plasma flow plays a crucial role in MHD phenomena in space and fusion plasmas. There are a few experimental researches on production and control of a fast flowing plasma in spite of a growing significance in the magnetized-plasma flow dynamics. A magneto-plasma-dynamic arc-jet (MPDA) is one of promising devices to produce a supersonic plasma flow and has been utilized as an electric propulsion device with a higher specific impulse and a relatively larger thrust. We have improved the performance of an MPDA to produce a quasi-steady plasma flow with a transonic and supersonic Mach number in a highly-ionized state. There are two methods in order to control an ion-acoustic Mach number of the plasma flow exhausted from an MPDA: one is to use a magnetic Laval nozzle to convert a thermal energy to a flow energy and the other is a combined system of an ion heating and a divergent magnetic nozzle. The former is an analogous method to a compressible air flow and the latter is the method proposed in an advanced thruster for a manned interplanetary space mission. We have clarified the plasma flow characteristics in various shapes of a magnetic field configuration. It was demonstrated that the Mach number of the plasma flow could increase up to almost 3 in a divergent magnetic nozzle field. This paper reports recent results on the flow field improvements: one is on a magnetic-Laval-nozzle effects observed at the muzzle region of the MPDA, and the other is on ICRF (ion-cyclotron-range of frequency) heating of a supersonic plasma by use of a helical antenna. (authors)

  1. Structural and magnetic studies on spark plasma sintered SmCo{sub 5}/Fe bulk nanocomposite magnets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rama Rao, N.V. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500 058 (India); Gopalan, R. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500 058 (India)]. E-mail: rg_gopy@yahoo.com; Manivel Raja, M. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500 058 (India); Chandrasekaran, V. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500 058 (India); Chakravarty, D. [International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Hyderabad 500 005 (India); Sundaresan, R. [International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Hyderabad 500 005 (India); Ranganathan, R. [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata 700 064 (India); Hono, K. [National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba 305 0047 (Japan)

    2007-05-15

    SmCo{sub 5}+xwt% Fe (x=0, 5 and 10) nanocomposite powders were synthesized by mechanical milling and were consolidated into bulk shape by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The evolution of structure and magnetic properties were systematically investigated in milled powders as well as in SPS samples. A maximum coercivity of 8.9kOe was achieved in spark plasma sintered SmCo{sub 5}+5wt% Fe sample. The exchange spring interaction between the hard and soft magnetic phases was evaluated using {delta}M-H measurements and the analysis revealed that the SPS sample containing 5wt% Fe had a stronger exchange coupling between the magnetic phases than that of the sample with10wt% Fe.

  2. Observation of Ion Acoustic Waves Excited by Drift Waves in a Weakly Magnetized Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsukabayashi, Isao; Sato, Sugiya; Nakamura, Yoshiharu

    2003-01-01

    Spontaneous fluctuations excited by drift waves are investigated experimentally in magnetic multi-pole plasma. The magnetic multi-pole has been widely used in DP devices and so on. It was observed that the high level of density fluctuations was generated by the drift instability near a magnetic multi-pole or a dipole magnet. The waves propagate to the middle plasma region forming the envelope train waves

  3. Plasma edge control by chaotic magnetic field structures. Book of abstracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2013-01-01

    The following topics were dealt with: Formation of stochastic magnetic layers and plasma response to external, non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations, energy and particle transport in stochastic magnetic fields and 3D equilibria, application of resonant magnetic perturbations for ELM control and implications for ITER, transport and exhaust in helical and island divertors. (HSI)

  4. Proton radiography of dynamic electric and magnetic fields in laser-produced high-energy-density plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, C. K.; Seguin, F. H.; Frenje, J. A.; Manuel, M.; Casey, D.; Sinenian, N.; Petrasso, R. D.; Amendt, P. A.; Landen, O. L.; Rygg, J. R.; Town, R. P. J.; Betti, R.; Meyerhofer, D. D.; Delettrez, J.; Knauer, J. P.; Marshall, F.; Sangster, T. C.; Smalyuk, V. A.; Soures, J. M.; Shvarts, D.

    2009-01-01

    Time-gated, monoenergetic-proton radiography provides unique measurements of the electric (E) and magnetic (B) fields produced in laser-foil interactions and during the implosion of inertial-confinement-fusion capsules. These experiments resulted in the first observations of several new and important features: (1) observations of the generation, decay dynamics, and instabilities of megagauss B fields in laser-driven planar plastic foils, (2) the observation of radial E fields inside an imploding capsule, which are initially directed inward, reverse direction during deceleration, and are likely related to the evolution of the electron pressure gradient, and (3) the observation of many radial filaments with complex electromagnetic field striations in the expanding coronal plasmas surrounding the capsule. The physics behind and implications of such observed fields are discussed.

  5. Linear and nonlinear waves with orbital angular momentum in magnetized plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Shahid; Kant Shukla, Padma; Tito Mendonca, José.

    2009-11-01

    Here we discuss the concept of orbital angular momentum (OAM) for electromagnetic waves in a magnetized plasma. Nonlinear effects of photons with spin and OAM will be considered. In particular, we examine the case of parametric interactions between circularly polarized electromagnetic waves and Langmuir and ion acoustic waves, including the ponderomotive force of light with OAM in magnetized plasma (Shukla & Stenflo, PRA). This will be a generalization of recent results published in PRL by J.T. Mendonca and B. Thide. We also examine the influence of OAM on the magnetic field generation by the inverse Faraday effect.

  6. Possible parametric instabilities of beat waves in a transversely magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.

    1988-05-01

    The effect of an external magnetic field on the various possible parametric instabilities of the longitudinal beat wave at the difference frequency of two incident laser beams in a hot plasma has been thoeretically investigated. The kinetic equation is employed to obtain the nonlinear response of the magnetized electrons due to the nonlinear coupling of the beat wave with the low-frequency electrostatic plasma modes. It is noted that the growth rates of the three-wave and the four-wave parametric instabilities can be influenced by the external transverse magnetic field. (author). 20 refs, 3 figs

  7. Magnetic plasma confinement for laser ion source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okamura, M.; Adeyemi, A.; Kanesue, T.; Tamura, J.; Kondo, K.; Dabrowski, R.

    2010-01-01

    A laser ion source (LIS) can easily provide a high current beam. However, it has been difficult to obtain a longer beam pulse while keeping a high current. On occasion, longer beam pulses are required by certain applications. For example, more than 10 μs of beam pulse is required for injecting highly charged beams to a large sized synchrotron. To extend beam pulse width, a solenoid field was applied at the drift space of the LIS at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The solenoid field suppressed the diverging angle of the expanding plasma and the beam pulse was widened. Also, it was observed that the plasma state was conserved after passing through a few hundred gauss of the 480 mm length solenoid field.

  8. Magnetic plasma confinement for laser ion source.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamura, M; Adeyemi, A; Kanesue, T; Tamura, J; Kondo, K; Dabrowski, R

    2010-02-01

    A laser ion source (LIS) can easily provide a high current beam. However, it has been difficult to obtain a longer beam pulse while keeping a high current. On occasion, longer beam pulses are required by certain applications. For example, more than 10 micros of beam pulse is required for injecting highly charged beams to a large sized synchrotron. To extend beam pulse width, a solenoid field was applied at the drift space of the LIS at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The solenoid field suppressed the diverging angle of the expanding plasma and the beam pulse was widened. Also, it was observed that the plasma state was conserved after passing through a few hundred gauss of the 480 mm length solenoid field.

  9. Determination of gross plasma equilibrium from magnetic multipoles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kessel, C.E.

    1986-05-01

    A new approximate technique to determine the gross plasma equilibrium parameters, major radius, minor radius, elongation and triangularity for an up-down symmetric plasma is developed. It is based on a multipole representation of the externally applied poloidal magnetic field, relating specific terms to the equilibrium parameters. The technique shows reasonable agreement with free boundary MHD equilibrium results. The method is useful in dynamic simulation and control studies.

  10. Determination of gross plasma equilibrium from magnetic multipoles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kessel, C.E.

    1986-05-01

    A new approximate technique to determine the gross plasma equilibrium parameters, major radius, minor radius, elongation and triangularity for an up-down symmetric plasma is developed. It is based on a multipole representation of the externally applied poloidal magnetic field, relating specific terms to the equilibrium parameters. The technique shows reasonable agreement with free boundary MHD equilibrium results. The method is useful in dynamic simulation and control studies

  11. MMS Observations of Ion-Scale Magnetic Island in the Magnetosheath Turbulent Plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, S. Y.; Sahraoui, F.; Retino, A.; Contel, O. Le; Yuan, Z. G.; Chasapis, A.; Aunai, N.; Breuillard, H.; Deng, X. H.; Zhou, M.; hide

    2016-01-01

    In this letter, first observations of ion-scale magnetic island from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the magnetosheath turbulent plasma are presented. The magnetic island is characterized by bipolar variation of magnetic fields with magnetic field compression, strong core field, density depletion, and strong currents dominated by the parallel component to the local magnetic field. The estimated size of magnetic island is about 8 di, where di is the ion inertial length. Distinct particle behaviors and wave activities inside and at the edges of the magnetic island are observed: parallel electron beam accompanied with electrostatic solitary waves and strong electromagnetic lower hybrid drift waves inside the magnetic island and bidirectional electron beams, whistler waves, weak electromagnetic lower hybrid drift waves, and strong broadband electrostatic noise at the edges of the magnetic island. Our observations demonstrate that highly dynamical, strong wave activities and electron-scale physics occur within ion-scale magnetic islands in the magnetosheath turbulent plasma..

