Measurements of plasma temperature and electron density in laser

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The temperature and electron density characterizing the plasma are measured by time-resolved spectroscopy of neutral atom and ion line emissions in the time window of 300–2000 ns. An echelle spectrograph coupled with a gated intensified charge coupled detector is used to record the plasma emissions.

High frequency electric field spikes formed by electron beam-plasma interaction in plasma density gradients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunell, H.; Loefgren, T.

1997-02-01

In the electron beam-plasma interaction at an electric double layer the beam density is much higher than in the classical beam-plasma experiments. The wave propagation takes place along the density gradient, that is present at the high potential side of the double layer. Such a case is studied experimentally by injecting the electron beam from a plane cathode, without any grids suppressing the gradient, and by particle simulations. The high frequency field concentrates in a sharp 'spike' with a half width of the order of one wavelength. The spike is found to be a standing wave surrounded by regions dominated by propagating waves. It forms at a position where its frequency is close to the local plasma frequency. The spike forms also when the electric field is well below the threshold for modulational instability, and long before a density cavity is formed in the simulations. Particle simulations reveal that, at the spike, there is a backward travelling wave that, when it is strongly damped, accelerates electrons back towards the cathode. In a simulation of a homogeneous plasma without the density gradient no spike is seen, and the wave is purely travelling instead of standing. 9 refs

Collimated fast electron beam generation in critical density plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iwawaki, T., E-mail: iwawaki-t@eie.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp; Habara, H.; Morita, K.; Tanaka, K. A. [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1, Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Baton, S.; Fuchs, J.; Chen, S. [LULI, CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique-Université Pierre et Marie Curie-CEA, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Nakatsutsumi, M. [LULI, CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique-Université Pierre et Marie Curie-CEA, 91128 Palaiseau (France); European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (XFEL) GmbH (Germany); Rousseaux, C. [CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon (France); Filippi, F. [La SAPIENZA, University of Rome, Dip. SBAI, 00161 Rome (Italy); Nazarov, W. [School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2014-11-15

Significantly collimated fast electron beam with a divergence angle 10° (FWHM) is observed when an ultra-intense laser pulse (I = 10{sup 14 }W/cm{sup 2}, 300 fs) irradiates a uniform critical density plasma. The uniform plasma is created through the ionization of an ultra-low density (5 mg/c.c.) plastic foam by X-ray burst from the interaction of intense laser (I = 10{sup 14 }W/cm{sup 2}, 600 ps) with a thin Cu foil. 2D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulation well reproduces the collimated electron beam with a strong magnetic field in the region of the laser pulse propagation. To understand the physical mechanism of the collimation, we calculate energetic electron motion in the magnetic field obtained from the 2D PIC simulation. As the results, the strong magnetic field (300 MG) collimates electrons with energy over a few MeV. This collimation mechanism may attract attention in many applications such as electron acceleration, electron microscope and fast ignition of laser fusion.

Compression of a mixed antiproton and electron non-neutral plasma to high densities

Science.gov (United States)

Aghion, Stefano; Amsler, Claude; Bonomi, Germano; Brusa, Roberto S.; Caccia, Massimo; Caravita, Ruggero; Castelli, Fabrizio; Cerchiari, Giovanni; Comparat, Daniel; Consolati, Giovanni; Demetrio, Andrea; Di Noto, Lea; Doser, Michael; Evans, Craig; Fanì, Mattia; Ferragut, Rafael; Fesel, Julian; Fontana, Andrea; Gerber, Sebastian; Giammarchi, Marco; Gligorova, Angela; Guatieri, Francesco; Haider, Stefan; Hinterberger, Alexander; Holmestad, Helga; Kellerbauer, Alban; Khalidova, Olga; Krasnický, Daniel; Lagomarsino, Vittorio; Lansonneur, Pierre; Lebrun, Patrice; Malbrunot, Chloé; Mariazzi, Sebastiano; Marton, Johann; Matveev, Victor; Mazzotta, Zeudi; Müller, Simon R.; Nebbia, Giancarlo; Nedelec, Patrick; Oberthaler, Markus; Pacifico, Nicola; Pagano, Davide; Penasa, Luca; Petracek, Vojtech; Prelz, Francesco; Prevedelli, Marco; Rienaecker, Benjamin; Robert, Jacques; Røhne, Ole M.; Rotondi, Alberto; Sandaker, Heidi; Santoro, Romualdo; Smestad, Lillian; Sorrentino, Fiodor; Testera, Gemma; Tietje, Ingmari C.; Widmann, Eberhard; Yzombard, Pauline; Zimmer, Christian; Zmeskal, Johann; Zurlo, Nicola; Antonello, Massimiliano

2018-04-01

We describe a multi-step "rotating wall" compression of a mixed cold antiproton-electron non-neutral plasma in a 4.46 T Penning-Malmberg trap developed in the context of the AEḡIS experiment at CERN. Such traps are routinely used for the preparation of cold antiprotons suitable for antihydrogen production. A tenfold antiproton radius compression has been achieved, with a minimum antiproton radius of only 0.17 mm. We describe the experimental conditions necessary to perform such a compression: minimizing the tails of the electron density distribution is paramount to ensure that the antiproton density distribution follows that of the electrons. Such electron density tails are remnants of rotating wall compression and in many cases can remain unnoticed. We observe that the compression dynamics for a pure electron plasma behaves the same way as that of a mixed antiproton and electron plasma. Thanks to this optimized compression method and the high single shot antiproton catching efficiency, we observe for the first time cold and dense non-neutral antiproton plasmas with particle densities n ≥ 1013 m-3, which pave the way for an efficient pulsed antihydrogen production in AEḡIS.

Density effects on electronic configurations in dense plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Faussurier, Gérald; Blancard, Christophe

2018-02-01

We present a quantum mechanical model to describe the density effects on electronic configurations inside a plasma environment. Two different approaches are given by starting from a quantum average-atom model. Illustrations are shown for an aluminum plasma in local thermodynamic equilibrium at solid density and at a temperature of 100 eV and in the thermodynamic conditions of a recent experiment designed to characterize the effects of the ionization potential depression treatment. Our approach compares well with experiment and is consistent in that case with the approach of Stewart and Pyatt to describe the ionization potential depression rather than with the method of Ecker and Kröll.

Critical density for Landau damping in a two-electron-component plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rupp, Constantin F.; López, Rodrigo A.; Araneda, Jaime A. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción (Chile)

2015-10-15

The asymptotic evolution of an initial perturbation in a collisionless two-electron-component plasma with different temperatures is studied numerically. The transition between linear and nonlinear damping regimes is determined by slowly varying the density of the secondary electron-component using high-resolution Vlasov-Poisson simulations. It is shown that, for fixed amplitude perturbations, this transition behaves as a critical phenomenon with time scales and field amplitudes exhibiting power-law dependencies on the threshold density, similar to the critical amplitude behavior in a single-component plasma.

Electron and current density measurements on tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lammeren, A.C.A.P. van.

1991-01-01

The first part of this thesis describes the Thomson-scattering diagnostic as it was present at the TORTUR tokamak. For the first time with this diagnostic a complete tangential scattering spectrum was recorded during one single laser pulse. From this scattering spectrum the local current density was derived. Small deviations from the expected gaussian scattering spectrum were observed indicating the non-Maxwellian character of the electron-velocity distribution. The second part of this thesis describes the multi-channel interferometer/ polarimeter diagnostic which was constructed, build and operated on the Rijnhuizen Tokamak Project (RTP) tokamak. The diagnostic was operated routinely, yielding the development of the density profiles for every discharge. When ECRH (Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating) is switched on the density profile broadens, the central density decreases and the total density increases, the opposite takes place when ECRH is switched off. The influence of MHD (magnetohydrodynamics) activity on the density was clearly observable. In the central region of the plasma it was measured that in hydrogen discharges the so-called sawtooth collapse is preceded by an m=1 instability which grows rapidly. An increase in radius of this m=1 mode of 1.5 cm just before the crash is observed. In hydrogen discharges the sawtooth induced density pulse shows an asymmetry for the high- and low-field side propagation. This asymmetry disappeared for helium discharges. From the location of the maximum density variations during an m=2 mode the position of the q=2 surface is derived. The density profiles are measured during the energy quench phase of a plasma disruption. A fast flattening and broadening of the density profile is observed. (author). 95 refs.; 66 figs.; 7 tabs

Device and method for relativistic electron beam heating of a high-density plasma to drive fast liners

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thode, L.E.

1981-01-01

A device and method for relativistic electron beam heating of a high-density plasma in a small localized region are described. A relativistic electron beam generator or accelerator produces a high-voltage electron beam which propagates along a vacuum drift tube and is modulated to initiate electron bunching within the beam. The beam is then directed through a low-density gas chamber which provides isolation between the vacuum modulator and the relativistic electron beam target. The relativistic beam is then applied to a high-density target plasma which typically comprises dt, dd, hydrogen boron or similar thermonuclear gas at a density of 1017 to 1020 electrons per cubic centimeter. The target gas is ionized prior to application of the electron beam by means of a laser or other preionization source to form a plasma. Utilizing a relativistic electron beam with an individual particle energy exceeding 3 mev, classical scattering by relativistic electrons passing through isolation foils is negligible. As a result, relativistic streaming instabilities are initiated within the high-density target plasma causing the relativistic electron beam to efficiently deposit its energy and momentum into a small localized region of the high-density plasma target. Fast liners disposed in the high-density target plasma are explosively or ablatively driven to implosion by a heated annular plasma surrounding the fast liner which is generated by an annular relativistic electron beam. An azimuthal magnetic field produced by axial current flow in the annular plasma, causes the energy in the heated annular plasma to converge on the fast liner

Assessment of plasma impedance probe for measuring electron density and collision frequency in a plasma with spatial and temporal gradients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopkins, Mark A.; King, Lyon B.

2014-01-01

Numerical simulations and experimental measurements were combined to determine the ability of a plasma impedance probe (PIP) to measure plasma density and electron collision frequency in a plasma containing spatial gradients as well as time-varying oscillations in the plasma density. A PIP is sensitive to collision frequency through the width of the parallel resonance in the Re[Z]-vs.-frequency characteristic, while also being sensitive to electron density through the zero-crossing of the Im[Z]-vs.-frequency characteristic at parallel resonance. Simulations of the probe characteristic in a linear plasma gradient indicated that the broadening of Re[Z] due to the spatial gradient obscured the broadening due to electron collision frequency, preventing a quantitative measurement of the absolute collision frequency for gradients considered in this study. Simulation results also showed that the PIP is sensitive to relative changes in electron collision frequency in a spatial density gradient, but a second broadening effect due to time-varying oscillations made collision frequency measurements impossible. The time-varying oscillations had the effect of causing multiple zero-crossings in Im[Z] at parallel resonance. Results of experiments and simulations indicated that the lowest-frequency zero-crossing represented the lowest plasma density in the oscillations and the highest-frequency zero-crossing represented the highest plasma density in the oscillations, thus the PIP probe was found to be an effective tool to measure both the average plasma density as well as the maximum and minimum densities due to temporal oscillations

Thomson scattering from near-solid density plasmas using soft x-ray free electron lasers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holl, A; Bornath, T; Cao, L; Doppner, T; Dusterer, S; Forster, E; Fortmann, C; Glenzer, S H; Gregori, G; Laarmann, T; Meiwes-Broer, K H; Przystawik, A; Radcliffe, P; Redmer, R; Reinholz, H; Ropke, G; Thiele, R; Tiggesbaumker, J; Toleikis, S; Truong, N X; Tschentscher, T; Uschmann, I; Zastrau, U

2006-11-21

We propose a collective Thomson scattering experiment at the VUV free electron laser facility at DESY (FLASH) which aims to diagnose warm dense matter at near-solid density. The plasma region of interest marks the transition from an ideal plasma to a correlated and degenerate many-particle system and is of current interest, e.g. in ICF experiments or laboratory astrophysics. Plasma diagnostic of such plasmas is a longstanding issue. The collective electron plasma mode (plasmon) is revealed in a pump-probe scattering experiment using the high-brilliant radiation to probe the plasma. The distinctive scattering features allow to infer basic plasma properties. For plasmas in thermal equilibrium the electron density and temperature is determined from scattering off the plasmon mode.

Reduction of electron density in a plasma by injection of liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Sodha, M. S.; Evans, J. S.

1974-01-01

In this paper, the authors have investigated the physics of various processes relevant to the reduction of electron density in a plasma by addition of water droplets; two processes have in particular been analyzed in some detail, viz, the electron attachment to charged dielectric droplets and the emission of negative ions by vaporization from these droplets. The results of these analyses have been applied to a study of the kinetics of reduction of electron density and charging of droplets in an initially overionized plasma, after addition of water droplets. A number of simplifying assumptions including uniform size and charge on droplets and negligible change in the radius of the droplet due to evaporation have been made.

Study on intense relativistic electron beam propagation in a low density collisionless plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, S.A.; Rubin, N.B.; Khodataev, K.V.

1982-01-01

The results of investigations into the increase in effectivity of transport of an intensive relativistic electron beam (IREB) in a collisionless plasma of low density are presented. The electron beam with the current of 1.5 kA, energy of 300 keV, radius of 1.5 cm is in ected into a plasma channel 180 cm long which is a metallic cylinder covered with a biniplast layer from inside 0.5 cm thickness on which there is a metallic net from the vacuum side. Plasma production is carried out during the supply of voltage pulse to the net. A condition of the optimum IREB distribution is found. It is sohwn that self-focusing IREB transport in plasma of low density can be effective if equilibrium conditions are carried out in plasma with the concentration of electrons less (or equal) to the concentration of electrons in a beam

Plasma Density Tapering for Laser Wakefield Acceleration of Electrons and Protons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ting, A.; Gordon, D.; Kaganovich, D.; Sprangle, P.; Helle, M.; Hafizi, B.

2010-01-01

Extended acceleration in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator can be achieved by tailoring the phase velocity of the accelerating plasma wave, either through profiling of the density of the plasma or direct manipulation of the phase velocity. Laser wakefield acceleration has also reached a maturity that proton acceleration by wakefield could be entertained provided we begin with protons that are substantially relativistic, ∼1 GeV. Several plasma density tapering schemes are discussed. The first scheme is called ''bucket jumping'' where the plasma density is abruptly returned to the original density after a conventional tapering to move the accelerating particles to a neighboring wakefield period (bucket). The second scheme is designed to specifically accelerate low energy protons by generating a nonlinear wakefield in a plasma region with close to critical density. The third scheme creates a periodic variation in the phase velocity by beating two intense laser beams with laser frequency difference equal to the plasma frequency. Discussions and case examples with simulations are presented where substantial acceleration of electrons or protons could be obtained.

Detection of an electron beam in a high density plasma via an electrostatic probe

Science.gov (United States)

Majeski, Stephen; Yoo, Jongsoo; Zweben, Stewart; Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, Hantao

2017-10-01

The perturbation in floating potential by an electron beam is detected by a 1D floating potential probe array to evaluate the use of an electron beam for magnetic field line mapping in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) plasma. The MRX plasma is relatively high density (1013 cm-3) and low temperature (5 eV). Beam electrons are emitted from a tungsten filament and are accelerated by a 200 V potential across the sheath. They stream along the magnetic field lines towards the probe array. The spatial electron beam density profile is assumed to be a Gaussian along the radial axis of MRX and the effective beam width is determined from the radial profile of the floating potential. The magnitude of the perturbation is in agreement with theoretical predictions and the location of the perturbation is also in agreement with field line mapping. In addition, no significant broadening of the electron beam is observed after propagation for tens of centimeters through the high density plasma. These results demonstrate that this method of field line mapping is, in principle, feasible in high density plasmas. This work is supported by the DOE Contract No. DE-AC0209CH11466.