  12. High plasma rotation velocity and density transitions by biased electrodes in RF produced, magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuyama, Shoichiro; Shinohara, Shunjiro

    2001-01-01

    A large density profile modification was successfully obtained by voltage biasing to electrodes inserted in a RF (radio frequency) produced, magnetized plasma, and formation of strong shear of azimuthal plasma rotation velocity in a supersonic regime was found. For the case of biasing to an electrode near the central plasma region, two types of density transitions were observed in the outer plasma region: one was an oscillatory transition between two states, and the other was a transition from high to low density states with a large reduction of density fluctuations. (author)

  13. High plasma rotation velocity and density transitions by biased electrodes in RF produced, magnetized plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsuyama, Shoichiro; Shinohara, Shunjiro [Kyushu Univ., Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Fukuoka (Japan)

    2001-07-01

    A large density profile modification was successfully obtained by voltage biasing to electrodes inserted in a RF (radio frequency) produced, magnetized plasma, and formation of strong shear of azimuthal plasma rotation velocity in a supersonic regime was found. For the case of biasing to an electrode near the central plasma region, two types of density transitions were observed in the outer plasma region: one was an oscillatory transition between two states, and the other was a transition from high to low density states with a large reduction of density fluctuations. (author)

  14. Instabilities, turbulence and transport in a magnetized plasma; Instabilites, turbulence et transport dans un plasma magnetise

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garbet, X

    2001-06-01

    The purpose of this work is to introduce the main processes that occur in a magnetized plasma. During the last 2 decades, the understanding of turbulence has made great progress but analytical formulas and simulations are far to produce reliable predictions. The values of transport coefficients in a tokamak plasma exceed by far those predicted by the theory of collisional transport. This phenomenon is called abnormal transport and might be due to plasma fluctuations. An estimation of turbulent fluxes derived from the levels of fluctuations, is proposed. A flow description of plasma allows the understanding of most micro-instabilities. The ballooning representation deals with instabilities in a toric geometry. 3 factors play an important role to stabilize plasmas: density pinch, magnetic shear and speed shear. The flow model of plasma gives an erroneous value for the stability threshold, this is due to a bad description of the resonant interaction between wave and particle. As for dynamics, flow models can be improved by adding dissipative terms so that the linear response nears the kinetic response. The kinetic approach is more accurate but is complex because of the great number of dimensions involved. (A.C.)

  15. On the axially symmetric equilibrium of a magnetically confined plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lehnert, B.

    1975-01-01

    The axially symmetric equilibrium of a magnetically confined plasma is reconsidered, with the special purpose of studying high-beta schemes with a purely poloidal magnetic field. A number of special solutions of the pressure and magnetic flux functions are shown to exist, the obtained results may form starting-points in a further analysis of physically relevant configurations. (Auth.)

  16. Kinetic Simulations of Plasma Energization and Particle Acceleration in Interacting Magnetic Flux Ropes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, S.; Guo, F.; Zank, G. P.; Li, X.; Stanier, A.

    2017-12-01

    The interaction between magnetic flux ropes has been suggested as a process that leads to efficient plasma energization and particle acceleration (e.g., Drake et al. 2013; Zank et al. 2014). However, the underlying plasma dynamics and acceleration mechanisms are subject to examination of numerical simulations. As a first step of this effort, we carry out 2D fully kinetic simulations using the VPIC code to study the plasma energization and particle acceleration during coalescence of two magnetic flux ropes. Our analysis shows that the reconnection electric field and compression effect are important in plasma energization. The results may help understand the energization process associated with magnetic flux ropes frequently observed in the solar wind near the heliospheric current sheet.

  17. Numerical investigation of a plasma beam entering transverse magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koga, J.; Geary, J.L.; Tajima, T.; Rostoker, N.

    1988-11-01

    We study plasma beam injection into transverse magnetic fields using both electrostatic and electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) codes. In the case of small beam momentum or energy (low drift kinetic /beta/) we study both large and small ion gyroradius beams. Large ion gyroradius beams with a large dielectric constant /epsilon/ /muchreverse arrowgt/ (M/m)/sup /1/2// are found to propagate across the magnetic field via E /times/ B drifts at nearly the initial injection velocity, where /epsilon/ = 1 + (/omega//sup pi//sup 2/)/(/Omega//sub i//sup 2/) and (M/m) is the ion to electron mass ratio. Beam degradation and undulations are observed in agreement with previous experimental and analytical results. When /epsilon/ is on the order of (M/m)/sup /1/2//, the plasma beam propagates across field lines at only half its initial velocity and loses its coherent structure. When /epsilon/ is much less than (M/m)/sup /1/2//, the beam particles decouple at the magnetic field boundary, scattering the electrons and slightly deflecting the ions. For small ion gyroradius beam injection a flute type instability is observed at the beam magnetic fields interface. In the case of large beam momentum or energy (high drift kinetic /beta/) we observe good penetration of a plasma beam which shields the magnetic field from the interior of the beam (diagmagnetism). 25 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab

  18. Toward the Theory of Turbulence in Magnetized Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boldyrev, Stanislav

    2013-01-01

    The goal of the project was to develop a theory of turbulence in magnetized plasmas at large scales, that is, scales larger than the characteristic plasma microscales (ion gyroscale, ion inertial scale, etc.). Collisions of counter-propagating Alfven packets govern the turbulent cascade of energy toward small scales. It has been established that such an energy cascade is intrinsically anisotropic, in that it predominantly supplies energy to the modes with mostly field-perpendicular wave numbers. The resulting energy spectrum of MHD turbulence, and the structure of the fluctuations were studied both analytically and numerically. A new parallel numerical code was developed for simulating reduced MHD equations driven by an external force. The numerical setting was proposed, where the spectral properties of the force could be varied in order to simulate either strong or weak turbulent regimes. It has been found both analytically and numerically that weak MHD turbulence spontaneously generates a 'condensate', that is, concentration of magnetic and kinetic energy at small kllel)). A related topic that was addressed in the project is turbulent dynamo action, that is, generation of magnetic field in a turbulent flow. We were specifically concentrated on the generation of large-scale magnetic field compared to the scales of the turbulent velocity field. We investigate magnetic field amplification in a turbulent velocity field with nonzero helicity, in the framework of the kinematic Kazantsev-Kraichnan model

  19. Magnetic field approaches in dc thermal plasma modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Freton, P; Gonzalez, J J; Masquere, M; Reichert, Frank

    2011-01-01

    The self-induced magnetic field has an important role in thermal plasma configurations generated by electric arcs as it generates velocity through Lorentz forces. In the models a good representation of the magnetic field is thus necessary. Several approaches exist to calculate the self-induced magnetic field such as the Maxwell-Ampere formulation, the vector potential approach combined with different kinds of boundary conditions or the Biot and Savart (B and S) formulation. The calculation of the self-induced magnetic field is alone a difficult problem and only few papers of the thermal plasma community speak on this subject. In this study different approaches with different boundary conditions are applied on two geometries to compare the methods and their limitations. The calculation time is also one of the criteria for the choice of the method and a compromise must be found between method precision and computation time. The study shows the importance of the current carrying path representation in the electrode on the deduced magnetic field. The best compromise consists of using the B and S formulation on the walls and/or edges of the calculation domain to determine the boundary conditions and to solve the vector potential in a 2D system. This approach provides results identical to those obtained using the B and S formulation over the entire domain but with a considerable decrease in calculation time.

  20. Free-electron laser with a plasma wave wiggler propagating through a magnetized plasma channel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jafari, S; Jafarinia, F; Mehdian, H

    2013-01-01

    A plasma eigenmode has been employed as a wiggler in a magnetized plasma channel for the generation of laser radiation in a free-electron laser. The short wavelength of the plasma wave allows a higher radiation frequency to be obtained than from conventional wiggler free-electron lasers. The plasma can significantly slow down the radiation mode, thereby relaxing the beam energy requirement considerably. In addition, it allows a beam current in excess of the vacuum current limit via charge neutralization. This configuration has a higher tunability by controlling the plasma density in addition to the γ-tunability of the standard FEL. The laser gain has been calculated and numerical computations of the electron trajectories and gain are presented. Four groups (I–IV) of electron orbits have been found. It has been shown that by increasing the cyclotron frequency, the gain for orbits of group I and group III increases, while a decrease in gain has been obtained for orbits of group II and group IV. Similarly, the effect of plasma density on gain has been exhibited. The results indicate that with increasing plasma density, the orbits of all groups shift to higher cyclotron frequencies. The effects of beam self-fields on gain have also been demonstrated. It has been found that in the presence of beam self-fields the sensitivity of the gain increases substantially in the vicinity of gyroresonance. Here, the gain enhancement and reduction are due to the paramagnetic and diamagnetic effects of the self-magnetic field, respectively. (paper)

  1. Dynamics of particles accelerated by head-on collisions of two magnetized plasma shocks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeuchi, Satoshi

    2018-02-01

    A kinetic model of the head-on collision of two magnetized plasma shocks is analyzed theoretically and in numerical calculations. When two plasmas with anti-parallel magnetic fields collide, they generate magnetic reconnection and form a motional electric field at the front of the collision region. This field accelerates the particles sandwiched between both shock fronts to extremely high energy. As they accelerate, the particles are bent by the transverse magnetic field crossing the magnetic neutral sheet, and their energy gains are reduced. In the numerical calculations, the dynamics of many test particles were modeled through the relativistic equations of motion. The attainable energy gain was obtained by multiplying three parameters: the propagation speed of the shock, the magnitude of the magnetic field, and the acceleration time of the test particle. This mechanism for generating high-energy particles is applicable over a wide range of spatial scales, from laboratory to interstellar plasmas.

  2. Proton imaging of hohlraum plasma stagnation in inertial-confinement-fusion experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, C.K.; Séguin, F.H.; Frenje, J.A.; Sinenian, N.; Rosenberg, M.J.; Manuel, M.J.-E; Rinderknecht, H.G.; Zylstra, A.B.; Petrasso, R.D.; Amendt, P.A.; Landen, O.L.; Mackinnon, A.J.; Town, R.P.J.; Wilks, S.C.; Betti, R.; Meyerhofer, D.D.; Soures, J.M.; Hund, J.; Kilkenny, J.D.; Nikroo, A.

    2013-01-01

    Proton radiography of the spatial structure and temporal evolution of plasma blowing off from a hohlraum wall reveals how the fill gas compresses the wall blow-off, inhibits plasma jet formation and impedes plasma stagnation in the hohlraum interior. The roles of spontaneously generated electric and magnetic fields in hohlraum dynamics and capsule implosions are demonstrated. The heat flux is shown to rapidly convect the magnetic field due to the Nernst effect, which is shown to be ∼10 times faster than convection by the plasma fluid from expanded wall blow-off (v N ∼ 10v). This leads to inhibition of heat transfer from the gas region in the laser beam paths to the surrounding cold gas, resulting in a local plasma temperature increase. The experiments show that interpenetration of the two materials (gas and wall) occurs due to the classical Rayleigh–Taylor instability as the lighter, decelerating ionized fill gas pushes against the heavier, expanding gold wall blow-off. This experiment provides physics insight into the effects of fill gas on x-ray-driven implosions, and would impact the ongoing ignition experiments at the National Ignition Facility. (paper)

  3. MHD simulation study of compact toroid injection into magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Yoshio; Kishimoto, Yasuaki

    2000-01-01

    To understand the fuelling process in a fusion device by a compact toroid (CT) plasmoid injection method, we have carried out MHD numerical simulations where a spheromak-like CT (SCT) is injected into a magnetized target plasma region. So far, we revealed that the penetration depth of the SCT plasma becomes shorter than that estimated from the conducting sphere (CS) model, because in the simulation the Lorentz force of the target magnetic field sequentially decelerates the injected SCT while in the CS model only the magnetic pressure force acts as the deceleration mechanism. In this study, we represent the new theoretical model where the injected SCT is decelerated by both the magnetic pressure force and the magnetic tension force (we call it the non-slipping sphere (NS) model) and investigate in detail the deceleration mechanism of the SCT by comparison with simulation results. As a result, it is found that the decrease of the SCT kinetic energy in the simulation coincides with that in the NS model more than in the CS model. It means that not only the magnetic pressure force but also the magnetic tension force acts as the deceleration mechanism of the SCT. Furthermore, it is revealed that magnetic reconnection between the SCT magnetic field and the target magnetic field plays a role to relax the SCT deceleration. (author)

  4. Acceleration of particles by electron plasma waves in a moderate magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, D.F.

    1976-01-01

    A general scheme is established to examine any magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) configuration for its acceleration potential including the effects of various types of plasma waves. The analysis is restricted to plasma waves in a magnetic field with electron cyclotron frequency less than, but comparable to, the electron plasma frequency (moderate field). The general role of electron plasma waves is examined in this paper independent of a specific MHD configuration or generating mechanism in the weak turbulence limit. The evolution of arbitrary wave spectra in a non-relativistic plasma is examined, and it is shown that the nonlinear process of induced scattering on the polarization clouds of ions leads to the collapse of the waves to an almost one-dimensional spectrum directed along the magnetic field. The subsequent acceleration of non-relativistic and relativistic particles is considered. It is shown for non-relativistic particles that when the wave distribution has a negative slope the acceleration is retarded for lower velocities and enhanced for higher velocities compared to acceleration by an isotropic distribution of electron plasma waves in a magnetic field. This change in behaviour is expected to affect the development of wave spectra and the subsequent acceleration spectrum. (Auth.)

  5. A table top experiment to investigate production and properties of a plasma confined by a dipole magnet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baitha, Anuj Ram; Kumar, Ashwani; Bhattacharjee, Sudeep

    2018-02-01

    We report a table top experiment to investigate production and properties of a plasma confined by a dipole magnet. A water cooled, strong, cylindrical permanent magnet (NdFeB) magnetized along the axial direction and having a surface magnetic field of ∼0.5 T is employed to create a dipole magnetic field. The plasma is created by electron cyclotron resonance heating. Visual observations of the plasma indicate that radiation belts appear due to trapped particles, similar to the earth's magnetosphere. The electron temperature lies in the range 2-13 eV and is hotter near the magnets and in a downstream region. It is found that the plasma (ion) density reaches a value close to 2 × 10 11 cm -3 and peaks at a radial distance about 3 cm from the magnet. The plasma beta β (β = plasma pressure/magnetic pressure) increases radially outward, and the maximum β for the present experimental system is ∼2%. It is also found that the singly charged ions are dominant in the discharge.

  6. A table top experiment to investigate production and properties of a plasma confined by a dipole magnet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baitha, Anuj Ram; Kumar, Ashwani; Bhattacharjee, Sudeep

    2018-02-01

    We report a table top experiment to investigate production and properties of a plasma confined by a dipole magnet. A water cooled, strong, cylindrical permanent magnet (NdFeB) magnetized along the axial direction and having a surface magnetic field of ˜0.5 T is employed to create a dipole magnetic field. The plasma is created by electron cyclotron resonance heating. Visual observations of the plasma indicate that radiation belts appear due to trapped particles, similar to the earth's magnetosphere. The electron temperature lies in the range 2-13 eV and is hotter near the magnets and in a downstream region. It is found that the plasma (ion) density reaches a value close to 2 × 1011 cm-3 and peaks at a radial distance about 3 cm from the magnet. The plasma beta β (β = plasma pressure/magnetic pressure) increases radially outward, and the maximum β for the present experimental system is ˜2%. It is also found that the singly charged ions are dominant in the discharge.

  7. Permanent magnet electron cyclotron resonance plasma source with remote window

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berry, L.A.; Gorbatkin, S.M.

    1995-01-01

    An electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma has been used in conjunction with a solid metal sputter target for Cu deposition over 200 mm diameters. The goal is to develop a deposition system and process suitable for filling submicron, high-aspect ratio ULSI features. The system uses a permanent magnet for creation of the magnetic field necessary for ECR, and is significantly more compact than systems equipped with electromagnets. A custom launcher design allows remote microwave injection with the microwave entrance window shielded from the copper flux. When microwaves are introduced at an angle with respect to the plasma, high electron densities can be produced with a plasma frequency significantly greater than the electron cyclotron frequency. Copper deposition rates of 1000 A/min have been achieved

  8. Passive Spectroscopic Diagnostics for Magnetically-confined Fusion Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stratton, B.C.; Bitter, M.; Hill, K.W.; Hillis, D.L.; Hogan, J.T.

    2007-01-01

    Spectroscopy of radiation emitted by impurities and hydrogen isotopes plays an important role in the study of magnetically-confined fusion plasmas, both in determining the effects of impurities on plasma behavior and in measurements of plasma parameters such as electron and ion temperatures and densities, particle transport, and particle influx rates. This paper reviews spectroscopic diagnostics of plasma radiation that are excited by collisional processes in the plasma, which are termed 'passive' spectroscopic diagnostics to distinguish them from 'active' spectroscopic diagnostics involving injected particle and laser beams. A brief overview of the ionization balance in hot plasmas and the relevant line and continuum radiation excitation mechanisms is given. Instrumentation in the soft X-ray, vacuum ultraviolet, ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the spectrum is described and examples of measurements are given. Paths for further development of these measurements and issues for their implementation in a burning plasma environment are discussed.

  9. Passive Spectroscopic Diagnostics for Magnetically-confined Fusion Plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stratton, B. C.; Biter, M.; Hill, K. W.; Hillis, D. L.; Hogan, J. T.

    2007-07-18

    Spectroscopy of radiation emitted by impurities and hydrogen isotopes plays an important role in the study of magnetically-confined fusion plasmas, both in determining the effects of impurities on plasma behavior and in measurements of plasma parameters such as electron and ion temperatures and densities, particle transport, and particle influx rates. This paper reviews spectroscopic diagnostics of plasma radiation that are excited by collisional processes in the plasma, which are termed 'passive' spectroscopic diagnostics to distinguish them from 'active' spectroscopic diagnostics involving injected particle and laser beams. A brief overview of the ionization balance in hot plasmas and the relevant line and continuum radiation excitation mechanisms is given. Instrumentation in the soft X-ray, vacuum ultraviolet, ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the spectrum is described and examples of measurements are given. Paths for further development of these measurements and issues for their implementation in a burning plasma environment are discussed.

  10. Study on the plasma diode in the external magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Korenev, S.A.

    1981-01-01

    The experimental investigations of plasma diode with cathode plasma formation on the basis of an incomplete charge over dielectric surface in the external longitudinal magnetic field with the intensity of Hsub(z) up to 2000 Oe are presented. It is demonstrated that at the 150-250 keV diode voltage and the current density of up to 300 A/cm 2 the homogeneity of the current density over transverse cross section is preserved up to the cell size of metallic grid onto cathode with the change of the magnetic field up to 2000 Oe [ru

  11. Mapping return currents in laser-generated Z-pinch plasmas using proton deflectometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manuel, M. J.-E.; Sinenian, N.; Seguin, F. H.; Li, C. K.; Frenje, J. A.; Rinderknecht, H. G.; Casey, D. T.; Zylstra, A. B.; Petrasso, R. D.; Beg, F. N.

    2012-01-01

    Dynamic return currents and electromagnetic field structure in laser-generated Z-pinch plasmas have been measured using proton deflectometry. Experiments were modeled to accurately interpret deflections observed in proton radiographs. Current flow is shown to begin on axis and migrate outwards with the expanding coronal plasma. Magnetic field strengths of ∼1 T are generated by currents that increase from ∼2 kA to ∼7 kA over the course of the laser pulse. Proton deflectometry has been demonstrated to be a practical alternative to other magnetic field diagnostics for these types of plasmas.

  12. Effects of external magnetic field on harmonics generated in laser interaction with underdense plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faghihi-Nik, M.; Ghorbanalilu, M.; Shokri, B.

    2010-01-01

    Complete text of publication follows. Generation of harmonic radiation is an important subject of laser plasma interaction and attracts great attention due to a wide range of applications. It has been seen that intense electromagnetic and quasi-static transverse magnetic fields are generated in laser plasma interaction. An extremely intense magnetic field (up to hundreds of MG) has been observed by experimental measurements in interaction of short laser pulses with plasma. These self-generated or applied magnetic fields affect the propagation of the laser pulses. In most laser interactions with homogeneous plasma, odd harmonics of laser frequency are generated. In this paper, we point out the possibility of even harmonics generation when a linearly polarized laser beam propagates in homogeneous plasma in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. It is shown that applying external field induces a transverse current density oscillating twice of the laser field which leds to generation of second harmonic radiation. This current density is derived using the perturbation method, and the steady state amplitude of the second harmonic obtained by solution of the wave equation. By the same procedure the current density and then the steady state amplitude of higher order harmonics are calculated. The efficiency of harmonic generation (the ratio of harmonic power to incident power) is a drastically function of the strength of external magnetic field. It is found that the efficiency of even harmonics is zero in the absence of magnetic field and increases as the magnetic field is increased. For odd harmonics, applying the external magnetic field enhances the generated harmonics as well. The conversion efficiency also increases with increase in plasma density and intensity of the laser beam.