Comparative study of the electron density profiles in the compact torus plasma merging experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashiya, Hitoshi; Asaka, Takeo; Katsurai, Makoto

2003-01-01

Following two previous papers on the comparative studies of the electron density distributions for a single compact torus (CT) and a spherical tokamak (ST), and for the a single ST and a merged ST, a comparative study on the dynamics of the electron density profile and after the CT and ST plasma merging process was performed. The sharpness of the peak in the electron density profile around the mid-plane just after the merging of CT with a low safety factor (q value) such as RFP or spheromak is found to be related to the speed of the magnetic axis during the plasma merging process. It is also found that the electron density gradient near the plasma edge in a high q ST is larger than that of a low q CT. High q ST is found to be provided with the magnetic structure which is able to sustain a large thermal pressure by a strong j x B force. Despite these differences in the electron density profile between CT and ST during merging, the confinement characteristics evaluated from the number of electrons confined within the magnetic separatrix after the completion of the merging is almost similar between in the merging CT and in the merging ST. For all configurations, the electron density profiles after the completion of the merging are analogous to those of the corresponding single configuration produced without the merging process. (author)

Measurement of electron density and electron temperature of a cascaded arc plasma using laser Thomson scattering compared to an optical emission spectroscopic approach

Science.gov (United States)

Yong, WANG; Cong, LI; Jielin, SHI; Xingwei, WU; Hongbin, DING

2017-11-01

As advanced linear plasma sources, cascaded arc plasma devices have been used to generate steady plasma with high electron density, high particle flux and low electron temperature. To measure electron density and electron temperature of the plasma device accurately, a laser Thomson scattering (LTS) system, which is generally recognized as the most precise plasma diagnostic method, has been established in our lab in Dalian University of Technology. The electron density has been measured successfully in the region of 4.5 × 1019 m-3 to 7.1 × 1020 m-3 and electron temperature in the region of 0.18 eV to 0.58 eV. For comparison, an optical emission spectroscopy (OES) system was established as well. The results showed that the electron excitation temperature (configuration temperature) measured by OES is significantly higher than the electron temperature (kinetic electron temperature) measured by LTS by up to 40% in the given discharge conditions. The results indicate that the cascaded arc plasma is recombining plasma and it is not in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). This leads to significant error using OES when characterizing the electron temperature in a non-LTE plasma.

Thomson scattering on argon surfatron plasmas at intermediate pressures: Axial profiles of the electron temperature and electron density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palomares, J.M.; Iordanova, E.; Veldhuizen, E.M. van; Baede, L.; Gamero, A.; Sola, A.; Mullen, J.J.A.M. van der

2010-01-01

The axial profiles of the electron density n e and electron temperature T e of argon surfatron plasmas in the pressure range of 6-20 mbar and microwave power between 32 and 82 W have been determined using Thomson Scattering of laser irradiation at 532 nm. For the electron density and temperature we found values in the ranges 5 x 10 18 e 19 m -3 and 1.1 e e and T e down to 8% and 3%, respectively. It is found that n e decreases in the direction of the wave propagation with a slope that is nearly constant. The slope depends on the pressure but not on the power. Just as predicted by theories we see that increasing the power leads to longer plasma columns. However, the plasmas are shorter than what is predicted by theories based on the assumption that for the plasma-wave interaction electron-atom collisions are of minor importance (the so-called collisionless regime). The plasma vanishes long before the critical value of the electron density is reached. In contrast to what is predicted by the positive column model it is found that T e does not stay constant along the column, but monotonically increases with the distance from the microwave launcher. Increases of more than 50% over 30 cm were found.

Spectroscopic measurements of the density and electronic temperature at the plasma edge in Tore Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lediankine, A.

1996-01-01

The profiles of temperature and electronic density at the plasma edge are important to study the wall-plasma interaction and the radiative layers in the Tokamak plasmas. The laser ablation technique of the lithium allows to measure the profile of electronic density. To measure the profile of temperature, it has been used for the first time, the injection of a fluorine neutral atoms beam. The experiments, the results are described in this work. (N.C.)

Electron density measurements on the plasma focus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rueckle, B.

1976-01-01

The paper presents a determination of the maximum electron density in a plasma focus, produced with the NESSI experimental setup, by the method of laser beam deflection. For each discharge a time-resolved measurement was performed at four different places. Neutron efficiency as well as the time of the initial X-ray emission was registrated. The principle and the economic aspects of the beam deflection method are presented in detail. The experimental findings and the resulting knowledge of the neutron efficiency are discussed. (GG) [de

Simultaneous streak and frame interferometry for electron density measurements of laser produced plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quevedo, H. J., E-mail: hjquevedo@utexas.edu; McCormick, M.; Wisher, M.; Bengtson, Roger D.; Ditmire, T. [Center for High Energy Density Science, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

2016-01-15

A system of two collinear probe beams with different wavelengths and pulse durations was used to capture simultaneously snapshot interferograms and streaked interferograms of laser produced plasmas. The snapshots measured the two dimensional, path-integrated, electron density on a charge-coupled device while the radial temporal evolution of a one dimensional plasma slice was recorded by a streak camera. This dual-probe combination allowed us to select plasmas that were uniform and axisymmetric along the laser direction suitable for retrieving the continuous evolution of the radial electron density of homogeneous plasmas. Demonstration of this double probe system was done by measuring rapidly evolving plasmas on time scales less than 1 ns produced by the interaction of femtosecond, high intensity, laser pulses with argon gas clusters. Experiments aimed at studying homogeneous plasmas from high intensity laser-gas or laser-cluster interaction could benefit from the use of this probing scheme.

A new Langmuir probe concept for rapid sampling of space plasma electron density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobsen, K S; Pedersen, A; Moen, J I; Bekkeng, T A

2010-01-01

In this paper we describe a new Langmuir probe concept that was invented for the in situ investigation of HF radar backscatter irregularities, with the capability to measure absolute electron density at a resolution sufficient to resolve the finest conceivable structure in an ionospheric plasma. The instrument consists of two or more fixed-bias cylindrical Langmuir probes whose radius is small compared to the Debye length. With this configuration, it is possible to acquire absolute electron density measurements independent of electron temperature and rocket/satellite potential. The system was flown on the ICI-2 sounding rocket to investigate the plasma irregularities which cause HF backscatter. It had a sampling rate of more than 5 kHz and successfully measured structures down to the scale of one electron gyro radius. The system can easily be adapted for any ionospheric rocket or satellite, and provides high-quality measurements of electron density at any desired resolution

Electron density and temperature determination in a Tokamak plasma using light scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez-Navarro Gomez, A.; Zurro Hernandez, B.

1976-01-01

A theoretical foundation review for light scattering by plasmas is presented. Furthemore, a review of the experimental methods for electron density and temperature measurements, with spatial and time resolution, is included in a Tokamak plasma using spectral analysis of the scattered radiation. (author) [es

Atomic Emission Spectra Diagnosis and Electron Density Measurement of Semiconductor Bridge (SCB) Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Hongyan; Zhu Shunguan; Zhang Lin; Wan Xiaoxia; Li Yan; Shen Ruiqi

2010-01-01

Emission spectra of a semiconductor bridge (SCB) plasma in a visible range was studied in air. The electron density was measured in a conventional way from the broadening of the A1 I 394.4 nm Stark width. Based on the Saha equation, a system for recording the intensity of Si I 390.5 nm and Si II 413.1 nm was designed. With this technique, the SCB plasma electron density was measured well and accurately. Moreover, the electron density distribution Vs time was acquired from one SCB discharge. The individual result from the broadening of the Al I 394.4 nm Stark width and Saha equation was all in the range of 10 15 cm -3 to 10 16 cm -3 . Finally the presumption of the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) condition was validated.

Electron density and temperature determination in a Tokamak plasma using light scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez-Navarro Gomerz, A.; Zurro Hernandez, B.

1976-01-01

A theoretical foundation review for light scattering by plasmas is presented. Furthermore, we have included a review of the experimental methods for electron density and temperature measurements, with spatial and time resolution, in a Tokamak plasma using spectral analysis of the scattered radiation. (Author) 13 refs

Injection of auxiliary electrons for increasing the plasma density in highly charged and high intensity ion sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Odorici, F., E-mail: fabrizio.odorici@bo.infn.it; Malferrari, L.; Montanari, A. [INFN—Bologna, Viale B. Pichat, 6/2, 40127 Bologna (Italy); Rizzoli, R. [INFN—Bologna, Viale B. Pichat, 6/2, 40127 Bologna (Italy); CNR–Istituto per la Microelettronica ed i Microsistemi, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna (Italy); Mascali, D.; Castro, G.; Celona, L.; Gammino, S.; Neri, L. [INFN–Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via S. Sofia 62, 95125 Catania (Italy)

2016-02-15

Different electron guns based on cold- or hot-cathode technologies have been developed since 2009 at INFN for operating within ECR plasma chambers as sources of auxiliary electrons, with the aim of boosting the source performances by means of a higher plasma lifetime and density. Their application to microwave discharge ion sources, where plasma is not confined, has required an improvement of the gun design, in order to “screen” the cathode from the plasma particles. Experimental tests carried out on a plasma reactor show a boost of the plasma density, ranging from 10% to 90% when the electron guns are used, as explained by plasma diffusion models.

Injection of auxiliary electrons for increasing the plasma density in highly charged and high intensity ion sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Odorici, F; Malferrari, L; Montanari, A; Rizzoli, R; Mascali, D; Castro, G; Celona, L; Gammino, S; Neri, L

2016-02-01

Different electron guns based on cold- or hot-cathode technologies have been developed since 2009 at INFN for operating within ECR plasma chambers as sources of auxiliary electrons, with the aim of boosting the source performances by means of a higher plasma lifetime and density. Their application to microwave discharge ion sources, where plasma is not confined, has required an improvement of the gun design, in order to "screen" the cathode from the plasma particles. Experimental tests carried out on a plasma reactor show a boost of the plasma density, ranging from 10% to 90% when the electron guns are used, as explained by plasma diffusion models.

Determination of plasma temperature and electron density in river sediment plasma using calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Austria, Elmer S. Jr.; Lamorena-Lim, Rheo B.

2015-01-01

Calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) technique is an approach used to quantitatively measure elemental composition of samples without the use of standard reference materials (SRMs). Due to the unavailability of most SRMs for specific samples, the CF-LIBS approach is steadily becoming more prevalent. CF-LIBS also minimizes interferences from the sample matrix by accounting spectral line intensifies of different elements. The first part of the CF-LIBS algorithm is the calculation of plasma temperature and electron density of the sample while the second part deals with the self-absorption correction and quantitative elemental analysis. In this study, the precursor parameters for the algorithm - plasma temperature and electron density - were measured through the neutral atom and ion line emissions of Fe and Cu in the time window of 0.1 to 10 μs. Plasma from river sediment samples were produced by a 1064 nm nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser at atmospheric pressure. The plasma temperature and electron density were calculated from the Boltzmann plot and Saha-Boltzmann equation methods, respectively. These precursor parameters can be used in calculating the time window wherein the plasma is optically thin at local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and for quantitative multi-elemental analysis. (author)

Study on electron density and average degree of ionization for the non-ideal argon plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jing Ming; Huang Hua; Zhou Yisu; Wang Caixia

2008-01-01

Electron density and average degree of ionization of the non-ideal argon plasmas under different plasma temperature and density are calculated by using SHM model. It comes to a conclusion that the average degree of ionization is less than 0.5 for the non-ideal argon plasmas at temperature T=2.0eV and plasma density ρ=(0.01-0.5)g·cm -3 , and the average degree of ionization is reduced with the increase of plasma density ρ. This indicates that the non-ideal argon plasma has a very low degree of ionization so that most argon has not been ionized. In addition, the discussion on the ionization decrease with the increase of plasma density ρ is given. (authors)

Microwave reflectrometry for electron density measurements in the TJ-1 tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anabitarte, E.; Bustamante, E.G.; Calderon, M.A.G.; Vegas, A.

1986-01-01

A study about microwave reflectometry to measure the outside profile of the electron plasma density on tokamak TJ-1 is presented. It is also presented the condition of applicability of this method after the characteristic parameters of the plasma and its resolution. The simulation of the plasma in laboratory by means of a metallic mirror causes the whole characterization of the reflectometer. (author)

Electron plasma waves and plasma resonances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklin, R N; Braithwaite, N St J

2009-01-01

In 1929 Tonks and Langmuir predicted of the existence of electron plasma waves in an infinite, uniform plasma. The more realistic laboratory environment of non-uniform and bounded plasmas frustrated early experiments. Meanwhile Landau predicted that electron plasma waves in a uniform collisionless plasma would appear to be damped. Subsequent experimental work verified this and revealed the curious phenomenon of plasma wave echoes. Electron plasma wave theory, extended to finite plasmas, has been confirmed by various experiments. Nonlinear phenomena, such as particle trapping, emerge at large amplitude. The use of electron plasma waves to determine electron density and electron temperature has not proved as convenient as other methods.

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

Observation of electron plasma waves in plasma of two-temperature electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikezawa, Shunjiro; Nakamura, Yoshiharu.

1981-01-01

Propagation of electron plasma waves in a large and unmagnetized plasma containing two Maxwellian distributions of electrons is studied experimentally. Two kinds of plasma sources which supply electrons of different temperature are used. The temperature ratio is about 3 and the density ratio of hot to cool electrons is varied from 0 to 0.5. A small contamination of hot electrons enhances the Landau damping of the principal mode known as the Bohm-Gross mode. When the density of hot electrons is larger than about 0.2, two modes are observed. The results agree with theoretical dispersion relations when excitation efficiencies of the modes are considered. (author)

Thomson scattering on argon surfatron plasmas at intermediate pressures: Axial profiles of the electron temperature and electron density

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palomares, J.M., E-mail: f02palij@gmail.co [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain); Iordanova, E.; Veldhuizen, E.M. van; Baede, L. [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Gamero, A.; Sola, A. [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain); Mullen, J.J.A.M. van der, E-mail: j.j.a.m.v.d.Mullen@tue.n [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain)

2010-03-15

The axial profiles of the electron density n{sub e} and electron temperature T{sub e} of argon surfatron plasmas in the pressure range of 6-20 mbar and microwave power between 32 and 82 W have been determined using Thomson Scattering of laser irradiation at 532 nm. For the electron density and temperature we found values in the ranges 5 x 10{sup 18} < n{sub e} < 8 x 10{sup 19} m{sup -3} and 1.1 < T{sub e} < 2.0 eV. Due to several improvements of the setup we could reduce the errors of n{sub e} and T{sub e} down to 8% and 3%, respectively. It is found that n{sub e} decreases in the direction of the wave propagation with a slope that is nearly constant. The slope depends on the pressure but not on the power. Just as predicted by theories we see that increasing the power leads to longer plasma columns. However, the plasmas are shorter than what is predicted by theories based on the assumption that for the plasma-wave interaction electron-atom collisions are of minor importance (the so-called collisionless regime). The plasma vanishes long before the critical value of the electron density is reached. In contrast to what is predicted by the positive column model it is found that T{sub e} does not stay constant along the column, but monotonically increases with the distance from the microwave launcher. Increases of more than 50% over 30 cm were found.

Electron density and temperature profile diagnostics for C-2 field reversed configuration plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, B. H.; Kinley, J. S.; Schroeder, J. [Tri Alpha Energy, Inc., Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688 (United States)

2012-10-15

The 9-point Thomson scattering diagnostic system for the C-2 field reversed configuration plasmas is improved and the measured electron temperature profiles are consistent with theoretical expectations. Rayleigh scattering revealed a finite line width of the ruby laser emission, which complicates density calibration. Taking advantage of the plasma wobble motion, density profile reconstruction accuracy from the 6-chord two-color CO{sub 2}/HeNe interferometer data is improved.