  13. The Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) onboard the Europa Clipper Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westlake, Joseph H.; McNutt, Ralph L.; Kasper, Justin C.; Rymer, Abigail; Case, Anthony; Battista, Corina; Cochrane, Corey; Coren, David; Crew, Alexander; Grey, Matthew; Jia, Xianzhe; Khurana, Krishan; Kim, Cindy; Kivelson, Margaret G.; Korth, Haje; Krupp, Norbert; Paty, Carol; Roussos, Elias; Stevens, Michael; Slavin, James A.; Smith, Howard T.; Saur, Joachim

    2017-10-01

    Europa is embedded in a complex Jovian magnetospheric plasma, which rotates with the tilted planetary field and interacts dynamically with Europa’s ionosphere affecting the magnetic induction signal. Plasma from Io’s temporally varying torus diffuses outward and mixes with the charged particles in Europa’s own torus producing highly variable plasma conditions. Onboard the Europa Clipper spacecraft the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) works in conjunction with the Interior Characterization of Europa using Magnetometry (ICEMAG) investigation to probe Europa’s subsurface ocean. This investigation exploits currents induced in Europa’s interior by the moon’s exposure to variable magnetic fields in the Jovian system to infer properties of Europa’s subsurface ocean such as its depth, thickness, and conductivity. This technique was successfully applied to Galileo observations and demonstrated that Europa indeed has a subsurface ocean. While these Galileo observations contributed to the renewed interest in Europa, due to limitations in the observations the results raised major questions that remain unanswered. PIMS will greatly refine our understanding of Europa’s global liquid ocean by accounting for contributions to the magnetic field from plasma currents.The Europa Clipper mission is equipped with a sophisticated suite of 9 instruments to study Europa's interior and ocean, geology, chemistry, and habitability from a Jupiter orbiting spacecraft. PIMS on Europa Clipper is a Faraday Cup based plasma instrument whose heritage dates back to the Voyager spacecraft. PIMS will measure the plasma that populates Jupiter’s magnetosphere and Europa’s ionosphere. The science goals of PIMS are to: 1) estimate the ocean salinity and thickness by determining Europa’s magnetic induction response, corrected for plasma contributions; 2) assess mechanisms responsible for weathering and releasing material from Europa’s surface into the atmosphere and

  14. The Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) on The Europa Clipper Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westlake, J. H.; McNutt, R. L., Jr.; Kasper, J. C.; Battista, C.; Case, A. W.; Cochrane, C.; Grey, M.; Jia, X.; Kivelson, M.; Kim, C.; Korth, H.; Khurana, K. K.; Krupp, N.; Paty, C. S.; Roussos, E.; Rymer, A. M.; Stevens, M. L.; Slavin, J. A.; Smith, H. T.; Saur, J.; Coren, D.

    2017-12-01

    The Europa Clipper mission is equipped with a sophisticated suite of 9 instruments to study Europa's interior and ocean, geology, chemistry, and habitability from a Jupiter orbiting spacecraft. The Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) on Europa Clipper is a Faraday Cup based plasma instrument whose heritage dates back to the Voyager spacecraft. PIMS will measure the plasma that populates Jupiter's magnetosphere and Europa's ionosphere. The science goals of PIMS are to: 1) estimate the ocean salinity and thickness by determining Europa's magnetic induction response, corrected for plasma contributions; 2) assess mechanisms responsible for weathering and releasing material from Europa's surface into the atmosphere and ionosphere; and 3) understand how Europa influences its local space environment and Jupiter's magnetosphere and vice versa. Europa is embedded in a complex Jovian magnetospheric plasma, which rotates with the tilted planetary field and interacts dynamically with Europa's ionosphere affecting the magnetic induction signal. Plasma from Io's temporally varying torus diffuses outward and mixes with the charged particles in Europa's own torus producing highly variable plasma conditions at Europa. PIMS works in conjunction with the Interior Characterization of Europa using Magnetometry (ICEMAG) investigation to probe Europa's subsurface ocean. This investigation exploits currents induced in Europa's interior by the moon's exposure to variable magnetic fields in the Jovian system to infer properties of Europa's subsurface ocean such as its depth, thickness, and conductivity. This technique was successfully applied to Galileo observations and demonstrated that Europa indeed has a subsurface ocean. While these Galileo observations contributed to the renewed interest in Europa, due to limitations in the observations the results raised major questions that remain unanswered. PIMS will greatly refine our understanding of Europa's global liquid ocean by

  15. Magnetic well for plasma confinement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valfells, A.; Chiu, Y.C.

    1977-01-01

    A multipole magnetic well for plasma confinement includes a plurality of current-carrying coils placed on planes corresponding to the facets of a regular polyhedron that can be symmetrically circumscribed about a sphere. The direction of current in the coils is such as to minimize the flux density at the center of the polyhedron, thereby providing a confinement well with three-dimensional symmetry having an increasing flux density in all directions from the center. 16 claims, 18 figures

  16. Theoretical and numerical studies of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ivanov, A.A.

    2001-06-01

    The instabilities of Rayleigh-Taylor type are considered in the thesis. The topic of the thesis was inspired by recent advances in the physics of plasma compression, especially with the aid of systems like Z-pinch. Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) plays an important role in the evolution of magnetized plasmas in these experiments, as well as in stellar plasmas and classic fluids. For the phenomena concerning the nuclear fusion the RTI is very often the factor limiting the possibility of compression. In the current work we try to examine in detail the characteristic features of the instabilities of this type in order to eliminate their detrimental influence. In this thesis we are studying both the general case of the 'classic' Rayleigh-Taylor instability (in incompressible fluids) and more specific cases of the instabilities of Rayleigh-Taylor type in magnetized plasmas, in the liners or wire array implosions etc. We have studied the influence of the Hall diffusion of magnetic field on the growth rate of the instability. We have obtained in this work a self-similar solution for the widening of the initial profile of the magnetic field and for the wave of the penetration of magnetic field. After that the subsequent evolution of the magnetic field in plasma opening switches (POS) has been examined. We have shown the possibility of the existence of a strong rarefaction wave for collisional and non-collisional cases. This wave can explain the phenomenon of the opening of POS. The effect of the suppression of Rayleigh-Taylor instability by forced oscillations of the boundary between two fluids permits us to propose some ideas for the experiments of inertial fusion. We have considered the general case of the instability, in other words, two incompressible viscous superposed fluids in a gravitational field. We have obtained an exact analytical expression for the growth rate and then we have analyzed the influence of the parameters of external 'pumping' on the instability

  17. Non-Maxwellian and magnetic field effects in complex plasma wakes★

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ludwig, Patrick; Jung, Hendrik; Kählert, Hanno; Joost, Jan-Philip; Greiner, Franko; Moldabekov, Zhandos; Carstensen, Jan; Sundar, Sita; Bonitz, Michael; Piel, Alexander

    2018-05-01

    In a streaming plasma, negatively charged dust particles create complex charge distributions on the downstream side of the particle, which are responsible for attractive forces between the like-charged particles. This wake phenomenon is studied by means of refined linear response theory and molecular dynamics simulations as well as in experiments. Particular attention is paid to non-Maxwellian velocity distributions that are found in the plasma sheath and to situations with strong magnetic fields, which are becoming increasingly important. Non-Maxwellian distributions and strong magnetic fields result in a substantial damping of the oscillatory wake potential. The interaction force in particle pairs is explored with the phase-resolved resonance method, which demonstrates the non-reciprocity of the interparticle forces in unmagnetized and magnetized systems.

  18. Astrophysics of magnetically collimated jets generated from laser-produced plasmas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciardi, A; Vinci, T; Fuchs, J; Albertazzi, B; Riconda, C; Pépin, H; Portugall, O

    2013-01-11

    The generation of astrophysically relevant jets, from magnetically collimated, laser-produced plasmas, is investigated through three-dimensional, magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We show that for laser intensities I∼10(12)-10(14) W cm(-2), a magnetic field in excess of ∼0.1  MG, can collimate the plasma plume into a prolate cavity bounded by a shock envelope with a standing conical shock at its tip, which recollimates the flow into a supermagnetosonic jet beam. This mechanism is equivalent to astrophysical models of hydrodynamic inertial collimation, where an isotropic wind is focused into a jet by a confining circumstellar toruslike envelope. The results suggest an alternative mechanism for a large-scale magnetic field to produce jets from wide-angle winds.

  19. Pulsating jet-like structures in magnetized plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goncharov, V. P. [A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, 109017 Moscow (Russian Federation); Pavlov, V. I. [UFR des Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées, Univ. Lille, CNRS FRE 3723 - LML, F-59000 Lille (France)

    2016-08-15

    The formation of pulsating jet-like structures has been studied in the scope of the nonhydrostatic model of a magnetized plasma with horizontally nonuniform density. We discuss two mechanisms which are capable of stopping the gravitational spreading appearing to grace the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and to lead to the formation of stationary or oscillating localized structures. One of them is caused by the Coriolis effect in the rotating frames, and another is connected with the Lorentz effect for magnetized fluids. Magnetized jets/drops with a positive buoyancy must oscillate in transversal size and can manifest themselves as “radio pulsars.” The estimates of their frequencies are made for conditions typical for the neutron star's ocean.

  20. New mode of operating a magnetized coaxial plasma gun for injecting magnetic helicity into a spheromak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woodruff, S.; Hill, D.N.; Stallard, B.W.; Bulmer, R.; Cohen, B.; Holcomb, C.T.; Hooper, E.B.; McLean, H.S.; Moller, J.; Wood, R.D.

    2003-01-01

    By operating a magnetized coaxial plasma gun continuously with just sufficient current to enable plasma ejection, large gun-voltage spikes (∼1 kV) are produced, giving the highest sustained voltage ∼500 V and highest sustained helicity injection rate observed in the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment. The spheromak magnetic field increases monotonically with time, exhibiting the lowest fluctuation levels observed during formation of any spheromak (B-tilde)/B≥2%). The results suggest an important mechanism for field generation by helicity injection, namely, the merging of helicity-carrying filaments

  1. New mode of operating a magnetized coaxial plasma gun for injecting magnetic helicity into a spheromak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodruff, S; Hill, D N; Stallard, B W; Bulmer, R; Cohen, B; Holcomb, C T; Hooper, E B; McLean, H S; Moller, J; Wood, R D

    2003-03-07

    By operating a magnetized coaxial plasma gun continuously with just sufficient current to enable plasma ejection, large gun-voltage spikes (approximately 1 kV) are produced, giving the highest sustained voltage approximately 500 V and highest sustained helicity injection rate observed in the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment. The spheromak magnetic field increases monotonically with time, exhibiting the lowest fluctuation levels observed during formation of any spheromak (B/B>/=2%). The results suggest an important mechanism for field generation by helicity injection, namely, the merging of helicity-carrying filaments.

  2. Two-dimensional transport of tokamak plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirshman, S.P.; Jardin, S.C.

    1979-01-01

    A reduced set of two-fluid transport equations is obtained from the conservation equations describing the time evolution of the differential particle number, entropy, and magnetic fluxes in an axisymmetric toroidal plasma with nested magnetic surfaces. Expanding in the small ratio of perpendicular to parallel mobilities and thermal conductivities yields as solubility constraints one-dimensional equations for the surface-averaged thermodynamic variables and magnetic fluxes. Since Ohm's law E +u x B =R', where R' accounts for any nonideal effects, only determines the particle flow relative to the diffusing magnetic surfaces, it is necessary to solve a single two-dimensional generalized differential equation, (partial/partialt) delpsi. (delp - J x B) =0, to find the absolute velocity of a magnetic surface enclosing a fixed toroidal flux. This equation is linear but nonstandard in that it involves flux surface averages of the unknown velocity. Specification of R' and the cross-field ion and electron heat fluxes provides a closed system of equations. A time-dependent coordinate transformation is used to describe the diffusion of plasma quantities through magnetic surfaces of changing shape

  3. Scattering of magnetized electrons at the boundary of low temperature plasmas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krüger, Dennis; Trieschmann, Jan; Brinkmann, Ralf Peter

    2018-02-01

    Magnetized technological plasmas with magnetic fields of 10-200 mT, plasma densities of 1017-1019 m-3, gas pressures of less than 1 Pa, and electron energies from a few to (at most) a few hundred electron volts are characterized by electron Larmor radii r L, that are small compared to all other length scales of the system, including the spatial scale L of the magnetic field and the collisional mean free path λ. In this regime, the classical drift approximation applies. In the boundary sheath of these discharges, however, that approximation breaks down: The sheath penetration depth of electrons (a few to some ten Debye length λ D; depending on the kinetic energy; typically much smaller than the sheath thickness of tens/hundreds of λ D) is even smaller than r L. For a model description of the electron dynamics, an appropriate boundary condition for the plasma/sheath interface is required. To develop such, the interaction of magnetized electrons with the boundary sheath is investigated using a 3D kinetic single electron model that sets the larger scales L and λ to infinity, i.e. neglects magnetic field gradients, the electric field in the bulk, and collisions. A detailed comparison of the interaction for a Bohm sheath (which assumes a finite Debye length) and a hard wall model (representing the limit {λ }{{D}}\\to 0; also called the specular reflection model) is conducted. Both models are found to be in remarkable agreement with respect to the sheath-induced drift. It is concluded that the assumption of specular reflection can be used as a valid boundary condition for more realistic kinetic models of magnetized technological plasmas.

  4. Analysis of Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in a Magnetized Re-Entry Plasma Sheath Via the Kinetic Equation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning, Robert M.

    2009-01-01

    Based on a theoretical model of the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a hypersonically induced plasma, it has been demonstrated that the classical radiofrequency communications blackout that is experienced during atmospheric reentry can be mitigated through the appropriate control of an external magnetic field of nominal magnitude. The model is based on the kinetic equation treatment of Vlasov and involves an analytical solution for the electric and magnetic fields within the plasma allowing for a description of the attendant transmission, reflection and absorption coefficients. The ability to transmit through the magnetized plasma is due to the magnetic windows that are created within the plasma via the well-known whistler modes of propagation. The case of 2 GHz transmission through a re-entry plasma is considered. The coefficients are found to be highly sensitive to the prevailing electron density and will thus require a dynamic control mechanism to vary the magnetic field as the plasma evolves through the re-entry phase.

  5. Magnetic field generation by circularly polarized laser light and inertial plasma confinement in a miniature 'Magnetic Bottle' induced by circularly polarized laser light

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kolka, E.

    1993-07-01

    A new concept of hot plasma confinement in a miniature magnetic bottle induced by circularly polarized laser light is suggested in this work. Magnetic fields generated by circularly polarized laser light may be of the order of megagauss. In this configuration the circularly polarized laser light is used to get confinement of a plasma contained in a good conductor vessel. The poloidal magnetic field induced by the circularly polarized laser and the efficiency of laser absorption by the plasma are calculated in this work. The confinement in this scheme is supported by the magnetic forces and the Lawson criterion for a DT plasma might be achieved for number density n=5*10 21 cm -3 and confinement time τ= 20 nsec. The laser and the plasma parameters required to get an energetic gain are calculated. (authors)

  6. Performance of magnetically-injected-plasma opening switches on the particle beam fusion accelerator 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rochau, G.E.; McDaniel, D.H.; Mendel, C.W.; Sweeney, M.A.; Moore, W.B.S.; Mowrer, G.R.; Zagar, D.M.

    1990-01-01

    Plasma opening switch (POS) experiments have been performed on the PBFA II ion beam accelerator to develop a switch which will provide voltage and power gain to an applied-B lithium ion diode. These experiments have successfully coupled power to electron and ion beam diodes using a Magnetically-Injected-Plasma (MIP) POS. Carbon plasma with electron densities of 1 x 10 12 to 2 x 10 13 /cm 3 have been injected from the anode into the 8 cm gap of the 20-ohm Magnetically-Insulated-Transmission Line (MITL) of PBFA II along a B r,z magnetic field. The MIP switch uses the inertia of the plasma to keep the switch closed and the magnetic pressure of B θ from the conduction current to open the switch. The configuration of the injecting magnetic field and the plasma source has a significant effect on the efficiency of coupling power to high impedance loads. Plasma near the center of the injecting magnetic field limits the opening impedance of the switch and subsequently the power delivered to the load. The axial location of the switch with respect to the load has also been identified as a critical parameter in increasing the coupling efficiency. A length of 10 to 20 cm of MITL between the POS and the load has increased the power delivered to the load. Data on switch performance with high impedance loads and factors which improved performance are discussed

  7. Kinetic electromagnetic instabilities in an ITB plasma with weak magnetic shear

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, W.; Yu, D. L.; Ma, R. R.; Shi, P. W.; Li, Y. Y.; Shi, Z. B.; Du, H. R.; Ji, X. Q.; Jiang, M.; Yu, L. M.; Yuan, B. S.; Li, Y. G.; Yang, Z. C.; Zhong, W. L.; Qiu, Z. Y.; Ding, X. T.; Dong, J. Q.; Wang, Z. X.; Wei, H. L.; Cao, J. Y.; Song, S. D.; Song, X. M.; Liu, Yi.; Yang, Q. W.; Xu, M.; Duan, X. R.

    2018-05-01

    Kinetic Alfvén and pressure gradient driven instabilities are very common in magnetized plasmas, both in space and the laboratory. These instabilities will be easily excited by energetic particles (EPs) and/or pressure gradients in present-day fusion and future burning plasmas. This will not only cause the loss and redistribution of the EPs, but also affect plasma confinement and transport. Alfvénic ion temperature gradient (AITG) instabilities with the frequency ω_BAE<ω<ω_TAE and the toroidal mode numbers n=2{-}8 are found to be unstable in NBI internal transport barrier plasmas with weak shear and low pressure gradients, where ω_BAE and ω_TAE are the frequencies of the beta- and toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes, respectively. The measured results are consistent with the general fishbone-like dispersion relation and kinetic ballooning mode equation, and the modes become more unstable the smaller the magnetic shear is in low pressure gradient regions. The interaction between AITG activity and EPs also needs to be investigated with greater attention in fusion plasmas, such as ITER (Tomabechi and The ITER Team 1991 Nucl. Fusion 31 1135), since these fluctuations can be enhanced by weak magnetic shear and EPs.

  8. About the Toroidal Magnetic Field of a Tokamak Burning Plasma Experiment with Superconducting Coils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazzucato, E.

    2002-01-01

    In tokamaks, the strong dependence on the toroidal magnetic field of both plasma pressure and energy confinement is what makes possible the construction of small and relatively inexpensive burning plasma experiments using high-field resistive coils. On the other hand, the toroidal magnetic field of tokamaks using superconducting coils is limited by the critical field of superconductivity. In this article, we examine the relative merit of raising the magnetic field of a tokamak plasma by increasing its aspect ratio at a constant value of the peak field in the toroidal magnet. Taking ITER-FEAT as an example, we find that it is possible to reach thermonuclear ignition using an aspect ratio of approximately 4.5 and a toroidal magnetic field of 7.3 T. Under these conditions, fusion power density and neutron wall loading are the same as in ITER [International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor], but the normalized plasma beta is substantially smaller. Furthermore, such a tokamak would be able to reach an energy gain of approximately 15 even with the deterioration in plasma confinement that is known to occur near the density limit where ITER is forced to operate

  9. Diffusion of Magnetized Binary Ionic Mixtures at Ultracold Plasma Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidal, Keith R.; Baalrud, Scott D.

    2017-10-01

    Ultracold plasma experiments offer an accessible means to test transport theories for strongly coupled systems. Application of an external magnetic field might further increase their utility by inhibiting heating mechanisms of ions and electrons and increasing the temperature at which strong coupling effects are observed. We present results focused on developing and validating a transport theory to describe binary ionic mixtures across a wide range of coupling and magnetization strengths relevant to ultracold plasma experiments. The transport theory is an extension of the Effective Potential Theory (EPT), which has been shown to accurately model correlation effects at these conditions, to include magnetization. We focus on diffusion as it can be measured in ultracold plasma experiments. Using EPT within the framework of the Chapman-Enskog expansion, the parallel and perpendicular self and interdiffusion coefficients for binary ionic mixtures with varying mass ratios are calculated and are compared to molecular dynamics simulations. The theory is found to accurately extend Braginskii-like transport to stronger coupling, but to break down when the magnetization strength becomes large enough that the typical gyroradius is smaller than the interaction scale length. This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Award Number FA9550-16-1-0221.

  10. The Ionospheric Bubble Index deduced from magnetic field and plasma observations onboard Swarm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Park, Jaeheung; Noja, Max; Stolle, Claudia

    2013-01-01

    . This product called L2-IBI is generated from magnetic field and plasma observations onboard Swarm, and gives information as to whether a Swarm magnetic field observation is affected by EPBs. We validate the performance of the L2-IBI product by using magnetic field and plasma measurements from the CHAMP...... satellite, which provided observations similar to those of the Swarm. The L2-IBI product is of interest not only for ionospheric studies, but also for geomagnetic field modeling; modelers can de-select magnetic data which are affected by EPBs or other unphysical artifacts....

  11. Obliquely Propagating Non-Monotonic Double Layer in a Hot Magnetized Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, T.H.; Kim, S.S.; Hwang, J.H.; Kim, H.Y.