Optimum electron temperature and density for short-wavelength plasma-lasing from nickel-like ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masoudnia, Leili; Bleiner, Davide

2014-01-01

Soft X-ray lasing across a Ni-like plasma gain-medium requires optimum electron temperature and density for attaining to the Ni-like ion stage and for population inversion in the 3d 9 4d 1 (J=0)→3d 9 4p 1 (J=1) laser transition. Various scaling laws, function of operating parameters, were compared with respect to their predictions for optimum temperatures and densities. It is shown that the widely adopted local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model underestimates the optimum plasma-lasing conditions. On the other hand, non-LTE models, especially when complemented with dielectronic recombination, provided accurate prediction of the optimum plasma-lasing conditions. It is further shown that, for targets with Z equal or greater than the rare-earth elements (e.g. Sm), the optimum electron density for plasma-lasing is not accessible for pump-pulses at λ=1ω=1μm. This observation explains a fundamental difficulty in saturating the wavelength of plasma-based X-ray lasers below 6.8 nm, unless using 2ω pumping

Numerical Studies of Electron Acceleration Behind Self-Modulating Proton Beam in Plasma with a Density Gradient

CERN Document Server

Petrenko, A.; Sosedkin, A.

2016-01-01

Presently available high-energy proton beams in circular accelerators carry enough momentum to accelerate high-intensity electron and positron beams to the TeV energy scale over several hundred meters of the plasma with a density of about 1e15 1/cm^3. However, the plasma wavelength at this density is 100-1000 times shorter than the typical longitudinal size of the high-energy proton beam. Therefore the self-modulation instability (SMI) of a long (~10 cm) proton beam in the plasma should be used to create the train of micro-bunches which would then drive the plasma wake resonantly. Changing the plasma density profile offers a simple way to control the development of the SMI and the acceleration of particles during this process. We present simulations of the possible use of a plasma density gradient as a way to control the acceleration of the electron beam during the development of the SMI of a 400 GeV proton beam in a 10 m long plasma. This work is done in the context of the AWAKE project --- the proof-of-prin...

Analysis of line integrated electron density using plasma position data on Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, Y. U.; Chung, J.

2010-01-01

A 280 GHz single-channel horizontal millimeter-wave interferometer system has been installed for plasma electron density measurements on the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device. This system has a triangular beam path that does not pass through the plasma axis due to geometrical constraints in the superconducting tokamak. The term line density on KSTAR has a different meaning from the line density of other tokamaks. To estimate the peak density and the mean density from the measured line density, information on the position of the plasma is needed. The information has been calculated from tangentially viewed visible images using the toroidal symmetry of the plasma. Interface definition language routines have been developed for this purpose. The calculated plasma position data correspond well to calculation results from magnetic analysis. With the position data and an estimated plasma profile, the peak density and the mean density have been obtained from the line density. From these results, changes of plasma density themselves can be separated from effects of the plasma movements, so they can give valuable information on the plasma status.

Temporal evolutions of electron temperature and density of turbulently-heated tokamak plasmas in TRIAM-1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiraki, N; Nakamura, K; Nakamura, Y; Itoh, S [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics

1981-04-01

The temporal evolution of the electron temperature and density are measured in a turbulent heating experiment in TRIAM-1. Skin-like profiles of the electron temperature and density are clearly observed. The anomality in the electrical resistivity of the plasma in this skin-layer is estimated, and the plasma heating in this skin-layer is regarded as being due to anomalous joule heating arising from this anomalous resistivity. The ratio of drift velocity to electron thermal velocity in the layer is also calculated, and it is shown that the conditions needed to make the current-driven ion-acoustic instability triggerable are satisfied.

Plasma electron density measurement with multichannel microwave interferometer on the HL-1 tokamak device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Deming; Zhang Hongyin; Liu Zetian; Ding Xuantong; Li Qirui; Wen Yangxi

1989-11-01

A multichannel microwave interferometer which is composed of different microwave interferometers (one 2 mm band, one 4 mm band and two 8 mm band) has been used to measure the plasma electron density on HL-1 tokamak device. The electron density approaching to 5 x 10 13 cm -3 is measured by a 2 mm band microwave interferometer. In the determinable range, the electron density profile in the cross-section on HL-1 device has been measured by this interferometer. A microcomputer data processing system is also developed

Measurements of electron density and temperature profiles in plasma produced by Nike KrF laser for laser plasma instability research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Karasik, M.; Chan, L. Y.

2015-08-01

A grid image refractometer (GIR) has been implemented at the Nike krypton fluoride laser facility of the Naval Research Laboratory. This instrument simultaneously measures propagation angles and transmissions of UV probe rays (λ = 263 nm, Δt = 10 ps) refracted through plasma. We report results of the first Nike-GIR measurement on a CH plasma produced by the Nike laser pulse (˜1 ns FWHM) with the intensity of 1.1 × 1015 W/cm2. The measured angles and transmissions were processed to construct spatial profiles of electron density (ne) and temperature (Te) in the underdense coronal region of the plasma. Using an inversion algorithm developed for the strongly refracted rays, the deployed GIR system probed electron densities up to 4 × 1021 cm-3 with the density scale length of 120 μm along the plasma symmetry axis. The resulting ne and Te profiles are verified to be self-consistent with the measured quantities of the refracted probe light.

Solitary electron density waves in a magnetized, plasma-loaded waveguide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lynov, J.-P.

1980-08-01

Investigations of two different types of nonlinear, solitary electron density waves in a magnetized, plasma-loaded waveguide are presented. One of the wavetypes is a localized, compressional pulse identified as a Trivelpiece-Gould soliton. The modification of this soliton by the resonant electrons is studied theoretically, by direct numerical solution of the model equation, experimentally, and by numerical simulation of the experiment. The other wave is a localized, rarefactive pulse called an electron hole. It is a positive pulse consisting of a large number of trapped electrons and is a purely kinetic phenomenon. A simple waterbag model for the electron hole is derived and compared with the results from the experiment and the numerical simulation. Finally, interactions between the solitary waves are investigated. (Auth.)

A study of fast electron energy transport in relativistically intense laser-plasma interactions with large density scalelengths

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, R. H. H.; Norreys, P. A. [Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Perez, F.; Baton, S. D. [LULI, Ecole Polytechnique, UMR 7605, CNRS/CEA/UPMC, Route de Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau (France); Santos, J. J.; Nicolai, Ph.; Hulin, S. [Univ. Bordeaux/CNRS/CEA, CELIA, UMR 5107, 33405 Talence (France); Ridgers, C. P. [Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Davies, J. R. [GoLP, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear - Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Lancaster, K. L.; Trines, R. M. G. M. [Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Bell, A. R.; Tzoufras, M. [Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom); Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxford OX11 0QX (United Kingdom); Rose, S. J. [Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2012-05-15

A systematic experimental and computational investigation of the effects of three well characterized density scalelengths on fast electron energy transport in ultra-intense laser-solid interactions has been performed. Experimental evidence is presented which shows that, when the density scalelength is sufficiently large, the fast electron beam entering the solid-density plasma is best described by two distinct populations: those accelerated within the coronal plasma (the fast electron pre-beam) and those accelerated near or at the critical density surface (the fast electron main-beam). The former has considerably lower divergence and higher temperature than that of the main-beam with a half-angle of {approx}20 Degree-Sign . It contains up to 30% of the total fast electron energy absorbed into the target. The number, kinetic energy, and total energy of the fast electrons in the pre-beam are increased by an increase in density scalelength. With larger density scalelengths, the fast electrons heat a smaller cross sectional area of the target, causing the thinnest targets to reach significantly higher rear surface temperatures. Modelling indicates that the enhanced fast electron pre-beam associated with the large density scalelength interaction generates a magnetic field within the target of sufficient magnitude to partially collimate the subsequent, more divergent, fast electron main-beam.

Plasma density control in real-time on the COMPASS tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janky, F., E-mail: filip.janky.work@gmail.com [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Association EURATOM/IPP.CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic); Department of Surface and Plasma Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, V Holešovičkách 2, 180 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic); Hron, M. [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Association EURATOM/IPP.CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic); Havlicek, J. [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Association EURATOM/IPP.CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic); Department of Surface and Plasma Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, V Holešovičkách 2, 180 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic); Varavin, M.; Zacek, F.; Seidl, J.; Panek, R. [Institute of Plasma Physics AS CR, v.v.i., Association EURATOM/IPP.CR, Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • We fitted length of the chord of the interferometry crossing plasma in the different plasma scenarios. • We add correction to the actual length of the chord of the interferometry according to plasma shape and position in real-time code. • We used this correction to control plasma density in real-time. - Abstract: The electron density on COMPASS is measured using 2 mm microwave interferometer. Interferometer signal is used as an input for the feedback control loop, running under the MARTe real-time framework. Two different threads are used to calculate (fast 50 μs thread) and to control (slow 500 μs thread) the electron density. The interferometer measures a line averaged density along a measurement chord. This paper describes an approach to control the line-averaged electron density in a real-time loop, using a correction to the real plasma shape, the plasma position, and non-linear effects of the electron density measurement at high densities. Newly developed real-time electron density control give COMPASS the chance to control the electron density more accurately which is essential for parametric scans for diagnosticians, for physics experiments and also for achieving plasma scenarios with H-mode.

Collective laser light scattering from electron density fluctuations in fusion research plasmas (invited)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holzhauer, E.; Dodel, G.

1990-01-01

In magnetically confined plasmas density fluctuations of apparently turbulent nature with broad spectra in wave number and frequency space are observed which are thought to be the cause for anomalous energy and particle transport across the confining magnetic field. Collective laser light scattering has been used to study the nature of these fluctuations. Specific problems of scattering from fusion plasmas are addressed and illustrated with experimental results from the 119 μm far infrared laser scattering experiment operated on the ASDEX tokamak. Using the system in the heterodyne mode the direction of propagation with respect to the laboratory frame can be determined. Spatial resolution has bean improved by making use of the change in pitch of the total magnetic field across the minor plasma radius. Special emphasis is placed on the ohmic phase where a number of parameter variations including electron density, electron temperature, toroidal magnetic field, and filling gas were performed

Prediction of hot electron production by ultraintense KrF laser-plasma interactions on solid-density targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Susumu; Takahashi, Eiichi; Miura, Eisuke; Owadano, Yoshiro; Nakamura, Tatsufumi; Kato, Tomokazu

2002-01-01

The scaling of hot electron temperature and the spectrum of electron energy by intense laser plasma interactions are reexamined from a viewpoint of the difference in laser wavelength. Laser plasma interaction such as parametric instabilities is usually determined by the Iλ2 scaling, where I and λ is the laser intensity and wavelength, respectively. However, the hot electron temperature is proportional to (ncr/ne0)1/2 [(1 + a 0 2 ) 1/2 - 1] rather than [(1 + a 0 2 ) 1/2 - 1] at the interaction with overdense plasmas, where ne0 is a electron density of overdense plasmas and a0 is a normalized laser intensity

Heating power at the substrate, electron temperature, and electron density in 2.45 GHz low-pressure microwave plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Kais, A.; Lo, J.; Thérèse, L.; Guillot, Ph.

2018-01-01

To control the temperature during a plasma treatment, an understanding of the link between the plasma parameters and the fundamental process responsible for the heating is required. In this work, the power supplied by the plasma onto the surface of a glass substrate is measured using the calorimetric method. It has been shown that the powers deposited by ions and electrons, and their recombination at the surface are the main contributions to the heating power. Each contribution is estimated according to the theory commonly used in the literature. Using the corona balance, the Modified Boltzmann Plot (MBP) is employed to determine the electron temperature. A correlation between the power deposited by the plasma and the results of the MBP has been established. This correlation has been used to estimate the electron number density independent of the Langmuir probe in considered conditions.

Laser produced plasma density measurement by Mach-Zehnder interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaziri, A.; Kohanzadeh, Y.; Mosavi, R.K.

1976-06-01

This report describes an optical interferometric method of measuring the refractive index of the laser-produced plasma, giving estimates of its electron density. The plasma is produced by the interaction of a high power pulsed CO 2 laser beam with a solid target in the vacuum. The time varying plasma has a transient electron density. This transient electron density gives rise to a changing plasma refractive index. A Mach-Zehnder ruby laser interferometer is used to measure this refractive index change

Interferometric density measurements in the divertor and edge plasma regions for the additionally heated JT-60 plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, T.; Yoshida, H.; Nagashima, A.; Ishida, S.; Kikuchi, M.; Yokomizo, H.

1989-01-01

The first divertor plasma density measurement and the interferometric edge plasma density measurement with boundary condition preserving millimeter waveguides were demonstrated to elucidate the mutual correlation among the divertor plasma, scrape-off layer plasma and the bulk plasma properties in the additionally heated JT-60 plasmas. The electron density in the divertor region exhibited a nonlinear dependence on the bulk plasma density for the joule-heated plasmas. When neutral beam heating is applied on the plasmas with the electron density above 2x10 19 /m 3 , however, the bulk plasma density is scraped off from the outer region to lead to density clamping, and the electron density in the divertor region rapidly increases over 1x10 20 /m 3 , from which we can deduce that the particle flow along the magnetic field is dominant, resulting in the apparent degradation of the particle confinement time. As for the case when neutral beam injection is applied to low-density plasmas, the bulk plasma electron density profile becomes flattened to yield a smaller density increase in the divertor region and no density clamping of the bulk plasma was observed. Simulation analysis which correlates the transport of the divertor plasma and the scrape-off layer plasma was also carried out to find the consistency with the experimental results. (orig.)

Particle acceleration in near critical density plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu, Y.J.; Kong, Q.; Kawata, S.; Izumiyama, T.; Nagashima, T.

2013-01-01

Charged particle acceleration schemes driven by ultra intense laser and near critical density plasma interactions are presented. They include electron acceleration in a plasma channel, ion acceleration by the Coulomb explosion and high energy electron beam driven ion acceleration. It is found that under the near critical density plasma both ions and electrons are accelerated with a high acceleration gradient. The electron beam containing a large charge quantity is accelerated well with 23 GeV/cm. The collimated ion bunch reaches 1 GeV. The investigations and discussions are based on 2.5D PIC (particle-in-cell) simulations. (author)

Electron temperature and density relaxations during internal disruptions in TFR Tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enriques, L.; Sand, F.

1977-01-01

Several diagnostics (soft X-ray, Thompson scattering, high frequency waves, and vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy) have been used on TFR Tokamak plasmas in order to show that the soft X-ray relaxations are mainly due to electron temperature relaxations, with only small variations of the electron density. Values of ΔTsub(eo)/Tsub(eo) up to 17% and of Δnsub(eo)/nsub(eo) of a few % or less have been measured. (author)

Electron temperature and density relaxations during internal disruptions in TFR Tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-07-01

Several diagnostics (soft X-ray, Thomson scattering, high frequency waves, and vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy) have been used on TFR Tokamak plasmas in order to show that the soft X-ray relaxations are mainly due to electron temperature relaxations, with only small variations of the electron density. Values of ΔTsub(e0)/Tsub(e0) up to 17% and of Δnsub(e0)/nsub(e0) of a few % or less have been measured

Electron density and gas density measurements in a millimeter-wave discharge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaub, S. C., E-mail: sschaub@mit.edu; Hummelt, J. S.; Guss, W. C.; Shapiro, M. A.; Temkin, R. J. [Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 167 Albany St., Bldg. NW16, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

2016-08-15

Electron density and neutral gas density have been measured in a non-equilibrium air breakdown plasma using optical emission spectroscopy and two-dimensional laser interferometry, respectively. A plasma was created with a focused high frequency microwave beam in air. Experiments were run with 110 GHz and 124.5 GHz microwaves at powers up to 1.2 MW. Microwave pulses were 3 μs long at 110 GHz and 2.2 μs long at 124.5 GHz. Electron density was measured over a pressure range of 25 to 700 Torr as the input microwave power was varied. Electron density was found to be close to the critical density, where the collisional plasma frequency is equal to the microwave frequency, over the pressure range studied and to vary weakly with input power. Neutral gas density was measured over a pressure range from 150 to 750 Torr at power levels high above the threshold for initiating breakdown. The two-dimensional structure of the neutral gas density was resolved. Intense, localized heating was found to occur hundreds of nanoseconds after visible plasma formed. This heating led to neutral gas density reductions of greater than 80% where peak plasma densities occurred. Spatial structure and temporal dynamics of gas heating at atmospheric pressure were found to agree well with published numerical simulations.

Electron density and gas density measurements in a millimeter-wave discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaub, S. C.; Hummelt, J. S.; Guss, W. C.; Shapiro, M. A.; Temkin, R. J.

2016-01-01

Electron density and neutral gas density have been measured in a non-equilibrium air breakdown plasma using optical emission spectroscopy and two-dimensional laser interferometry, respectively. A plasma was created with a focused high frequency microwave beam in air. Experiments were run with 110 GHz and 124.5 GHz microwaves at powers up to 1.2 MW. Microwave pulses were 3 μs long at 110 GHz and 2.2 μs long at 124.5 GHz. Electron density was measured over a pressure range of 25 to 700 Torr as the input microwave power was varied. Electron density was found to be close to the critical density, where the collisional plasma frequency is equal to the microwave frequency, over the pressure range studied and to vary weakly with input power. Neutral gas density was measured over a pressure range from 150 to 750 Torr at power levels high above the threshold for initiating breakdown. The two-dimensional structure of the neutral gas density was resolved. Intense, localized heating was found to occur hundreds of nanoseconds after visible plasma formed. This heating led to neutral gas density reductions of greater than 80% where peak plasma densities occurred. Spatial structure and temporal dynamics of gas heating at atmospheric pressure were found to agree well with published numerical simulations.

Density and energy distribution of epithermal secondary electrons in a plasma with fast charged particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayakumar, R.; Fleischmann, H.H.

1989-01-01

The production of intermediate energy secondary electrons in plasmas through collisions with fast charged particles is investigated. The density and the distribution of the secondary electrons are obtained by calculating the generation, slow down and diffusion rates, using basic Rutherford collision cross sections. It is shown that the total density of secondaries is much smaller than the fast particle density and that the energy distribution has roughly a 1/√E dependence. The higher generation secondary populations are also obtained. (orig.)

The Stark-crossing method for the simultaneous determination of the electron temperature and density in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torres, J; Carabano, O; Fernandez, M; Rubio, S; Alvarez, R; Rodero, A; Lao, C; Quintero, M C; Gamero, A; Sola, A

2006-01-01

The use of the Stark broadening of Balmer lines spontaneously emitted by atmospheric-pressure plasmas as a method to determine both the electron density and temperature in high-pressure plasmas is discussed in this paper. This method is applied to argon and helium plasmas produced in microwave discharges. Especially for Ar plasmas, valuable and reliable results are obtained

Plasma response to electron energy filter in large volume plasma device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanyasi, A. K.; Awasthi, L. M.; Mattoo, S. K.; Srivastava, P. K.; Singh, S. K.; Singh, R.; Kaw, P. K.

2013-01-01

An electron energy filter (EEF) is embedded in the Large Volume Plasma Device plasma for carrying out studies on excitation of plasma turbulence by a gradient in electron temperature (ETG) described in the paper of Mattoo et al. [S. K. Mattoo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 255007 (2012)]. In this paper, we report results on the response of the plasma to the EEF. It is shown that inhomogeneity in the magnetic field of the EEF switches on several physical phenomena resulting in plasma regions with different characteristics, including a plasma region free from energetic electrons, suitable for the study of ETG turbulence. Specifically, we report that localized structures of plasma density, potential, electron temperature, and plasma turbulence are excited in the EEF plasma. It is shown that structures of electron temperature and potential are created due to energy dependence of the electron transport in the filter region. On the other hand, although structure of plasma density has origin in the particle transport but two distinct steps of the density structure emerge from dominance of collisionality in the source-EEF region and of the Bohm diffusion in the EEF-target region. It is argued and experimental evidence is provided for existence of drift like flute Rayleigh-Taylor in the EEF plasma

Plasma Diagnostics in High Density Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daltrini, A. M.; Moshkalyov, S.; Monteiro, M. J. R.; Machida, M.; Kostryukov, A.; Besseler, E.; Biasotto, C.; Diniz, J. A.

2006-01-01

Langmuir electric probes and optical emission spectroscopy diagnostics were developed for applications in high density plasmas. These diagnostics were employed in two plasma sources: an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma and an RF driven inductively coupled plasma (ICP) plasma. Langmuir probes were tested using a number of probing dimensions, probe tip materials, circuits for probe bias and filters. Then, the results were compared with the optical spectroscopy measurements. With these diagnostics, analyses of various plasma processes were performed in both reactors. For example, it has been shown that species like NH radicals generated in gas phase can have critical impact on films deposited by ECR plasmas. In the ICP source, plasmas in atomic and molecular gases were shown to have different spatial distributions, likely due to nonlocal electron heating. The low-to-high density transitions in the ICP plasma were also studied. The role of metastables is shown to be significant in Ar plasmas, in contrast to plasmas with additions of molecular gases

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with ultra-high electron density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Hiromasa; Mizuno, Masaaki; Toyokuni, Shinya; Maruyama, Shoichi; Kodera, Yasuhiro; Terasaki, Hiroko; Adachi, Tetsuo; Kato, Masashi; Kikkawa, Fumitaka; Hori, Masaru

2015-01-01

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is a big challenge in plasma medicine. Reactive species generated from plasma are key factors for treating cancer cells, and thus, non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with high electron density has been developed and applied for cancer treatment. Various cancer cell lines have been treated with plasma, and non-thermal atmospheric plasma clearly has anti-tumor effects. Recent innovative studies suggest that plasma can both directly and indirectly affect cells and tissues, and this observation has widened the range of applications. Thus, cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is promising. Animal experiments and understanding the mode of action are essential for clinical application in the future. A new academic field that combines plasma science, the biology of free radicals, and systems biology will be established

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with ultra-high electron density

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanaka, Hiromasa [Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan); Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Mizuno, Masaaki [Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Toyokuni, Shinya [Department of Pathology and Biological Responses, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Maruyama, Shoichi [Department of Nephrology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Kodera, Yasuhiro [Department of Gastroenterological Surgery (Surgery II), Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Terasaki, Hiroko [Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Adachi, Tetsuo [Laboratory of Clinical Pharmaceutics, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 501-1196 Gifu (Japan); Kato, Masashi [Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Kikkawa, Fumitaka [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsurumai-cho 65, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550 (Japan); Hori, Masaru [Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603 (Japan)

2015-12-15

Cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is a big challenge in plasma medicine. Reactive species generated from plasma are key factors for treating cancer cells, and thus, non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma with high electron density has been developed and applied for cancer treatment. Various cancer cell lines have been treated with plasma, and non-thermal atmospheric plasma clearly has anti-tumor effects. Recent innovative studies suggest that plasma can both directly and indirectly affect cells and tissues, and this observation has widened the range of applications. Thus, cancer therapy using non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma is promising. Animal experiments and understanding the mode of action are essential for clinical application in the future. A new academic field that combines plasma science, the biology of free radicals, and systems biology will be established.

On the origin of plasma density blobs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krasheninnikov, S.I., E-mail: skrash@mae.ucsd.edu

2016-12-01

By keeping nonlinear Boltzmann factor in electron density dependence on electrostatic potential it is demonstrated that large plasma density blobs, often seen in experiment inside separatrix, can exist within the framework of drift wave dynamics. The estimates show that plasma density in a blob can be ∼3 times higher that average plasma density, but hardly exceeds this limit, which in a ball park is in agreement with experimental observations.

Electron beam-plasma interaction and electron-acoustic solitary waves in a plasma with suprathermal electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Danehkar, A.

2018-06-01

Suprathermal electrons and inertial drifting electrons, so called electron beam, are crucial to the nonlinear dynamics of electrostatic solitary waves observed in several astrophysical plasmas. In this paper, the propagation of electron-acoustic solitary waves (EAWs) is investigated in a collisionless, unmagnetized plasma consisting of cool inertial background electrons, hot suprathermal electrons (modeled by a κ-type distribution), and stationary ions. The plasma is penetrated by a cool electron beam component. A linear dispersion relation is derived to describe small-amplitude wave structures that shows a weak dependence of the phase speed on the electron beam velocity and density. A (Sagdeev-type) pseudopotential approach is employed to obtain the existence domain of large-amplitude solitary waves, and investigate how their nonlinear structures depend on the kinematic and physical properties of the electron beam and the suprathermality (described by κ) of the hot electrons. The results indicate that the electron beam can largely alter the EAWs, but can only produce negative polarity solitary waves in this model. While the electron beam co-propagates with the solitary waves, the soliton existence domain (Mach number range) becomes narrower (nearly down to nil) with increasing the beam speed and the beam-to-hot electron temperature ratio, and decreasing the beam-to-cool electron density ratio in high suprathermality (low κ). It is found that the electric potential amplitude largely declines with increasing the beam speed and the beam-to-cool electron density ratio for co-propagating solitary waves, but is slightly decreased by raising the beam-to-hot electron temperature ratio.

Study on the intense relativistic electron beam propagation in a collisionless plasma of small density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korenev, S.A.; Rubin, N.B.; Khodataev, K.V.

1982-01-01

The results of the experimental studies of the intense relativistic electron beam (IREB) propagation with ν/γ approximately 0.1, and γ approximately 1.6 (γ is an electron beam relativistic factor) in a collisionless plasma of small density over the 180 cm length are presented. Plasma is generated with the incomplete discharge over dielectric surface at the residual gas pressure of P approximately 10 -5 Torr. It is shown that the transportation efficiency may be essentially high, if the electron concentration in plasma satisfies the equilibrium conditions and if it is less or equal to the electron concentration in a beam. At concentration less than optimum one, the transportation efficiency decreases due to violations of equilibrium conditions. At high concentration the transportation efficiency also decreased due to the scattering and breaking on excited small-scale and plasma oscillations. The IREB propagation occurs without essential time delay under optimum conditions

Measuring the electron density in plasmas from the difference of Lorentzian part of the widths of two Balmer series hydrogen lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yubero, C. [Grupo de Física de Plasmas: Diagnosis, Modelos y Aplicaciones (FQM-136), Edificio A. Einstein (C-2), Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba (Spain); García, M.C., E-mail: fa1gamam@uco.es [Grupo de Física de Plasmas: Diagnosis, Modelos y Aplicaciones (FQM-136), Edificio A. Einstein (C-2), Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba (Spain); Dimitrijevic, M.S. [Astronomical Observatory, Volgina 7, 11060 Belgrade (Serbia); Sola, A.; Gamero, A. [Grupo de Física de Plasmas: Diagnosis, Modelos y Aplicaciones (FQM-136), Edificio A. Einstein (C-2), Campus de Rabanales, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba (Spain)

2015-05-01

We present an alternative optical emission spectroscopy method to measure the plasma electron density from the difference of widths of two Balmer series hydrogen lines (H{sub α} and H{sub β}), especially convenient for non-thermal plasmas since with this method, there is no need to know either the gas temperature or the van der Waals contribution to the Lorentzian part of the line. In this paper it has been assumed that the part of full width at half maximum due to Stark broadening can be determined with the approximation of Lorentzian line shape. The method has been applied to the determination of the electron density in an argon microwave-induced plasma maintained at atmospheric pressure, and comparison with the results obtained using other diagnostic methods has been done. - Highlights: • An alternative method to measure the electron density in plasmas from two Balmer series hydrogen lines (H{sub α} and H{sub β}) is presented. • The method is very convenient for plasmas with electron densities of the order of 10{sup 14} cm{sup −3} and above, at low gas temperatures. • It has been applied to the determination of the electron density of an argon microwave plasma at atmospheric pressure. • Results from it are in good agreement with previous ones obtained using other diagnostic methods.

Quasilinear dynamics of a cloud of hot electrons propagating through a plasma with decreasing density and temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foroutan, G.; Khalilpour, H.; Moslehi-Fard, M.; Li, B.; Robinson, P. A.

2008-01-01

The effects of plasma inhomogeneities on the propagation of a cloud of hot electrons through a cold background plasma and generation of Langmuir waves are investigated using numerical simulations of the quasilinear equations. It is found that in a plasma with decreasing density the quasilinear relaxation of the electron distribution in velocity space is accelerated and the levels of the generated Langmuir waves are enhanced. The magnitude of the induced emission rate is increased and its maximum value moves to lower velocities. Due to density gradient the height of plateau shows an increase at small distances and a corresponding decrease at large distances. It is also found that in a plasma with decreasing temperature, the relaxation of the beam is retarded, the spectral density of Langmuir waves is broadened, and the height of the plateau decreases below its value in a uniform plasma. In the presence of both density and temperature gradients, at given position, the height and upper boundary of the plateau and the level of Langmuir waves are all increased at small velocities. The spatial expansion of the beam is increased by the plasma inhomogeneities, but its average velocity of propagation decreases. Initially, at a given position, the velocity at the upper boundary of the plateau is smaller in the presence of the density gradient than in the uniform plasma but the reverse is true at longer times. Due to temperature gradient, at large times and small distances, the upper boundary of the plateau is increased above its value in the uniform plasma. Because of fast relaxation, the value of the lower boundary of the plateau in the plasma with decreasing density is always less than its value in the uniform plasma. It is found that the local velocity of the beam decreases when the density gradient is present. The local velocity spread of the beam remains unchanged during the propagation of the beam in the uniform plasma, but increases in the presence of inhomogeneities.

Temporal variations of electron density and temperature in Kr/Ne/H2 photoionized plasma induced by nanosecond pulses from extreme ultraviolet source

Science.gov (United States)

Saber, I.; Bartnik, A.; Wachulak, P.; Skrzeczanowski, W.; Jarocki, R.; Fiedorowicz, H.

2017-06-01

Spectral investigations of low-temperature photoionized plasmas created in a Kr/Ne/H2 gas mixture were performed. The low-temperature plasmas were generated by gas mixture irradiation using extreme ultraviolet pulses from a laser-plasma source. Emission spectra in the ultraviolet/visible range from the photoionized plasmas contained lines that mainly corresponded to neutral atoms and singly charged ions. Temporal variations in the plasma electron temperature and electron density were studied using different characteristic emission lines at various delay times. Results, based on Kr II lines, showed that the electron temperature decreased from 1.7 to 0.9 eV. The electron densities were estimated using different spectral lines at each delay time. In general, except for the Hβ line, in which the electron density decreased from 3.78 × 1016 cm-3 at 200 ns to 5.77 × 1015 cm-3 at 2000 ns, most of the electron density values measured from the different lines were of the order of 1015 cm-3 and decreased slightly while maintaining the same order when the delay time increased. The time dependences of the measured and simulated intensities of a spectral line of interest were also investigated. The validity of the partial or full local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions in plasma was explained based on time-resolved electron density measurements. The partial LTE condition was satisfied for delay times in the 200 ns to 1500 ns range. The results are summarized, and the dominant basic atomic processes in the gas mixture photoionized plasma are discussed.

Effects of rf power on electron density and temperature, neutral temperature, and Te fluctuations in an inductively coupled plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camparo, James; Fathi, Gilda

2009-01-01

Atomic clocks that fly on global-navigation satellites such as global positioning system (GPS) and Galileo employ light from low-temperature, inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs) for atomic signal generation and detection (i.e., alkali/noble-gas rf-discharge lamps). In this application, the performance of the atomic clock and the capabilities of the navigation system depend sensitively on the stability of the ICP's optical emission. In order to better understand the mechanisms that might lead to instability in these rf-discharge lamps, and hence the satellite atomic clocks, we studied the optical emission from a Rb/Xe ICP as a function of the rf power driving the plasma. Surprisingly, we found that the electron density in the plasma was essentially independent of increases in rf power above its nominal value (i.e., 'rf-power gain') and that the electron temperature was only a slowly varying function of rf-power gain. The primary effect of rf power was to increase the temperature of the neutrals in the plasma, which was manifested by an increase in Rb vapor density. Interestingly, we also found evidence for electron temperature fluctuations (i.e., fluctuations in the plasma's high-energy electron content). The variance of these fluctuations scaled inversely with the plasma's mean electron temperature and was consistent with a simple model that assumed that the total electron density in the discharge was independent of rf power. Taken as a whole, our results indicate that the electrons in alkali/noble-gas ICPs are little affected by slight changes in rf power and that the primary effect of such changes is to heat the plasma's neutral species.