    2005-01-01

    Obliquely propagating non-monotonic double layer is investigated in a hot magnetized plasma, which consists of a positively charged hot ion fluid and trapped, as well as free electrons. A model equation (modified Korteweg-de Vries equation) is derived by the usual reductive perturbation method from a set of basic hydrodynamic equations. A time stationary obliquely propagating non-monotonic double layer solution is obtained in a hot magnetized-plasma. This solution is an analytic extension of the monotonic double layer and the solitary hole. The effects of obliqueness, external magnetic field and ion temperature on the properties of the non-monotonic double layer are discussed

  12. Features of laser spectroscopy and diagnostics of plasma ions in high magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Semerok, A F; Fomichev, S V

    2003-01-01

    Laser induced fluorescence and laser absorption spectroscopies of plasma ions in high magnetic fields have been investigated. Both the high degree of Zeeman splitting of the resonant transitions and the ion rotational movement drastically change the properties of the resonance interaction of the continuous wave laser radiation with ions in highly magnetized plasma. Numerical solution of the density matrix equation for a dissipative two-level system with time-dependent detuning from resonance was used to analyse this interaction. A theoretical simulation was performed and compared with the experimental results obtained from the laser spectroscopy diagnostics of barium plasma ions in high magnetic fields in the several tesla range

  13. A practical nonlocal model for heat transport in magnetized laser plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nicolaie, Ph.D.; Feugeas, J.-L.A.; Schurtz, G.P.

    2006-01-01

    A model of nonlocal transport for multidimensional radiation magnetohydrodynamics codes is presented. In laser produced plasmas, it is now believed that the heat transport can be strongly modified by the nonlocal nature of the electron conduction. Other mechanisms, such as self-generated magnetic fields, may also affect the heat transport. The model described in this work, based on simplified Fokker-Planck equations aims at extending the model of G. Schurtz, Ph. Nicolaie, and M. Busquet [Phys. Plasmas 7, 4238 (2000)] to magnetized plasmas. A complete system of nonlocal equations is derived from kinetic equations with self-consistent electric and magnetic fields. These equations are analyzed and simplified in order to be implemented into large laser fusion codes and coupled to other relevant physics. The model is applied to two laser configurations that demonstrate the main features of the model and point out the nonlocal Righi-Leduc effect in a multidimensional case

  14. NONTHERMALLY DOMINATED ELECTRON ACCELERATION DURING MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN A LOW-β PLASMA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Xiaocan; Li, Gang; Guo, Fan; Li, Hui

    2015-01-01

    By means of fully kinetic simulations, we investigate electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection in a nonrelativistic proton–electron plasma with conditions similar to solar corona and flares. We demonstrate that reconnection leads to a nonthermally dominated electron acceleration with a power-law energy distribution in the nonrelativistic low-β regime but not in the high-β regime, where β is the ratio of the plasma thermal pressure and the magnetic pressure. The accelerated electrons contain most of the dissipated magnetic energy in the low-β regime. A guiding-center current description is used to reveal the role of electron drift motions during the bulk nonthermal energization. We find that the main acceleration mechanism is a Fermi-type acceleration accomplished by the particle curvature drift motion along the electric field induced by the reconnection outflows. Although the acceleration mechanism is similar for different plasma β, low-β reconnection drives fast acceleration on Alfvénic timescales and develops power laws out of thermal distribution. The nonthermally dominated acceleration resulting from magnetic reconnection in low-β plasma may have strong implications for the  highly efficient electron acceleration in solar flares and other astrophysical systems

  15. Formation of a field reversed configuration for magnetic and electrostatic confinement of plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rostoker, Norman; Binderbauer, Michl

    2003-12-16

    A system and method for containing plasma and forming a Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) magnetic topology are described in which plasma ions are contained magnetically in stable, non-adiabatic orbits in the FRC. Further, the electrons are contained electrostatically in a deep energy well, created by tuning an externally applied magnetic field. The simultaneous electrostatic confinement of electrons and magnetic confinement of ions avoids anomalous transport and facilitates classical containment of both electrons and ions. In this configuration, ions and electrons may have adequate density and temperature so that upon collisions they are fused together by nuclear force, thus releasing fusion energy. Moreover, the fusion fuel plasmas that can be used with the present confinement system and method are not limited to neutronic fuels only, but also advantageously include advanced fuels.

  16. Magnetic field compression using pinch-plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koyama, K.; Tanimoto, M.; Matsumoto, Y.; Veno, I.

    1987-01-01

    In a previous report, the method for ultra-high magnetic field compression by using the pinchplasma was discussed. It is summarized as follows. The experiment is performed with the Mather-type plasma focus device tau/sub 1/4/ = 2 μs, I=880 kA at V=20 kV). An initial DC magnetic field is fed by an electromagnet embedded in the inner electrode. The axial component of the magnetic field diverges from the maximum field of 1 kG on the surface of the inner electrode. The density profile deduced from a Mach-Zehnder interferogram with a 2-ns N/sub 2/-laser shows a density dip lasting for 30 ns along the axes. Using the measured density of 8 x 10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/, the temperature of 1.5 keV and the pressure balance relation, the magnitude of the trapped magnetic field is estimated to be 1.0 MG. The magnitude of the compressed magnetic field is also measured by Faraday rotation in a single-mode quartz fiber and a magnetic pickup soil. A protective polyethylene tube (3-mm o.d.) is used along the central axis through the inner electrode and the discharge chamber. The peak value of the compressed field range from 150 to 190 kG. No signal of the magnetic field appears up to the instance of the maximum pinch

  17. Advancements of microwave diagnostics in magnetically confined plasmas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mase, A.; Kogi, Y.; Ito, N.; Yokota, Y.; Akaki, K.; Kawahata, K.; Nagayama, Y.; Tokuzawa, T.; Yamaguchi, S.; Hojo, H.; Oyama, N.; N C Luhmann Jr.,; Park, H. K.; Donne, A. J. H.

    2009-01-01

    Microwave to millimeter-wave diagnostic techniques such as interferometry, reflectometry, scattering and radiometry have been powerful tools for diagnosing magnetically confined plasmas. Recent advances in electronic devices and components together with computer technology have enabled the

  18. Electromagnetic modes in cold magnetized strongly coupled plasmas

    OpenAIRE

    Tkachenko, I. M.; Ortner, J.; Rylyuk, V. M.

    1999-01-01

    The spectrum of electromagnetic waves propagating in a strongly coupled magnetized fully ionized hydrogen plasma is found. The ion motion and damping being neglected, the influence of the Coulomb coupling on the electromagnetic spectrum is analyzed.

  19. Two-dimensional magnetic field evolution measurements and plasma flow speed estimates from the coaxial thruster experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Black, D.C.; Mayo, R.M.; Gerwin, R.A.; Schoenberg, K.F.; Scheuer, J.T.; Hoyt, R.P.; Henins, I.

    1994-01-01

    Local, time-dependent magnetic field measurements have been made in the Los Alamos coaxial thruster experiment (CTX) [C. W. Barnes et al., Phys. Fluids B 2, 1871 (1990); J. C. Fernandez et al., Nucl. Fusion 28, 1555 (1988)] using a 24 coil magnetic probe array (eight spatial positions, three axis probes). The CTX is a magnetized, coaxial plasma gun presently being used to investigate the viability of high pulsed power plasma thrusters for advanced electric propulsion. Previous efforts on this device have indicated that high pulsed power plasma guns are attractive candidates for advanced propulsion that employ ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma stream flow through self-formed magnetic nozzles. Indirect evidence of magnetic nozzle formation was obtained from plasma gun performance and measurements of directed axial velocities up to v z ∼10 7 cm/s. The purpose of this work is to make direct measurement of the time evolving magnetic field topology. The intent is to both identify that applied magnetic field distortion by the highly conductive plasma is occurring, and to provide insight into the details of discharge evolution. Data from a magnetic fluctuation probe array have been used to investigate the details of applied magnetic field deformation through the reconstruction of time-dependent flux profiles. Experimentally observed magnetic field line distortion has been compared to that predicted by a simple one-dimensional (1-D) model of the discharge channel. Such a comparison is utilized to estimate the axial plasma velocity in the thruster. Velocities determined in this manner are in approximate agreement with the predicted self-field magnetosonic speed and those measured by a time-of-flight spectrometer

  20. Review of recent experiments on magnetic reconnection in laboratory plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, M.

    1995-02-01

    The present paper reviews recent laboratory experiments on magnetic reconnection. Examples will be drawn from electron current sheet experiments, merging spheromaks, and from high temperature tokamak plasmas with the Lundquist numbers exceeding 10 7 . These recent laboratory experiments create an environment which satisfies the criteria for MHD plasma and in which the global boundary conditions can be controlled externally. Experiments with fully three dimensional reconnection are now possible. In the most recent TFTR tokamak discharges, Motional Stark effect (MSE) data have verified the existence of a partial reconnection. In the experiment of spheromak merging, a new plasma acceleration parallel to the neutral line has been indicated. Together with the relationship of these observations to the analysis of magnetic reconnection in space and in solar flares, important physics issues such as global boundary conditions, local plasma parameters, merging angle of the field lines, and the 3-D aspects of the reconnection are discussed

  1. Planetary nebulae and the interstellar magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heiligman, G.M.

    1980-01-01

    Previous workers have found a statistical correlation between the projected directions of the interstellar magnetic field and the major axes of planetary nebulae. This result has been examined theoretically using a numerical hydromagnetic model of a cold plasma nebula expanding into a uniform vacuum magnetic field, with nebular gas accreting on the surface. It is found that magnetic pressure alone is probably not sufficient to shape most planetary nebulae to the observed degree. Phenomena are discussed which could amplify simple magnetic pressure, alter nebular morphology and account for the observed correlation. (author)

  2. Formation of toroidal pre-heat plasma without residual magnetic field for high-beta pinch experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikeda, Nagayasu; Tamaru, Ken; Nagata, Akiyoshi.

    1979-01-01

    Formation of toroidal pre-heat plasma was studied. The pre-heat plasma without residual magnetic field was made by chopping the current for pre-heat, A small toroidal-pinch system was used for the experiment. The magnetic field was measured with a magnetic probe. One turn loop was used for the measurement of the toroidal one-turn electric field. A pair of Rogoski coil was used for the measurement of plasma current. The dependence of residual magnetic field on chopping time was measured. By fast chopping of the primary current in the pre-heating circuit, the poloidal magnetic field was reduced to several percent within 5 microsecond. After chopping, no instability was observed in the principal discharge plasma produced within several microsecond. As the conclusion, it can be said that the control of residual field can be made by current chopping. (Kato, T.)