Feasibility Studies of the Two Filters Method in TJ-II for Electron Temperature Measurements in High Density Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baiao, D.; Medina, F.; Ochando, M.; Varandas, C.

2009-01-01

The TJ-II plasma soft X-ray emission was studied in order to establish an adequate setup for an electron temperature diagnostic suitable for high density, with spatial and temporal resolutions, based on the two-filters method. The preliminary experimental results reported were obtained with two diagnostics (an X-ray PHA based on a Ge detector and a tomography system) already installed in TJ-II stellarator. These results lead to the conclusion that the two-filters method was a suitable option for an electron temperature diagnostic for high-density plasmas in TJ-II. We present the design and fi rst results obtained with a prototype for the measurement of electron temperature in TJ-II plasmas heated with energetic neutral beams. This system consists in two AXUV20A detectors which measure the soft X-ray plasma emissivity trough beryllium filters of different thickness. From the two-filters technique it is possible to estimate the electron temperature. The analyses carried out allowed concluding which filter thicknesses are most suited for TJ-II plasmas, and enhanced the need of a computer code to simulate signals and plasma compositions. (Author) 7 refs.

Feasibility Studies of the Two Filters Method in TJ-II for Electron Temperature Measurements in High Density Plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baiao, D.; Medina, F.; Ochando, M.; Varandas, C.

2009-07-01

The TJ-II plasma soft X-ray emission was studied in order to establish an adequate setup for an electron temperature diagnostic suitable for high density, with spatial and temporal resolutions, based on the two-filters method. The preliminary experimental results reported were obtained with two diagnostics (an X-ray PHA based on a Ge detector and a tomography system) already installed in TJ-II stellarator. These results lead to the conclusion that the two-filters method was a suitable option for an electron temperature diagnostic for high-density plasmas in TJ-II. We present the design and fi rst results obtained with a prototype for the measurement of electron temperature in TJ-II plasmas heated with energetic neutral beams. This system consists in two AXUV20A detectors which measure the soft X-ray plasma emissivity trough beryllium filters of different thickness. From the two-filters technique it is possible to estimate the electron temperature. The analyses carried out allowed concluding which filter thicknesses are most suited for TJ-II plasmas, and enhanced the need of a computer code to simulate signals and plasma compositions. (Author) 7 refs.

Temporal evolutions of electron temperature and density with edge localized mode in the JT-60U divertor plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakano, T; Kubo, H; Asakura, N

2010-01-01

From the intensity ratios of the three He I lines measured at 20 kHz, the temporal evolutions of the electron temperature and density during and after the power and the particle flow into the divertor plasma caused by edge localized modes are determined. The electron temperature increases from 70 eV to 80 eV with increasing D α intensity. Then, at the peak of D α intensity, the electron temperature starts decreasing down to 60 eV. The electron density increases from 0.1 x 10 19 m -3 to 0.3 x 10 19 m -3 with increasing D α intensity, and then starts to decrease more gradually compared with the electron temperature after the peak of D α intensity. It is interpreted that the increase of the electron temperature is ascribed to the power and the particle flow into the divertor plasma, and that the decrease of the electron temperature and the increase of the electron density are ascribed to the ionization of the recycled neutrals, which consumes the electron energy and produces electrons.

Properties of ion temperature gradient and trapped electron modes in tokamak plasmas with inverted density profiles

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Huarong; Jhang, Hogun; Hahm, T. S.; Dong, J. Q.; Wang, Z. X.

2017-12-01

We perform a numerical study of linear stability of the ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode and the trapped electron mode (TEM) in tokamak plasmas with inverted density profiles. A local gyrokinetic integral equation is applied for this study. From comprehensive parametric scans, we obtain stability diagrams for ITG modes and TEMs in terms of density and temperature gradient scale lengths. The results show that, for the inverted density profile, there exists a normalized threshold temperature gradient above which the ITG mode and the TEM are either separately or simultaneously unstable. The instability threshold of the TEM for the inverted density profile is substantially different from that for normal and flat density profiles. In addition, deviations are found on the ITG threshold from an early analytic theory in sheared slab geometry with the adiabatic electron response [T. S. Hahm and W. M. Tang, Phys. Fluids B 1, 1185 (1989)]. A possible implication of this work on particle transport in pellet fueled tokamak plasmas is discussed.

Plasma lenses for focusing relativistic electron beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govil, R.; Wheeler, S.; Leemans, W.

1997-01-01

The next generation of colliders require tightly focused beams with high luminosity. To focus charged particle beams for such applications, a plasma focusing scheme has been proposed. Plasma lenses can be overdense (plasma density, n p much greater than electron beam density, n b ) or underdense (n p less than 2 n b ). In overdense lenses the space-charge force of the electron beam is canceled by the plasma and the remaining magnetic force causes the electron beam to self-pinch. The focusing gradient is nonlinear, resulting in spherical aberrations. In underdense lenses, the self-forces of the electron beam cancel, allowing the plasma ions to focus the beam. Although for a given beam density, a uniform underdense lens produces smaller focusing gradients than an overdense lens, it produces better beam quality since the focusing is done by plasma ions. The underdense lens can be improved by tapering the density of the plasma for optimal focusing. The underdense lens performance can be enhanced further by producing adiabatic plasma lenses to avoid the Oide limit on spot size due to synchrotron radiation by the electron beam. The plasma lens experiment at the Beam Test Facility (BTF) is designed to study the properties of plasma lenses in both overdense and underdense regimes. In particular, important issues such as electron beam matching, time response of the lens, lens aberrations and shot-to-shot reproducibility are being investigated

Temporal evolution of plasma density in femtosecond light filaments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Haitao; Fan Chengyu; Shen Hong; Qiao Chunhong; Zhang Jinghui; Zhang Pengfei; Ma Huimin; Xu Huiling

2012-01-01

By using a legible and comprehensive physical model describing the generation and evolvement of ion densities in the plasma channel induced by intense femtosecond laser pulse, the work studied the temporal evolution of the plasma densities in femtosecond light filaments. It shows that the contribution of the ionization of oxygen and nitrogen molecules to the total electron densities varies much for different laser pulse shapes, and the pulse shapes have more effects on the lifetime of the higher density plasma. It is necessary to control the pulse shape for efficient using of the plasma channel. Pulses of long duration and short wavelength can obtain a plasma channel with higher electron density, but the channel lifetime thoroughly depends on the later evolution of the self-guided channel. (authors)

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating of a High-Density Plasma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, F. Ramskov

1986-01-01

Various schemes for electron cyclotron resonance heating of tokamak plasmas with the ratio of electron plasma frequency to electron cyclotron frequency, "»pe/^ce* larger than 1 on axis, are investigated. In particular, a mode conversion scheme is investigated using ordinary waves at the fundamental...... of the electron cyclotron frequency. These are injected obliquely from the outside of the tokamak near an optimal angle to the magnetic field lines. This method involves two mode conversions. The ordinary waves are converted into extraordinary waves near the plasma cut-off layer. The extraordinary waves...... are subsequently converted into electrostatic electron Bernstein waves at the upper hybrid resonance layer, and the Bernstein waves are completely absorbed close to the plasma centre. Results are presented from ray-tracinq calculations in full three-dimensional geometry using the dispersion function for a hot non...

Plasma density measurements on COMPASS-C tokamak from electron cyclotron emission cutoffs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chenna Reddy, D.; Edlington, T.

1996-01-01

Electron cyclotron emission (ECE) is a standard diagnostic in present day tokamak devices for temperature measurement. When the plasma density is high enough the emission at some frequencies is cut off. Of these cutoff frequencies, the first frequency to cut off depends on the shape of the density profile. If the density profile can be described by a few parameters, in some circumstances, this first cutoff frequency can be used to obtain two of these parameters. If more than two parameters are needed to describe the density profile, then additional independent measurements are required to find all the parameters. We describe a technique by which it is possible to obtain an analytical relation between the radius at which the first cutoff occurs and the profile parameters. Assuming that the shape of the profile does not change as the average density rises after the first cutoff, one can use the cutoffs at other frequencies to obtain the average density at the time of these cutoffs. The plasma densities obtained with this technique using the data from a 14 channel ECE diagnostic on COMPASS-C tokamak are in good agreement with those measured by a standard 2 mm interferometer. The density measurement using the ECE cutoffs is an independent measurement and requires only a frequency calibration of the ECE diagnostic. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Acceleration of electrons and supplementary ionization during parametrical plasma heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grach, S.M.; Mityakov, N.A.; Trakhtengerts, V.Yu.; AN SSSR, Gor'kij. Inst. Prikladnoj Fiziki)

1986-01-01

Acceleration of electrons by plasma waves in partially ionized plasma is considered with provision for the effects of turbulent scattering and formation of secondary electrons, which are produced in the process of electron shock ionization. It is shown that the avalanche density growth of electrons accelerated up to 1-2 ionization potential (instability) takes place beginning from some critical density of plasma waves. Density of fast electrons is found out along with plasma wave energy density at the stage of instability saturation. Additional concentration of a background plasma, which manifests itself due to ionization, is evaluated

Preliminary investigation of anomalous relativistic electron beam deposition into a 1017 to 1020 cm-3 density plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thode, L.E.

1978-04-01

Based upon recent theoretical and experimental advances, the potential for using a 10 to 30 MeV electron beam to heat a 10 17 to 10 20 cm -3 density plasma has been investigated. Taking into account anode foil scattering, external magnetic field strength, electron-ion collision rate, beam self-magnetic field discontinuity, and plasma temperature, a coupling efficiency of 15 to 50% is achievable for such a plasma. Moreover, the beam generator requirements seem to be within present pulse power technology

Study of density jump in helicon-wave induced H2 plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Fan; Cheng Xinlu; Xiong Zhenwei; Wu Weidong; Wang Yuying; Gao Yingxue; Dai Yang

2012-01-01

Hydrogen plasmas electron density and electron energy distribution function EEDF were studied with Langmuir probe. Two jumps were observed in the variation of the electron density with the radio frequency power. The relative intensity ratio of hydrogen plasmas spectrum line H α , H β and H γ validated this phenomenon. Two density jumps illuminated the transition of discharge mode,which labeled as capacitive, inductive and helicon-wave mode. In this work, the density jumps are explained from two sides, one is the interaction between electrons and hydrogen molecules, the other is Nagoya type III (N-type) antenna-plasma coupling. With the increase of radiofrequency power, the interaction between electron and hydrogen molecule has been enhanced which causes the electron density jumps. The antenna couples well to plasmas when transverse field E y is maximum, and the wave vector of k z locates at π/l a or 3π/l a , corresponding to the first and second density jump. (authors)

Arbitrary amplitude slow electron-acoustic solitons in three-electron temperature space plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mbuli, L. N.; Maharaj, S. K.; Bharuthram, R.; Singh, S. V.; Lakhina, G. S.

2015-01-01

We examine the characteristics of large amplitude slow electron-acoustic solitons supported in a four-component unmagnetised plasma composed of cool, warm, hot electrons, and cool ions. The inertia and pressure for all the species in this plasma system are retained by assuming that they are adiabatic fluids. Our findings reveal that both positive and negative potential slow electron-acoustic solitons are supported in the four-component plasma system. The polarity switch of the slow electron-acoustic solitons is determined by the number densities of the cool and warm electrons. Negative potential solitons, which are limited by the cool and warm electron number densities becoming unreal and the occurrence of negative potential double layers, are found for low values of the cool electron density, while the positive potential solitons occurring for large values of the cool electron density are only limited by positive potential double layers. Both the lower and upper Mach numbers for the slow electron-acoustic solitons are computed and discussed

Plasma Photonic Devices for High Energy Density Science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodama, R.

2005-01-01

High power laser technologies are opening a variety of attractive fields of science and technology using high energy density plasmas such as plasma physics, laboratory astrophysics, material science, nuclear science including medical applications and laser fusion. The critical issues in the applications are attributed to the control of intense light and enormous density of charged particles including efficient generation of the particles such as MeV electrons and protons with a current density of TA/cm2. Now these application possibilities are limited only by the laser technology. These applications have been limited in the control of the high power laser technologies and their optics. However, if we have another device consisted of the 4th material, i.e. plasma, we will obtain a higher energy density condition and explore the application possibilities, which could be called high energy plasma device. One of the most attractive devices has been demonstrated in the fast ignition scheme of the laser fusion, which is cone-guiding of ultra-intense laser light in to high density regions1. This is one of the applications of the plasma device to control the ultra-intense laser light. The other role of the devices consisted of transient plasmas is control of enormous energy-density particles in a fashion analogous to light control with a conventional optical device. A plasma fibre (5?m/1mm), as one example of the devices, has guided and deflected the high-density MeV electrons generated by ultra-intense laser light 2. The electrons have been well collimated with either a lens-like plasma device or a fibre-like plasma, resulting in isochoric heating and creation of ultra-high pressures such as Giga bar with an order of 100J. Plasmas would be uniquely a device to easily control the higher energy density particles like a conventional optical device as well as the ultra-intense laser light, which could be called plasma photonic device. (Author)

Probing of flowing electron plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Himura, H.; Nakashima, C.; Saito, H.; Yoshida, Z.

2001-01-01

Probing of streaming electron plasmas with finite temperature is studied. For the first time, a current-voltage characteristic of an electric probe is measured in electron plasmas. Due to the fast flow of the electron plasmas, the characteristic curve spreads out significantly and exhibits a long tail. This feature can be explained calculating the currents collected to the probe. In flowing electron plasmas, the distribution function observed in the laboratory frame is non-Maxwellian even if the plasmas come to a state of thermal equilibrium. Another significant feature of the characteristic is that it determines a floating potential where the current equals zero, despite there being very few ions in the electron plasma. A high impedance probe, which is popularly used to determine the space potential of electron plasmas, outputs the potential. The method is available only for plasmas with density much smaller than the Brillouin limit

Stationary Density Variation Produced by a Standing Plasma Wave

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Poul; Pécseli, Hans; Juul Rasmussen, Jens

1977-01-01

Measurements are presented of a stationary density modulation produced by a standing electron plasma wave. The experimental results are well explained by taking into account the ponderomotive forces on the electrons exerted by the high frequency field.......Measurements are presented of a stationary density modulation produced by a standing electron plasma wave. The experimental results are well explained by taking into account the ponderomotive forces on the electrons exerted by the high frequency field....

Optical plasma torch electron bunch generation in plasma wakefield accelerators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Wittig

2015-08-01

Full Text Available A novel, flexible method of witness electron bunch generation in plasma wakefield accelerators is described. A quasistationary plasma region is ignited by a focused laser pulse prior to the arrival of the plasma wave. This localized, shapeable optical plasma torch causes a strong distortion of the plasma blowout during passage of the electron driver bunch, leading to collective alteration of plasma electron trajectories and to controlled injection. This optically steered injection is more flexible and faster when compared to hydrodynamically controlled gas density transition injection methods.

Stabilization of electron-scale turbulence by electron density gradient in national spherical torus experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruiz Ruiz, J.; White, A. E. [MIT-Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Ren, Y.; Guttenfelder, W.; Kaye, S. M.; Leblanc, B. P.; Mazzucato, E. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Lee, K. C. [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Domier, C. W. [University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616 (United States); Smith, D. R. [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Yuh, H. [Nova Photonics, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)

2015-12-15

Theory and experiments have shown that electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence on the electron gyro-scale, k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub e} ≲ 1, can be responsible for anomalous electron thermal transport in NSTX. Electron scale (high-k) turbulence is diagnosed in NSTX with a high-k microwave scattering system [D. R. Smith et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 123501 (2008)]. Here we report on stabilization effects of the electron density gradient on electron-scale density fluctuations in a set of neutral beam injection heated H-mode plasmas. We found that the absence of high-k density fluctuations from measurements is correlated with large equilibrium density gradient, which is shown to be consistent with linear stabilization of ETG modes due to the density gradient using the analytical ETG linear threshold in F. Jenko et al. [Phys. Plasmas 8, 4096 (2001)] and linear gyrokinetic simulations with GS2 [M. Kotschenreuther et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 88, 128 (1995)]. We also found that the observed power of electron-scale turbulence (when it exists) is anti-correlated with the equilibrium density gradient, suggesting density gradient as a nonlinear stabilizing mechanism. Higher density gradients give rise to lower values of the plasma frame frequency, calculated based on the Doppler shift of the measured density fluctuations. Linear gyrokinetic simulations show that higher values of the electron density gradient reduce the value of the real frequency, in agreement with experimental observation. Nonlinear electron-scale gyrokinetic simulations show that high electron density gradient reduces electron heat flux and stiffness, and increases the ETG nonlinear threshold, consistent with experimental observations.

A study of microwave interferometers for electron density measurements in REB-plasma experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saxena, A.C.; Paithankar, A.S.; Iyyengar, S.K.; Rohatgi, V.K.

1981-01-01

In order to select a suitable microwave interferometer for electron density measurements in Relativistic Electron Beam (REB)-Plasma Experiments, a study has been carried out of four types of interferometers, viz. simple interferometer, standing-wave interferometer, frequency and phase modulated interferometers. Various direct reading interferometers which give a voltage proportional to the phase shift, are also discussed. Systems have been analysed in terms of time resolution, phase sensitivity, system stability, ease of measurement etc. Theoretical and experimental limitations of various systems have been indicated. Summary of the various systems is presented in a table to aid the experimentalist to select the most appropriate system for the prevailina experimental conditions. Finally, an attempt has been made to find out the interferometer system best suited for REB-Plasma Experiments. (author)

Laser frequency modulation with electron plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Burgess, T. J.; Latorre, V. R.

1972-01-01

When laser beam passes through electron plasma its frequency shifts by amount proportional to plasma density. This density varies with modulating signal resulting in corresponding modulation of laser beam frequency. Necessary apparatus is relatively inexpensive since crystals are not required.

Measurement of electron density of the plasma in the Tokamak TCABR, through Thomson scattering diagnostic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeronimo, Leonardo Cunha

2013-01-01

Over the last few years is remarkable, so increasingly evident the need for a new source of energy for mankind. One promising option is through nuclear fusion, where the plasma produced in the reactor can be converted into electrical energy. Therefore, knowing the characteristics of this plasma is very important to control it and understand it so desirable. One of the diagnostic options is called Thomson scattering . This is considered the most reliable method for the determination of important plasma parameters such as temperature and electron density, and may also help in the study and explanation of various internal mechanisms. The great advantage lies in the tact that they consist of a direct measurement and nonperturbative. But it is a diagnosis whose installation and execution is admittedly complex, limiting it only a few laboratories in the fíeld of fusion for the world. Among the main difficulties, wc can highlight the fact that the scattered signal is very small, thus requiring a large increase of the incident power. Moreover, the external physical conditions can cause mechanical vibrations that eliminate or minimize them as much as possible, is a great challenge, considering the optical micrometrically very sensitive and needs involved in the system. This work describes the entire process of installation and operation of Thomson scattering diagnostic in tokamak TCABR and through this diagnosis, we work on results of electron temperature, to finally be able to calculate the electron density of the plasma. (author)

Existence of a virtual cathode close to a strongly electron emissive wall in low density plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Tierno, S. P.; Donoso, J. M.; Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Conde, L.

2016-01-01

The interaction between an electron emissive wall, electrically biased in a plasma, is revisited through a simple fluid model. We search for realistic conditions of the existence of a non-monotonic plasma potential profile with a virtual cathode as it is observed in several experiments. We mainly focus our attention on thermionic emission related to the operation of emissive probes for plasma diagnostics, although most conclusions also apply to other electron emission processes. An extended Bohm criterion is derived involving the ratio between the two different electron densities at the potential minimum and at the background plasma. The model allows a phase-diagram analysis, which confirms the existence of the non-monotonic potential profiles with a virtual cathode. This analysis shows that the formation of the potential well critically depends on the emitted electron current and on the velocity at the sheath edge of cold ions flowing from the bulk plasma. As a consequence, a threshold value of the governing parameter is required, in accordance to the physical nature of the electron emission process. The latter is a threshold wall temperature in the case of thermionic electrons. Experimental evidence supports our numerical calculations of this threshold temperature. Besides this, the potential well becomes deeper with increasing electron emission, retaining a fraction of the released current which limits the extent of the bulk plasma perturbation. This noninvasive property would explain the reliable measurements of plasma potential by using the floating potential method of emissive probes operating in the so-called strong emission regime.

Existence of a virtual cathode close to a strongly electron emissive wall in low density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tierno, S. P.; Donoso, J. M.; Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Conde, L.

2016-01-01

The interaction between an electron emissive wall, electrically biased in a plasma, is revisited through a simple fluid model. We search for realistic conditions of the existence of a non-monotonic plasma potential profile with a virtual cathode as it is observed in several experiments. We mainly focus our attention on thermionic emission related to the operation of emissive probes for plasma diagnostics, although most conclusions also apply to other electron emission processes. An extended Bohm criterion is derived involving the ratio between the two different electron densities at the potential minimum and at the background plasma. The model allows a phase-diagram analysis, which confirms the existence of the non-monotonic potential profiles with a virtual cathode. This analysis shows that the formation of the potential well critically depends on the emitted electron current and on the velocity at the sheath edge of cold ions flowing from the bulk plasma. As a consequence, a threshold value of the governing parameter is required, in accordance to the physical nature of the electron emission process. The latter is a threshold wall temperature in the case of thermionic electrons. Experimental evidence supports our numerical calculations of this threshold temperature. Besides this, the potential well becomes deeper with increasing electron emission, retaining a fraction of the released current which limits the extent of the bulk plasma perturbation. This noninvasive property would explain the reliable measurements of plasma potential by using the floating potential method of emissive probes operating in the so-called strong emission regime

Existence of a virtual cathode close to a strongly electron emissive wall in low density plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tierno, S. P., E-mail: sp.tierno@upm.es; Donoso, J. M.; Domenech-Garret, J. L.; Conde, L. [Department of Applied Physics, E.T.S.I. Aeronáutica y del Espacio. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2016-01-15

The interaction between an electron emissive wall, electrically biased in a plasma, is revisited through a simple fluid model. We search for realistic conditions of the existence of a non-monotonic plasma potential profile with a virtual cathode as it is observed in several experiments. We mainly focus our attention on thermionic emission related to the operation of emissive probes for plasma diagnostics, although most conclusions also apply to other electron emission processes. An extended Bohm criterion is derived involving the ratio between the two different electron densities at the potential minimum and at the background plasma. The model allows a phase-diagram analysis, which confirms the existence of the non-monotonic potential profiles with a virtual cathode. This analysis shows that the formation of the potential well critically depends on the emitted electron current and on the velocity at the sheath edge of cold ions flowing from the bulk plasma. As a consequence, a threshold value of the governing parameter is required, in accordance to the physical nature of the electron emission process. The latter is a threshold wall temperature in the case of thermionic electrons. Experimental evidence supports our numerical calculations of this threshold temperature. Besides this, the potential well becomes deeper with increasing electron emission, retaining a fraction of the released current which limits the extent of the bulk plasma perturbation. This noninvasive property would explain the reliable measurements of plasma potential by using the floating potential method of emissive probes operating in the so-called strong emission regime.

Electron plasma waves in CO/sub 2/ laser plasma interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldis, H.A.; Villeneuve, D.M.; Walsh, C.J.

1984-01-01

During the past few years, the use of Thomson scattering in CO/sub 2/ laser produced plasmas has permitted the identification and study of electron plasma waves and ion waves, driven by various instabilities in the plasma corona, such as Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS), two plasmon decay, and Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS). Since these instabilities may coexist in the plasma, the density fluctuations associated with one wave may influence the behaviour of one or more of the other instabilities. The authors discuss the experimental evidence of such effects and, in particular, the consequences of a recent experiment in which the ion waves driven by SBS were observed to adversely affect the production of the electron plasma waves driven by SRS. In that experiment, a strong correlation was observed between the onset of SBS and the disappearance of the electron plasma waves driven by SRS at low densities (n/sub e/ n/sub e/ > 0.05 n/sub c/)

Electron density and plasma waves in mid-latitude sporadic-E layer observed during the SEEK-2 campaign

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Wakabayashi

2005-10-01

Full Text Available The SEEK-2 campaign was carried out over Kyushu Island in Japan on 3 August 2002, by using the two sounding rockets of S310-31 and S310-32. This campaign was planned to elucidate generation mechanisms of Quasi-Periodic Echoes (QPEs associated with mid-latitude sporadic-E (Es layers. Electron number densities were successfully measured in the Es layers by using the impedance probe on board two rockets. The plasma waves in the VLF and ELF ranges were also observed on board the S310-32 rocket. Results of electron density measurement showed that there were one or two major peaks in the Es layers along the rockets' trajectories near the altitude of about 10km. There were some smaller peaks associated with the main Es layers in the altitude range from 90 to 120 km. These density peaks were distributed in a very large extent during the SEEK-2 campaign. The Es layer structure is also measured by using the Fixed Bias Probe (FBP, which has a high spatial resolution of several meters (the impedance probe has an altitude resolution of about 400 m. The comparison with the total electron content (TEC measured by the Dual Band Beacon revealed that the Es layer was also modulated in the horizontal direction with the scale size of 30–40 km. It was shown that the QP echoes observed by the ground-based coherent radar come from the major density peak of the Es layer. The plasma wave instrument detected the enhancement of VLF and ELF plasma waves associated with the operation of the TMA release, and also with the passage of the Es layers. Keywords. Ionosphere (Ionospheric irregularities; Midlatitude ionosphere; Plasma temeperature and density

Electron Beam Diagnostics in Plasmas Based on Electron Beam Ionization

Science.gov (United States)

Leonhardt, Darrin; Leal-Quiros, Edbertho; Blackwell, David; Walton, Scott; Murphy, Donald; Fernsler, Richard; Meger, Robert

2001-10-01

Over the last few years, electron beam ionization has been shown to be a viable generator of high density plasmas with numerous applications in materials modification. To better understand these plasmas, we have fielded electron beam diagnostics to more clearly understand the propagation of the beam as it travels through the background gas and creates the plasma. These diagnostics vary greatly in sophistication, ranging from differentially pumped systems with energy selective elements to metal 'hockey pucks' covered with thin layers of insulation to electrically isolate the detector from the plasma but pass high energy beam electrons. Most importantly, absolute measurements of spatially resolved beam current densities are measured in a variety of pulsed and continuous beam sources. The energy distribution of the beam current(s) will be further discussed, through experiments incorporating various energy resolving elements such as simple grids and more sophisticated cylindrical lens geometries. The results are compared with other experiments of high energy electron beams through gases and appropriate disparities and caveats will be discussed. Finally, plasma parameters are correlated to the measured beam parameters for a more global picture of electron beam produced plasmas.

Potential Formation in Front of an Electron Emitting Electrode in a Two-Electron Temperature Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyergyek, T.; Cercek, M.; Erzen, D.

2003-01-01

Plasma potential formation in the pre-sheath region of a floating electron emitting electrode (collector) is studied theoretically in a two-electron-temperature plasma using a static kinetic plasma-sheath model. Dependence of the collector floating potential, the plasma potential in the pre-sheath region, and the critical emission coefficient on the hot electron density and temperature is calculated. It is found that for high hot to cool electron temperature ratio a double layer like solutions exist in a certain range of hot to cool electron densities

Plasma Wave Electronic Terahertz Technology

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shur, Michael

2003-01-01

Plasma waves are oscillations of electron density in time and space. In deep submicron field effect transistors plasma wave frequencies lie in the terahertz range and can be tuned by applied gate bias...

Vacuum heating evaluation for plasmas of exponentially decreasing density profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pestehe, S.J.; Mohammadnejad, M.

2008-01-01

Ultra-short pulse lasers have opened a regime of laser-plasma interaction where plasmas have scale lengths shorter than the laser wavelength and allow the possibility of generating near-solid density plasmas. The interaction of high-intensity laser beams with sharply bounded high-density and small scale length plasmas is considered. Absorption of the laser energy associated with the mechanism of dragging electrons out of the plasma into the vacuum and sending them back into the plasma with the electric field component along the density gradient, so called vacuum heating, is studied. An exponentially decreasing electron density profile is assumed. The vector potential of the electromagnetic field propagating through the plasma is calculated and the behaviour of the electric and magnetic components of the electromagnetic field is studied. The fraction of laser power absorbed in this process is calculated and plotted versus the laser beam incidence angle, illumination energy, and the plasma scale length

An investigation of pulsed high density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timmermans, C.J.

1984-01-01

In this thesis a wall-stabilized argon cascade arc is studied at values of pulsed pressure up to 14 bar and a pulsed current range up to 2200 A with a time duration of about 2 ms. The basic plasma is a CW cascade arc with a 5 mm diameter plasma column and a length of 90 mm, which operates at a 60 A DC current and at one atmosphere filling pressure. The author starts with an extensive summary of the CW arc investigations. After a brief introduction of the basic transport equations the mass equations of the constituent particles are treated using the extended collisional radiative model. The energy balance equations and the momentum balance are discussed. The electron density is determined from measurements of the continuum radiation. The final chapter contains the experimental results on the electron temperatures and electron densities in the pressure and current pulsed plasma. Attention is given to the deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium values of the ground level densities of the different argon systems. (Auth.)

Spectroscopic measurements of plasma temperatures and electron number density in a uranium hollow cathode discharge lamp

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, M.L.; Suri, B.M.; Gupta, G.P.

2015-01-01

The HCD (Hollow Cathode Discharge) lamps have been used as a source of free atoms of any metal, controllable by direct current in the lamp. The plasma parameters including neutral species temperature, atomic excitation temperature and electron number density in a see-through type, homemade uranium hollow cathode discharge lamp with neon as a buffer gas have been investigated using optical emission spectroscopic techniques. The neutral species temperature has been measured using the Doppler broadening of a neon atomic spectral line. The atomic excitation temperature has been measured using the Boltzmann plot method utilizing uranium atomic spectral lines. The electron number density has been determined from the Saha-Boltzmann equation utilizing uranium atomic and ionic spectral lines. To the best of our knowledge, all these three plasma parameters are simultaneously measured for the first time in a uranium hollow cathode discharge lamp

Plasma density measurements from the GEOS-1 relaxation sounder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Etcheto, J.; Bloch, J.J.

1978-01-01

The relaxation sounder uses the characteristics of the propagation of radiowaves to sound the plasma surrounding the spacecraft. It determines, in particular, the plasma frequency, which gives the electron density. Measurements over the whole dayside of the magnetosphere, from the evening to the night sectors, are now available. The behaviour of the plasma resonance depends on local time, the nighttime echoes being generally weaker. Density measurements thus obtained are shown and discussed in the context of what is presently known about the plasma distribution in the magnetosphere. In particular, the density around apogee is studied as a function of magnetic activity. On the dayside, it appears to vary between a few and a few tens of electrons per cubic centimeter. The evolution of the density profile for several consecutive days is studied and interpreted tracing back the drift of the particles. (Auth.)

Study of the thermal and suprathermal electron density fluctuations of the plasma in the Focus experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jolas, A.