  3. Quasi-linear landau kinetic equations for magnetized plasmas: compact propagator formalism, rotation matrices and interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misguich, J.H.

    2004-04-01

    As a first step toward a nonlinear renormalized description of turbulence phenomena in magnetized plasmas, the lowest order quasi-linear description is presented here from a unified point of view for collisionless as well as for collisional plasmas in a constant magnetic field. The quasi-linear approximation is applied to a general kinetic equation obtained previously from the Klimontovich exact equation, by means of a generalised Dupree-Weinstock method. The so-obtained quasi-linear description of electromagnetic turbulence in a magnetoplasma is applied to three separate physical cases: -) weak electrostatic turbulence, -) purely magnetic field fluctuations (the classical quasi-linear results are obtained for cosmic ray diffusion in the 'slab model' of magnetostatic turbulence in the solar wind), and -) collisional kinetic equations of magnetized plasmas. This mathematical technique has allowed us to derive basic kinetic equations for turbulent plasmas and collisional plasmas, respectively in the quasi-linear and Landau approximation. In presence of a magnetic field we have shown that the systematic use of rotation matrices describing the helical particle motion allows for a much more compact derivation than usually performed. Moreover, from the formal analogy between turbulent and collisional plasmas, the results derived here in detail for the turbulent plasmas, can be immediately translated to obtain explicit results for the Landau kinetic equation

  4. Quasi-linear landau kinetic equations for magnetized plasmas: compact propagator formalism, rotation matrices and interaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Misguich, J.H

    2004-04-01

    As a first step toward a nonlinear renormalized description of turbulence phenomena in magnetized plasmas, the lowest order quasi-linear description is presented here from a unified point of view for collisionless as well as for collisional plasmas in a constant magnetic field. The quasi-linear approximation is applied to a general kinetic equation obtained previously from the Klimontovich exact equation, by means of a generalised Dupree-Weinstock method. The so-obtained quasi-linear description of electromagnetic turbulence in a magnetoplasma is applied to three separate physical cases: -) weak electrostatic turbulence, -) purely magnetic field fluctuations (the classical quasi-linear results are obtained for cosmic ray diffusion in the 'slab model' of magnetostatic turbulence in the solar wind), and -) collisional kinetic equations of magnetized plasmas. This mathematical technique has allowed us to derive basic kinetic equations for turbulent plasmas and collisional plasmas, respectively in the quasi-linear and Landau approximation. In presence of a magnetic field we have shown that the systematic use of rotation matrices describing the helical particle motion allows for a much more compact derivation than usually performed. Moreover, from the formal analogy between turbulent and collisional plasmas, the results derived here in detail for the turbulent plasmas, can be immediately translated to obtain explicit results for the Landau kinetic equation.

  5. Electromagnetic solitary waves in magnetized plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hazeltine, R.D.; Holm, D.D.; Morrison, P.J.

    1985-03-01

    A Hamiltonian formulation, in terms of noncanonical Poisson bracket, is presented for a nonlinear fluid system that includes reduced magnetohydrodynamics and the Hasegawa-Mima equation as limiting cases. The single-helicity and axisymmetric versions possess three nonlinear Casimir invariants, from which a generalized potential can be constructed. Variation of the generalized potential yields a description of exact nonlinear stationary states. The new equilibria, allowing for plasma flow as well as partial electron adiabaticity, are distinct from those found in conventional magnetohydrodynamic theory. They differ from electrostatic stationary states in containing plasma current and magnetic field excitation. One class of steady-state solutions is shown to provide a simple electromagnetic generalization of drift-solitary waves

  6. Three-dimensional modeling of a negative ion source with a magnetic filter: impact of biasing the plasma electrode on the plasma asymmetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fubiani, G.; Boeuf, J. P.

    2015-10-01

    The effect on the plasma characteristics of biasing positively the plasma electrode (PE) in negative ion sources with a magnetic filter is analysed using a 3D particle-in-cell model with Monte-Carlo collisions (PIC-MCC). We specialize to the one driver (i.e. one inductively coupled radio-frequency discharge) BATMAN negative ion source and the 4-drivers (large volume) ELISE device. Both are ITER prototype high power tandem-type negative ion sources developed for the neutral beam injector (NBI) system. The plasma is generated in the driver and diffuses inside the second chamber which is magnetized. Asymmetric plasma profiles originate from the formation of an electric field transverse to the electron current flowing through the magnetic filter (Hall effect). The model shows that the importance of the asymmetry increases with the PE bias potential, i.e. with the electron flow from the driver to the extraction region and depends on the shape of the magnetic filter field. We find that although the plasma density and potential profiles may be more or less asymmetric depending on the filter field configuration, the electron current to the plasma grid is always strongly asymmetric.

  7. Three-dimensional modeling of a negative ion source with a magnetic filter: impact of biasing the plasma electrode on the plasma asymmetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fubiani, G; Boeuf, J P

    2015-01-01

    The effect on the plasma characteristics of biasing positively the plasma electrode (PE) in negative ion sources with a magnetic filter is analysed using a 3D particle-in-cell model with Monte-Carlo collisions (PIC-MCC). We specialize to the one driver (i.e. one inductively coupled radio-frequency discharge) BATMAN negative ion source and the 4-drivers (large volume) ELISE device. Both are ITER prototype high power tandem-type negative ion sources developed for the neutral beam injector (NBI) system. The plasma is generated in the driver and diffuses inside the second chamber which is magnetized. Asymmetric plasma profiles originate from the formation of an electric field transverse to the electron current flowing through the magnetic filter (Hall effect). The model shows that the importance of the asymmetry increases with the PE bias potential, i.e. with the electron flow from the driver to the extraction region and depends on the shape of the magnetic filter field. We find that although the plasma density and potential profiles may be more or less asymmetric depending on the filter field configuration, the electron current to the plasma grid is always strongly asymmetric. (paper)

  8. Metastability in Magnetically Confined Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fong, B.H.; Cowley, S.C.; Hurricane, O.A.

    1999-01-01

    The parameter space of magnetically confined plasmas near marginal instability for interchange-type modes is divided into three regions according to qualitative stability properties. Region I is linearly stable though nonlinearly unstable to large excitations. Region II is linearly unstable, nonlinearly stable to small excitations, and nonlinearly unstable to large excitations. Region III is linearly and nonlinearly unstable. For an equilibrium evolving through marginal stability, region III and therefore explosive instability are inevitably encountered. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

  9. MM-wave emission by magnetized plasma during sub-relativistic electron beam relaxation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ivanov, I. A., E-mail: Ivanov@inp.nsk.su; Arzhannikov, A. V.; Burmasov, V. S.; Popov, S. S.; Postupaev, V. V.; Sklyarov, V. F.; Vyacheslavov, L. N. [Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, 11 Lavrentjev Avenue, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova Street, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Burdakov, A. V.; Sorokina, N. V. [Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, 11 Lavrentjev Avenue, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State Technical University, 20 Karl Marx Avenue, Novosibirsk 630092 (Russian Federation); Gavrilenko, D. E.; Kasatov, A. A.; Kandaurov, I. V.; Mekler, K. I.; Rovenskikh, A. F.; Trunev, Yu. A. [Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, 11 Lavrentjev Avenue, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Kurkuchekov, V. V.; Kuznetsov, S. A. [Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova Street, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Polosatkin, S. V. [Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, 11 Lavrentjev Avenue, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova Street, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State Technical University, 20 Karl Marx Avenue, Novosibirsk 630092 (Russian Federation)

    2015-12-15

    There are described electromagnetic spectra of radiation emitted by magnetized plasma during sub-relativistic electron beam in a double plasma frequency band. Experimental studies were performed at the multiple-mirror trap GOL-3. The electron beam had the following parameters: 70–110 keV for the electron energy, 1–10 MW for the beam power and 30–300 μs for its duration. The spectrum was measured in 75–230 GHz frequency band. The frequency of the emission follows variations in electron plasma density and magnetic field strength. The specific emission power on the length of the plasma column is estimated on the level 0.75 kW/cm.

  10. Runaway electrons in disruptions and perturbed magnetic topologies of tokamak plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Forster, Michael

    2012-01-01

    spectra are found. The radial decay of the runaways is studied and approximated by an exponential distribution. Deriving from the measurements, resistive tearing modes or kink modes are suggested to trigger the formation of the bursts. Measurements of the total runaway electron energy are carried out using the calorimeter probe during induced TEXTOR disruptions. The dependencies of the runaway energy on the runaway current, the radial probe position, the toroidal magnetic field and the predisruptive plasma current are studied. The conversion efficiency of the magnetic plasma energy into runaway energy is estimated. The losses of runaways due to resonant magnetic perturbation fields are measured applying a scintillator probe. The effects of well defined amplitudes of the perturbation on the temporal evolution of the runaway losses and the spectral properties of the runaways are analysed. The runaway transport towards the plasma edge is described by a model which takes magnetic turbulences and the magnetic perturbation field into account. Using an asymptotic theory, the orbits as well as radially and energy dependent transport coefficients for the runaways are calculated. A diffusion equation which utilises the coefficients is solved delivering the density and the flux of the runaways. The model reproduces the measured enhancement of the runaway losses. Qualitatively different runaway spectra are found inside the plasma and at the edge. The spectra are explained by estimations of the competition between the secondary generation rate of the runaways and their radial diffusion. The runaway transport is found to be determined by the magnetic turbulence, the magnetic topology at the edge as well as inside the plasma and by the runaway energy. The mitigation of the runaways due to the magnetic perturbations can be understood by the enhancement of the losses of the low energy runaways. Eventually, a self consistent understanding of the temporal and spectral properties of the

  11. Magnetic helicity balance in the Sustained Spheromak Plasma Experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stallard, B.W.; Hooper, E.B.; Woodruff, S.; Bulmer, R.H.; Hill, D.N.; McLean, H.S.; Wood, R.D.