1981-10-01

An experiment on Thomson scattering of ruby laser light by the electrons of a plasma produced by an intense discharge between the electrodes of a coaxial gun in a gas at low pressure has been carried out. It is shown that the imploding plasma is made up of layers with different characteristics: a dense plasma layer where the density fluctuations are isotropic and have a thermal level, and a tenuous plasma layer where the fluctuations are anisotropic, and strongly suprathermal. The suprathermal fluctuations are attributed to microscopic instabilities generated by the electric current circulating in the transition zone where the magnetic field penetrates the plasma [fr

Correlation of III/V semiconductor etch results with physical parameters of high-density reactive plasmas excited by electron cyclotron resonance

Science.gov (United States)

Gerhard, FRANZ; Ralf, MEYER; Markus-Christian, AMANN

2017-12-01

Reactive ion etching is the interaction of reactive plasmas with surfaces. To obtain a detailed understanding of this process, significant properties of reactive composite low-pressure plasmas driven by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) were investigated and compared with the radial uniformity of the etch rate. The determination of the electronic properties of chlorine- and hydrogen-containing plasmas enabled the understanding of the pressure-dependent behavior of the plasma density and provided better insights into the electronic parameters of reactive etch gases. From the electrical evaluation of I(V) characteristics obtained using a Langmuir probe, plasmas of different compositions were investigated. The standard method of Druyvesteyn to derive the electron energy distribution functions by the second derivative of the I(V) characteristics was replaced by a mathematical model which has been evolved to be more robust against noise, mainly, because the first derivative of the I(V) characteristics is used. Special attention was given to the power of the energy dependence in the exponent. In particular, for plasmas that are generated by ECR with EM modes, the existence of Maxwellian distribution functions is not to be taken as a self-evident fact, but the bi-Maxwellian distribution was proven for Ar- and Kr-stabilized plasmas. In addition to the electron temperature, the global uniform discharge model has been shown to be useful for calculating the neutral gas temperature. To what extent the invasive method of using a Langmuir probe could be replaced with the non-invasive optical method of emission spectroscopy, particularly actinometry, was investigated, and the resulting data exhibited the same relative behavior as the Langmuir data. The correlation with etchrate data reveals the large chemical part of the removal process—most striking when the data is compared with etching in pure argon. Although the relative amount of the radial variation of plasma density and

Density-dependent lines of one- and two-electron ions in diagnostics of laboratory plasma. I. The rates of collision relaxation of excited levels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shevelko, V P; Skobelev, I Yu; Vinogradov, A V [Lebedev Physical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, USSR

1977-01-01

Plasma devices with inertial plasma confinement such as laser produced plasmas, exploding wires, plasma focus, etc., which have been rapidly developed during recent years., appear to be very intensive sources of spectral line radiation in far UV and X-ray regions. Analysis of this radiation provides a good tool for plasma diagnostics with very high electron densities up to 10/sup 22/cm/sup -3/. In this work, consisting of two parts, the authors consider the mechanism of the formation of spectral lines in hot and dense plasma. The key point for density diagnostics is the fact that for some ion levels the rate of collisional relaxation has the same order of magnitude as the radiative decay. Thus the intensities of spectral lines arising from these levels show a strong dependence on electron density which makes diagnostics possible. In this paper, emphasis is laid on the calculation of rates of transition between close ion levels induced by electron or ion impact, which usually gives the main contribution to the collisional relaxation constants. The influence of plasma polarization effects on the collision frequency in a dense plasma is also considered.

Combination of the ionic-to-atomic line intensity ratios from two test elements for the diagnostic of plasma temperature and electron number density in Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tognoni, E. [Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, Area della Ricerca del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa (Italy)], E-mail: tognoni@ipcf.cnr.it; Hidalgo, M.; Canals, A. [Departamento de Quimica Analitica, Nutricion y Bromatologia. Universidad de Alicante. Apdo. 99, 03080, Alicante (Spain); Cristoforetti, G.; Legnaioli, S.; Salvetti, A.; Palleschi, V. [Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, Area della Ricerca del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa (Italy)

2007-05-15

In Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) spectrochemical analysis, the MgII(280.270 nm)/MgI(285.213 nm) ionic to atomic line intensity ratio is commonly used as a monitor of the robustness of operating conditions. This approach is based on the univocal relationship existing between intensity ratio and plasma temperature, for a pure argon atmospheric ICP in thermodynamic equilibrium. In a multi-elemental plasma in the lower temperature range, the measurement of the intensity ratio may not be sufficient to characterize temperature and electron density. In such a range, the correct relationship between intensity ratio and plasma temperature can be calculated only when the complete plasma composition is known. We propose the combination of the line intensity ratios of two test elements (double ratio) as an effective diagnostic tool for a multi-elemental low temperature LTE plasma of unknown composition. In particular, the variation of the double ratio allows us discriminating changes in the plasma temperature from changes in the electron density. Thus, the effects on plasma excitation and ionization possibly caused by introduction of different samples and matrices in non-robust conditions can be more accurately interpreted. The method is illustrated by the measurement of plasma temperature and electron density in a specific analytic case.

Precision Electron Density Measurements in the SSX MHD Wind Tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Suen-Lewis, Emma M.; Barbano, Luke J.; Shrock, Jaron E.; Kaur, Manjit; Schaffner, David A.; Brown, Michael R.

2017-10-01

We characterize fluctuations of the line averaged electron density of Taylor states produced by the magnetized coaxial plasma gun of the SSX device using a 632.8 nm HeNe laser interferometer. The analysis method uses the electron density dependence of the refractive index of the plasma to determine the electron density of the Taylor states. Typical magnetic field and density values in the SSX device approach about B ≅ 0.3 T and n = 0 . 4 ×1016 cm-3 . Analysis is improved from previous density measurement methods by developing a post-processing method to remove relative phase error between interferometer outputs and to account for approximately linear phase drift due to low-frequency mechanical vibrations of the interferometer. Precision density measurements coupled with local measurements of the magnetic field will allow us to characterize the wave composition of SSX plasma via density vs. magnetic field correlation analysis, and compare the wave composition of SSX plasma with that of the solar wind. Preliminary results indicate that density and magnetic field appear negatively correlated. Work supported by DOE ARPA-E ALPHA program.

Dosimetric Properties of Plasma Density Effects on Laser-Accelerated VHEE Beams Using a Sharp Density-Transition Scheme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, Seung Hoon; Cho, Sungho; Kim, Eun Ho; Park, Jeong Hoon; Jung, Won-Gyun; Kim, Geun Beom; Kim, Kum Bae [Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Min, Byung Jun [Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jaehoon [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Ansan (Korea, Republic of); Jeong, Hojin [Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Kitae [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Deajeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sung Yong [Karmanos Cancer Institute, Michigan (United States)

2017-01-15

In this paper, the effects of the plasma density on laser-accelerated electron beams for radiation therapy with a sharp density transition are investigated. In the sharp density-transition scheme for electron injection, the crucial issue is finding the optimum density conditions under which electrons injected only during the first period of the laser wake wave are accelerated further. In this paper, we report particle-in-cell simulation results for the effects of both the scale length and the density transition ratio on the generation of a quasi-mono-energetic electron bunch. The effects of both the transverse parabolic channel and the plasma length on the electron-beam's quality are investigated. Also, we show the experimental results for the feasibility of a sharp density-transition structure. The dosimetric properties of these very high-energy electron beams are calculated using Monte Carlo simulations.

Density and geometry of single component plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Speck, A.; Gabrielse, G.; Larochelle, P.; Le Sage, D.; Levitt, B.; Kolthammer, W.S.; McConnell, R.; Wrubel, J.; Grzonka, D.; Oelert, W.; Sefzick, T.; Zhang, Z.; Comeau, D.; George, M.C.; Hessels, E.A.; Storry, C.H.; Weel, M.; Walz, J.

2007-01-01

The density and geometry of p-bar and e + plasmas in realistic trapping potentials are required to understand and optimize antihydrogen (H-bar) formation. An aperture method and a quadrupole oscillation frequency method for characterizing such plasmas are compared for the first time, using electrons in a cylindrical Penning trap. Both methods are used in a way that makes it unnecessary to assume that the plasmas are spheroidal, and it is shown that they are not. Good agreement between the two methods illustrates the possibility to accurately determine plasma densities and geometries within non-idealized, realistic trapping potentials

Density and geometry of single component plasmas

CERN Document Server

Speck, A; Larochelle, P; Le Sage, D; Levitt, B; Kolthammer, W S; McConnell, R; Wrubel, J; Grzonka, D; Oelert, W; Sefzick, T; Zhang, Z; Comeau, D; George, M C; Hessels, E A; Storry, C H; Weel, M; Walz, J

2007-01-01

The density and geometry of p¯ and e+ plasmas in realistic trapping potentials are required to understand and optimize antihydrogen (H¯) formation. An aperture method and a quadrupole oscillation frequency method for characterizing such plasmas are compared for the first time, using electrons in a cylindrical Penning trap. Both methods are used in a way that makes it unnecessary to assume that the plasmas are spheroidal, and it is shown that they are not. Good agreement between the two methods illustrates the possibility to accurately determine plasma densities and geometries within non-idealized, realistic trapping potentials.

Anomalous evolution of Ar metastable density with electron density in high density Ar discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Min; Chang, Hong-Young; You, Shin-Jae; Kim, Jung-Hyung; Shin, Yong-Hyeon

2011-01-01

Recently, an anomalous evolution of argon metastable density with plasma discharge power (electron density) was reported [A. M. Daltrini, S. A. Moshkalev, T. J. Morgan, R. B. Piejak, and W. G. Graham, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 061504 (2008)]. Although the importance of the metastable atom and its density has been reported in a lot of literature, however, a basic physics behind the anomalous evolution of metastable density has not been clearly understood yet. In this study, we investigated a simple global model to elucidate the underlying physics of the anomalous evolution of argon metastable density with the electron density. On the basis of the proposed simple model, we reproduced the anomalous evolution of the metastable density and disclosed the detailed physics for the anomalous result. Drastic changes of dominant mechanisms for the population and depopulation processes of Ar metastable atoms with electron density, which take place even in relatively low electron density regime, is the clue to understand the result.

Response of a core coherent density oscillation on electron cyclotron resonance heating in Heliotron J plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, T.; Kobayashi, S.; Lu, X. X.; Kenmochi, N.; Ida, K.; Ohshima, S.; Yamamoto, S.; Kado, S.; Kokubu, D.; Nagasaki, K.; Okada, H.; Minami, T.; Otani, Y.; Mizuuchi, T.

2018-01-01

We report properties of a coherent density oscillation observed in the core region and its response to electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) in Heliotron J plasma. The measurement was performed using a multi-channel beam emission spectroscopy system. The density oscillation is observed in a radial region between the core and the half radius. The poloidal mode number is found to be 1 (or 2). By modulating the ECH power with 100 Hz, repetition of formation and deformation of a strong electron temperature gradient, which is likely ascribed to be an electron internal transport barrier, is realized. Amplitude and rotation frequency of the coherent density oscillation sitting at the strong electron temperature gradient location are modulated by the ECH, while the poloidal mode structure remains almost unchanged. The change in the rotation velocity in the laboratory frame is derived. Assuming that the change of the rotation velocity is given by the background E × B velocity, a possible time evolution of the radial electric field was deduced.

Plasma phase transition in dense hydrogen and electron-hole plasmas

CERN Document Server

Filinov, V S; Levashov, P R; Fortov, V E; Ebeling, W; Schlanges, M; Koch, S W

2003-01-01

Plasma phase transitions in dense hydrogen and electron-hole plasmas are investigated by direct path integral Monte Carlo methods. The phase boundary of the electron-hole liquid in germanium is calculated and is found to agree reasonably well with the known experimental results. Analogous behaviour is found for high-density hydrogen. For a temperature of T = 10 000 K it is shown that the internal energy is lowered due to droplet formation for densities between 10 sup 2 sup 3 cm sup - sup 3 and 10 sup 2 sup 4 cm sup - sup 3.

Influence of electron evaporative cooling on ultracold plasma expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, Truman; Chen, Wei-Ting; Roberts, Jacob

2013-01-01

The expansion of ultracold neutral plasmas (UCP) is driven primarily by the thermal pressure of the electron component and is therefore sensitive to the electron temperature. For typical UCP spatial extents, evaporative cooling has a significant influence on the UCP expansion rate at lower densities (less than 10 8 /cm 3 ). We studied the effect of electron evaporation in this density range. Owing to the low density, the effects of three-body recombination were negligible. We modeled the expansion by taking into account the change in electron temperature owing to evaporation as well as adiabatic expansion and found good agreement with our data. We also developed a simple model for initial evaporation over a range of ultracold plasma densities, sizes, and electron temperatures to determine over what parameter range electron evaporation is expected to have a significant effect. We also report on a signal calibration technique, which relates the signal at our detector to the total number of ions and electrons in the ultracold plasma

Simulation of the Plasma Density Evolution during Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating at the T-10 Tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Dnestrovskij, Yu. N.; Vershkov, V. A.; Danilov, A. V.; Dnestrovskij, A. Yu.; Zenin, V. N.; Lysenko, S. E.; Melnikov, A. V.; Shelukhin, D. A.; Subbotin, G. F.; Cherkasov, S. V.

2018-01-01

In ohmically heated (OH) plasma with low recycling, an improved particle confinement (IPC) mode is established during gas puffing. However, after gas puffing is switched off, this mode is retained only for about 100 ms, after which an abrupt phase transition into the low particle confinement (LPC) mode occurs in the entire plasma cross section. During such a transition, energy transport due to heat conduction does not change. The phase transition in OH plasma is similar to the effect of density pump-out from the plasma core, which occurs after electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is switched on. Analysis of the measured plasma pressure profiles in the T-10 tokamak shows that, after gas puffing in the OH mode is switched off, the plasma pressure profile in the IPC stage becomes more peaked and, after the peakedness exceeds a certain critical value, the IPC-LPC transition occurs. Similar processes are also observed during ECH. If the pressure profile is insufficiently peaked during ECH, then the density pump-out effect comes into play only after the critical peakedness of the pressure profile is reached. In the plasma core, the density and pressure profiles are close to the corresponding canonical profiles. This allows one to derive an expression for the particle flux within the canonical profile model and formulate a criterion for the IPC-LPC transition. The time evolution of the plasma density profile during phase transitions was simulated for a number of T-10 shots with ECH and high recycling. The particle transport coefficients in the IPC and LPC phases, as well as the dependences of these coefficients on the ECH power, are determined.

Electron density measurement in gas discharge plasmas by optical and acoustic methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biagioni, A.; Anania, M.P.; Bellaveglia, M.; Chiadroni, E.; Giovenale, D. Di; Pirro, G. Di; Ferrario, M.; Pompili, R.; Shpakov, V.; Vaccarezza, C.; Villa, F.; Cianchi, A.; Filippi, F.; Mostacci, A.; Zigler, A.

2016-01-01

Plasma density represents a very important parameter for both laser wakefield and plasma wakefield acceleration, which use a gas-filled capillary plasma source. Several techniques can be used to measure the plasma density within a capillary discharge, which are mainly based on optical diagnostic methods, as for example the well-known spectroscopic method using the Stark broadening effect. In this work, we introduce a preliminary study on an alternative way to detect the plasma density, based on the shock waves produced by gas discharge in a capillary. Firstly, the measurements of the acoustic spectral content relative to the laser-induced plasmas by a solid target allowed us to understand the main properties of the acoustic waves produced during this kind of plasma generation; afterwards, we have extended such acoustic technique to the capillary plasma source in order to calibrate it by comparison with the stark broadening method.

Errors and limits in the determination of plasma electron density by measuring the absolute values of the emitted continuum radiation intensity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilbao, L.; Bruzzone, H.; Grondona, D.

1994-01-01

The reliable determination of a plasma electron structure requires a good knowledge of the errors affecting the employed technique. A technique based on the measurements of the absolute light intensity emitted by travelling plasma structures in plasma focus devices has been used, but it can be easily modified to other geometries and even to stationary plasma structures with time-varying plasma densities. The purpose of this work is to discuss in some detail the errors and limits of this technique. Three separate errors are shown: the minimum size of the density structure that can be resolved, an overall error in the measurements themselves, and an uncertainty in the shape of the density profile. (author)

Edge plasma density reconstruction for fast monoenergetic lithium beam probing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, S.; Takamura, S.; Ueda, M.; Iguchi, H.; Fujita, J.; Kadota, K.