    2003-01-01

    The magnetic helicity balance between the helicity input injected by a magnetized coaxial gun, the rate-of-change in plasma helicity content, and helicity dissipation in electrode sheaths and Ohmic losses have been examined in the Sustained Spheromak Plasma Experiment (SSPX) [E. B. Hooper, L. D. Pearlstein, and R. H. Bulmer, Nucl. Fusion 39, 863 (1999)]. Helicity is treated as a flux function in the mean-field approximation, allowing separation of helicity drive and losses between closed and open field volumes. For nearly sustained spheromak plasmas with low fluctuations, helicity balance analysis implies a decreasing transport of helicity from the gun input into the spheromak core at higher spheromak electron temperature. Long pulse discharges with continuously increasing helicity and larger fluctuations show higher helicity coupling from the edge to the spheromak core. The magnitude of the sheath voltage drop, inferred from cathode heating and a current threshold dependence of the gun voltage, shows that sheath losses are important and reduce the helicity injection efficiency in SSPX

  12. Antenna Impedance Measures in a Magnetized Plasma. Part 1. Spherical Antenna

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Blackwell, David D; Walker, David N; Messer, Sarah J; Amatucci, William E

    2006-01-01

    .... The hot-filament argon plasma was varied between weakly (omega sub pe) and strongly (omega sub ce > omega sub pe) magnetized plasma with electron densities in the range 10 sup 7 - 10 sup 10 cm sup -3...

  13. Turbulence simulations of blob formation and radial propagation in toroidally magnetized plasmas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garcia, O.E.; Naulin, V.; Nielsen, A.H.

    2006-01-01

    the presence of long- range correlations in the particle density fluctuations. Finally, conditional statistics of the particle flux demonstrates the intermittency of the turbulent plasma transport and the quasi-periodic apparency of blob structures due to bursting in the global turbulence level....... of particles and heat, which is coupled to a scrape-off layer with linear damping terms for all dependent variables corresponding to transport along open magnetic field lines. The formation of blob structures is related to profile variations caused by bursting in the global turbulence level, which is due...... to a dynamical regulation by self- sustained differential rotation of the plasma layer. Radial propagation of the blob structures follows from a vertical charge polarization due to magnetic guiding centre drifts in the toroidally magnetized plasma. Statistical analysis of the particle density, radial electric...

  14. Magnetic dynamics of simple collective modes in a two-sphere plasma model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Essen, Hanno

    2005-01-01

    A plasma blob is modeled as consisting of two homogeneous spheres of equal radius and equal but opposite charge densities that can move relative to each other. Relative translational and rotational motion are considered separately. Magnetic effects from the current density caused by the relative motion are included. Magnetic interaction is seen to cause an inductive inertia. In the relative translation case the Coulomb attraction, approximately a linear force for small amplitudes, causes an oscillation. For a large number of particles, the corresponding oscillation frequency will not be the Langmuir plasma frequency, because of the large inductive inertia. For rotation an external magnetic field is included and the energy and diamagnetism of the plasma in the model is calculated. Finally, it is noted how the neglect of resistivity is motivated by the results

  15. Performance evaluation of a permanent ring magnet based helicon plasma source for negative ion source research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, Arun; Bandyopadhyay, M.; Sudhir, Dass; Chakraborty, A.

    2017-10-01

    Helicon wave heated plasmas are much more efficient in terms of ionization per unit power consumed. A permanent magnet based compact helicon wave heated plasma source is developed in the Institute for Plasma Research, after carefully optimizing the geometry, the frequency of the RF power, and the magnetic field conditions. The HELicon Experiment for Negative ion-I source is the single driver helicon plasma source that is being studied for the development of a large sized, multi-driver negative hydrogen ion source. In this paper, the details about the single driver machine and the results from the characterization of the device are presented. A parametric study at different pressures and magnetic field values using a 13.56 MHz RF source has been carried out in argon plasma, as an initial step towards source characterization. A theoretical model is also presented for the particle and power balance in the plasma. The ambipolar diffusion process taking place in a magnetized helicon plasma is also discussed.

  16. Electron transport in the plasma edge with rotating resonant magnetic perturbations at the TEXTOR tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoschus, Henning

    2011-01-01

    Small three-dimensional (3D) magnetic perturbations can be used as a tool to control the edge plasma parameters in magnetically confined plasmas in high confinement mode (''H-mode'') to suppress edge instabilities inherent to this regime, the Edge Localized Modes (ELMs). In this work, the impact of rotating 3D resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields on the edge plasma structure characterized by electron density and temperature fields is investigated. We study a low confinement (L-mode) edge plasma (r/a>0.9) with high resistivity (edge electron collisionality ν * e >4) at the TEXTOR tokamak. The plasma structure in the plasma edge is measured by a set of high resolution diagnostics: a fast CCD camera (Δt=20 μs) is set up in order to visualize the plasma structure in terms of electron density variations. A supersonic helium beam diagnostic is established as standard diagnostic at TEXTOR to measure electron density n e and temperature T e with high spatial (Δr=2 mm) and temporal resolution (Δt=20 μs). The measured plasma structure is compared to modeling results from the fluid plasma and kinetic neutral transport code EMC3-EIRENE. A sequence of five new observations is discussed: (1) Imaging of electron density variations in the plasma edge shows that a fast rotating RMP field imposes an edge plasma structure, which rotates with the external RMP rotation frequency of vertical stroke ν RMP vertical stroke =1 kHz. (2) Measurements of the electron density and temperature provide strong experimental evidence that in the far edge a rotating 3D scrape-off layer (SOL) exists with helical exhaust channels to the plasma wall components. (3) Radially inward, the plasma structure at the next rational flux surface is found to depend on the relative rotation between external RMP field and intrinsic plasma rotation. For low relative rotation the plasma structure is dominated by a particle and energy loss along open magnetic field lines to the wall components. For high

  17. Electron transport in the plasma edge with rotating resonant magnetic perturbations at the TEXTOR tokamak

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stoschus, Henning

    2011-10-13

    Small three-dimensional (3D) magnetic perturbations can be used as a tool to control the edge plasma parameters in magnetically confined plasmas in high confinement mode (''H-mode'') to suppress edge instabilities inherent to this regime, the Edge Localized Modes (ELMs). In this work, the impact of rotating 3D resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields on the edge plasma structure characterized by electron density and temperature fields is investigated. We study a low confinement (L-mode) edge plasma (r/a>0.9) with high resistivity (edge electron collisionality {nu}{sup *}{sub e}>4) at the TEXTOR tokamak. The plasma structure in the plasma edge is measured by a set of high resolution diagnostics: a fast CCD camera ({delta}t=20 {mu}s) is set up in order to visualize the plasma structure in terms of electron density variations. A supersonic helium beam diagnostic is established as standard diagnostic at TEXTOR to measure electron density n{sub e} and temperature T{sub e} with high spatial ({delta}r=2 mm) and temporal resolution ({delta}t=20 {mu}s). The measured plasma structure is compared to modeling results from the fluid plasma and kinetic neutral transport code EMC3-EIRENE. A sequence of five new observations is discussed: (1) Imaging of electron density variations in the plasma edge shows that a fast rotating RMP field imposes an edge plasma structure, which rotates with the external RMP rotation frequency of vertical stroke {nu}{sub RMP} vertical stroke =1 kHz. (2) Measurements of the electron density and temperature provide strong experimental evidence that in the far edge a rotating 3D scrape-off layer (SOL) exists with helical exhaust channels to the plasma wall components. (3) Radially inward, the plasma structure at the next rational flux surface is found to depend on the relative rotation between external RMP field and intrinsic plasma rotation. For low relative rotation the plasma structure is dominated by a particle and energy loss

  18. Cryogenic Considerations for Superconducting Magnet Design for the Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duckworth, Robert C [ORNL; Demko, Dr. Jonathan A [LeTourneau University, Texas; Lumsdaine, Arnold [ORNL; Caughman, John B [ORNL; Goulding, Richard Howell [ORNL; McGinnis, William Dean [ORNL; Bjorholm, Thomas P [ORNL; Rapp, Juergen [ORNL

    2015-01-01

    In order to determine long term performance of plasma facing components such as diverters and first walls for fusion devices, next generation plasma generators are needed. A Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) has been proposed to address this need through the generation of plasmas in front of the target with electron temperatures of 1-15 eV and electron densities of 1020 to 1021 m-3. Heat fluxes on target diverters could reach 20 MW/m2. In order generate this plasma, a unique radio frequency helicon source and heating of electrons and ions through Electron Bernstein Wave (EBW) and Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) has been proposed. MPEX requires a series of magnets with non-uniform central fields up to 2 T over a 5m length in the heating and transport region and 1 T uniform central field over a 1-m length on a diameter of 1.3 m. Given the field requirements, superconducting magnets are under consideration for MPEX. In order to determine the best construction method for the magnets, the cryogenic refrigeration has been analyzed with respect to cooldown and operational performance criteria for open-cycle and closed-cycle systems, capital and operating costs of these system, and maturity of supporting technology such as cryocoolers. These systems will be compared within the context of commercially available magnet constructions to determine the most economical method for MPEX operation. The current state of the MPEX magnet design including details on possible superconducting magnet configurations will be presented.

  19. Collective scattering of electromagnetic waves from a relativistic magnetized plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Quankang

    1998-01-01

    Recently, laser and microwave scattering has become one of the important diagnostic means for plasma. Laser and microwave correlative scattering spectrum is determined by particle-density fluctuations in a weak turbulent plasma. In a relativistic plasma, on the basis of complete electromagnetic-interaction between particles, a general expression for particle density fluctuations and spectrums of laser and microwave scattering from a magnetized plasma are derived. The laser and microwave scattering spectrums provide informations on electron density and temperature, ion temperature, resonance and nonresonance effects. (author)

  20. Effects of magnetic fields on the quark–gluon plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bali, G.S. [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg (Germany); Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400005 (India); Bruckmann, F. [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg (Germany); Endrődi, G., E-mail: gergely.endrodi@physik.uni-r.de [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg (Germany); Fodor, Z. [Eötvös University, Theoretical Physics, Pázmány P. s 1/A, H-1117, Budapest (Hungary); Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Theoretical Physics, 42119 Wuppertal (Germany); Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany); Katz, S.D. [Eötvös University, Theoretical Physics, Pázmány P. s 1/A, H-1117, Budapest (Hungary); MTA-ELTE Lendület Lattice Gauge Theory Research Group (Hungary); Schäfer, A. [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg (Germany)

    2014-11-15

    In this talk, the response of the thermal QCD medium to external (electro)magnetic fields is studied using continuum extrapolated lattice results at physical quark masses. The magnetic susceptibility of QCD is calculated, revealing a strong paramagnetic response at high temperatures. This paramagnetism is shown to result in an anisotropic squeezing of the quark–gluon plasma in non-central heavy-ion collisions, implying a sizeable contribution to the elliptic flow. Another aspect is the magnetic response of topologically non-trivial domains to the magnetic field. We quantify this effect on the lattice and compare the results to a simple model estimate.