1993-01-01

Two different electron density reconstruction methods for 8-keV neutral lithium beam probing have been developed for the Compact Helical System (CHS). Density dependences on emission and ionization processes are included by using effective rate coefficients obtained from the collisional radiative model. Since the two methods differ in the way the local beam density in the plasma is determined, the methods have different applicable electron densities. The beam attenuation is calculated by iteration from the electron density profile in method I. In method II, the beam remainder at the observation point z is determined by integrating the Li I emission intensity from z toward the position of emission tail-off. At the emission tail-off, the fast lithium beam is completely attenuated. Selecting an appropriate method enables us to obtain edge electron density profile well inside the last closed flux surface for various ranges of plasma densities (10 12 --5x10 13 cm -3 ). The electron density profiles reconstructed by these two different methods are in good agreement with each other and are consistent with results from ruby laser Thomson scattering

Density measurements of microsecond-conduction-time POS plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinshelwood, D.; Goodrich, P.J.; Weber, B.V.; Commisso, R.J.; Grossmann, J.M.; Kellogg, J.C.

1993-01-01

Measurements of the electron density in a coaxial microsecond conduction time plasma opening switch during switch operation are described. Current conduction is observed to cause a radial redistribution of the switch plasma. A local reduction in axial line density of more than an order of magnitude occurs by the time opening begins. This reduction, and the scaling of conduction current with plasma density, indicate that current conduction in this experiment is limited by hydrodynamic effects. It is hypothesized that the density reduction allows the switch to open by an erosion mechanism. Initial numerical modeling efforts have reproduced the principal observed results. A model that predicts accurately the conduction current is presented

Plasma density characterization at SPARC-LAB through Stark broadening of Hydrogen spectral lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filippi, F., E-mail: francesco.filippi@roma1.infn.it [Dipartimento di Scienze di Base e Applicate per l' Ingegneria (SBAI), ‘Sapienza’ Università di Roma, Via A. Scarpa 14-16, 00161 Roma (Italy); INFN-Roma1, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 2 00161 Roma (Italy); Anania, M.P.; Bellaveglia, M.; Biagioni, A.; Chiadroni, E. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, INFN, Via E. Fermi, Frascati (Italy); Cianchi, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma (Italy); Di Giovenale, D.; Di Pirro, G.; Ferrario, M. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, INFN, Via E. Fermi, Frascati (Italy); Mostacci, A.; Palumbo, L. [Dipartimento di Scienze di Base e Applicate per l' Ingegneria (SBAI), ‘Sapienza’ Università di Roma, Via A. Scarpa 14-16, 00161 Roma (Italy); INFN-Roma1, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 2 00161 Roma (Italy); Pompili, R.; Shpakov, V.; Vaccarezza, C.; Villa, F. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, INFN, Via E. Fermi, Frascati (Italy); Zigler, A. [Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904 (Israel)

2016-09-01

Plasma-based acceleration techniques are of great interest for future, compact accelerators due to their high accelerating gradient. Both particle-driven and laser-driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration experiments are foreseen at the SPARC-LAB Test Facility (INFN National Laboratories of Frascati, Italy), with the aim to accelerate high-brightness electron beams. In order to optimize the efficiency of the acceleration in the plasma and preserve the quality of the accelerated beam, the knowledge of the plasma electron density is mandatory. The Stark broadening of the Hydrogen spectral lines is one of the candidates used to characterize plasma density. The implementation of this diagnostic for plasma-based experiments at SPARC-LAB is presented. - Highlights: • Stark broadening of Hydrogen lines has been measured to determine plasma density. • Plasma density diagnostic tool for plasma-based experiments at SPARC-LAB is presented. • Plasma density in tapered laser triggered ablative capillary discharge was measured. • Results of plasma density measurements in ablative capillaries are shown.

Plasma density characterization at SPARC-LAB through Stark broadening of Hydrogen spectral lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filippi, F.; Anania, M.P.; Bellaveglia, M.; Biagioni, A.; Chiadroni, E.; Cianchi, A.; Di Giovenale, D.; Di Pirro, G.; Ferrario, M.; Mostacci, A.; Palumbo, L.; Pompili, R.; Shpakov, V.; Vaccarezza, C.; Villa, F.; Zigler, A.

2016-01-01

Plasma-based acceleration techniques are of great interest for future, compact accelerators due to their high accelerating gradient. Both particle-driven and laser-driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration experiments are foreseen at the SPARC-LAB Test Facility (INFN National Laboratories of Frascati, Italy), with the aim to accelerate high-brightness electron beams. In order to optimize the efficiency of the acceleration in the plasma and preserve the quality of the accelerated beam, the knowledge of the plasma electron density is mandatory. The Stark broadening of the Hydrogen spectral lines is one of the candidates used to characterize plasma density. The implementation of this diagnostic for plasma-based experiments at SPARC-LAB is presented. - Highlights: • Stark broadening of Hydrogen lines has been measured to determine plasma density. • Plasma density diagnostic tool for plasma-based experiments at SPARC-LAB is presented. • Plasma density in tapered laser triggered ablative capillary discharge was measured. • Results of plasma density measurements in ablative capillaries are shown.

Correlations in a partially degenerate electron plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chihara, Junzo [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

1998-03-01

The density-functional theory proves that an ion-electron mixture can be treated as a one-component liquid interacting only via a pairwise interaction in the evaluation of the ion-ion radial distribution function (RDF), and provides a set of integral equations: one is an integral equation for the ion-ion RDF and another for an effective ion-ion interaction, which depends on the ion-ion RDF. This formulation gives a set of integral equation to calculate plasma structures with combined use of the electron-electron correlations in a partially degenerate electron plasma. Therefore, it is important for this purpose to determine the electron-electron correlations at a arbitrary temperature. Here, they are calculated by the quantal version of the hypernetted chain (HNC) equation. On the basis of the jellium-vacancy model, the ionic and electronic structures of rubidium are calculated for the range from liquid metal to plasma states by increasing the temperature at the fixed density using the electron-correlation results. (author)

Density dependence of line intensities and application to plasma diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masai, Kuniaki.

1993-02-01

Electron density dependence of spectral lines are discussed in view of application to density diagnostics of plasmas. The dependence arises from competitive level population processes, radiative and collisional transitions from the excited states. Results of the measurement on tokamak plasmas are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of line intensity ratios for density diagnostics. Also general characteristics related to density dependence are discussed with atomic-number scaling for H-like and He-like systems to be helpful for application to higher density plasmas. (author)

Mode coupling of electron plasma waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harte, J.A.

1975-01-01

The driven coupled mode equations are derived for a two fluid, unequal temperature (T/sub e/ much greater than T/sub i/) plasma in the one-dimensional, electrostatic model and applied to the coupling of electron plasma waves. It is assumed that the electron to ion mass ratio identical with m/sub e/M/sub i// much less than 1 and eta 2 /sub ko/k lambda/sub De/ less than 1 where eta 2 /sub ko/ is the pump wave's power normalized to the plasma thermal energy, k the mode wave number and lambda/sub De/ the electron Debye length. Terms up to quadratic in pump power are retained. The equations describe the linear plasma modes oscillating at the wave number k and at ω/sub ek/, the Bohn Gross frequency, and at Ω/sub k/, the ion acoustic frequency, subject to the damping rates ν/sub ek/ and ν/sub ik/ for electrons and ions and their interactions due to intense high frequency waves E/sub k//sup l/. n/sub o/ is the background density, n/sub ik/ the fluctuating ion density, ω/sub pe/ the plasma frequency

Electrical method for the measurements of volume averaged electron density and effective coupled power to the plasma bulk

Science.gov (United States)

Henault, M.; Wattieaux, G.; Lecas, T.; Renouard, J. P.; Boufendi, L.

2016-02-01

Nanoparticles growing or injected in a low pressure cold plasma generated by a radiofrequency capacitively coupled capacitive discharge induce strong modifications in the electrical parameters of both plasma and discharge. In this paper, a non-intrusive method, based on the measurement of the plasma impedance, is used to determine the volume averaged electron density and effective coupled power to the plasma bulk. Good agreements are found when the results are compared to those given by other well-known and established methods.

Departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium in cutting arc plasmas derived from electron and gas density measurements using a two-wavelength quantitative Schlieren technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prevosto, L.; Mancinelli, B.; Artana, G.; Kelly, H.

2011-01-01

A two-wavelength quantitative Schlieren technique that allows inferring the electron and gas densities of axisymmetric arc plasmas without imposing any assumption regarding statistical equilibrium models is reported. This technique was applied to the study of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) departures within the core of a 30 A high-energy density cutting arc. In order to derive the electron and heavy particle temperatures from the inferred density profiles, a generalized two-temperature Saha equation together with the plasma equation of state and the quasineutrality condition were employed. Factors such as arc fluctuations that influence the accuracy of the measurements and the validity of the assumptions used to derive the plasma species temperature were considered. Significant deviations from chemical equilibrium as well as kinetic equilibrium were found at elevated electron temperatures and gas densities toward the arc core edge. An electron temperature profile nearly constant through the arc core with a value of about 14000-15000 K, well decoupled from the heavy particle temperature of about 1500 K at the arc core edge, was inferred.

Impurity screening in high density plasmas in tokamaks with a limiter configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferro, C.; Zanino, R.

1992-01-01

Impurity screening in high density plasmas in tokamaks with a limiter configuration is investigated by means of a simple semi-analytical model. An iterative scheme is devised, in order to determine self-consistently the values of scrape-off layer thickness, edge electron density and temperature, and main plasma contamination parameter Z eff , as a function of given average electron density and temperature in the main plasma and given input power. The model is applied to the poloidal limiter case of the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade, and results are compared with experimental data. A reasonable agreement between the trends is found, emphasizing the importance of a high edge plasma density for obtaining a clean main plasma in limiter tokamaks. (orig.)

Grid system design on the plasma cathode electron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agus Purwadi

2014-01-01

It has been designed the grid system on the Plasma Cathode Electron Source (PCES). Grid system with the electron emission hole of (15 x 60) cm 2 , the single aperture grid size of (0,5 x O,5) mm 2 and the grid wire diameter of 0,25 mm, will be used on the plasma generator chamber. If the sum of grid holes known and the value of electron emission current through every the grid hole known too then the total value of electron emission Current which emits from the plasma generator chamber can be determined It has been calculated the value of electron emission current I e as function of the grid radius r e =(0.28, 0.40, 0.49, 0.56, 0.63, 0.69) mm on the electron temperature of T e = 5 eV for varying of the value plasma electron densities n e = (10 15 , 10 16 , 10 17 , 10 18 ) m -3 . Also for the value of electron emission current fe as function of the grid radius r e = (0.28, 0.40, 0.49. 0.56, 0.63,0.69) mm on the electron density n e = 10 17 m -3 for varying of the value of plasma electron temperatures T e = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) eV. electron emission current will be increase by increasing grid radius, electron temperature as well as plasma electron density. (author)

Electron acoustic solitary waves in unmagnetized two electron population dense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmood, S.; Masood, W.

2008-01-01

The electron acoustic solitary waves are studied in unmagnetized two population electron quantum plasmas. The quantum hydrodynamic model is employed with the Sagdeev potential approach to describe the arbitrary amplitude electron acoustic waves in a two electron population dense Fermi plasma. It is found that hot electron density hump structures are formed in the subsonic region in such type of quantum plasmas. The wave amplitude as well as the width of the soliton are increased with the increase of percentage presence of cold (thinly populated) electrons in a multicomponent quantum plasma. It is found that an increase in quantum diffraction parameter broadens the nonlinear structure. Furthermore, the amplitude of the nonlinear electron acoustic wave is found to increase with the decrease in Mach number. The numerical results are also presented to understand the formation of solitons in two electron population Fermi plasmas.

Plasma channels for electron beam transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, R.F.; Smith, J.R.; Moffatt, M.E.; Nguyen, K.T.; Uhm, H.S.

1988-01-01

In recent years, there has been much interest in transport of intense relativistic electron beams using plasma channels. These channels are formed by either: ionization of an organic gas by UV photoionization or electron impact ionization of a low pressure gas utilizing a low energy (typically several hundred volts) electron gun. The second method is discussed here. As their electron gun, the authors used a 12 volt lightbulb filament which is biased to -400 volts with respect to the grounded 15 cm diameter drift tube. The electrons emitted from the filament are confined by an axial magnetic field of --100 Gauss to create a plasma channel which is less than 1 cm in radius. The channel density has been determined with Langmuir probes and the resulting line densities were found to be 10 11 to 10 12 per cm. When a multi-kiloamp electron beam is injected onto this channel, the beam space charge will eject the plasma electrons leaving the ions behind to charge neutralize the electron beam, hence allowing the beam to propagate. In this work, the authors performed experimental studies on the dynamics of the plasma channel. These include Langmuir probe measurements of a steady state (DC) channel, as well as time-resolved Langmuir probe studies of pulsed channels. In addition they performed experimental studies of beam propagation in these plasma channels. Specifically, they observed the behavior of current transport in these channels. Detailed results of beam transport and channel studies are presented

Study of the hollow cathode plasma electron-gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yonghui; Jiang Jinsheng; Chang Anbi

2003-01-01

For developing a novel high-current, long pulse width electron source, the theoretics and mechanism of the hollow cathode plasma electron-gun are analyzed in detail in this paper, the structure and the physical process of hollow cathode plasma electron-gun are also studied. This gun overcomes the limitations of most high-power microwave tubes, which employ either thermionic cathodes that produce low current-density beams because of the limitation of the space charge, or field-emission cathodes that offer high current density but provide only short pulse width because of plasma closure of the accelerating gap. In the theories studying on hollow cathode plasma electron-gun, the characteristic of the hollow-cathode discharge is introduced, the action during the forming of plasma of the stimulating electrode and the modulating anode are discussed, the movement of electrons and ions and the primary parameters are analyzed, and the formulas of the electric field, beam current density and the stabilization conditions of the beam current are also presented in this paper. The numerical simulation is carried out based on Poisson's equation, and the equations of current continuity and movement. And the optimized result is reported. On this basis, we have designed a hollow-cathode-plasma electron-gun, whose output pulse current is 2 kA, and pulse width is 1 microsecond

Plasma heating in collisionless plasma at low plasma density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wulf, H.O.

1977-01-01

The high frequency heating of a collisionless, fully ionized low density plasma is investigated in the range: 2ωc 2 2 under pumping frequencies. A pulsed 1 MHz transmitter excites a fast standing, magneto-acoustical wave in the plasma, via the high frequency magnetic field of a Stix solenoid. The available modulation degrees are between 0.7 and 7.0%. As power consumption measurements show, there appears at all investigated pumping frequencies an effective energy transfer to the plasma that cannot be explained with the classical MHD models. Measurements with electrostatic probes and further with a miniature counter-field spectrometer yield an electron and ion temperature gain of two to three factors and 15-18, compared to the corresponding values in the initial plasma. (orig./HT) [de

Arbitrary amplitude fast electron-acoustic solitons in three-electron component space plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mbuli, L. N.; Maharaj, S. K. [South African National Space Agency (SANSA) Space Science, P.O. Box 32, Hermanus 7200, Republic of South Africa (South Africa); Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape (UWC), Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Republic of South Africa (South Africa); Bharuthram, R. [Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape (UWC), Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Republic of South Africa (South Africa); Singh, S. V.; Lakhina, G. S. [Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, New Panvel (West), Navi Mumbai 410218 (India); Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape (UWC), Robert Sobukwe Road, Bellville 7535, Republic of South Africa (South Africa)

2016-06-15

We examine the characteristics of fast electron-acoustic solitons in a four-component unmagnetised plasma model consisting of cool, warm, and hot electrons, and cool ions. We retain the inertia and pressure for all the plasma species by assuming adiabatic fluid behaviour for all the species. By using the Sagdeev pseudo-potential technique, the allowable Mach number ranges for fast electron-acoustic solitary waves are explored and discussed. It is found that the cool and warm electron number densities determine the polarity switch of the fast electron-acoustic solitons which are limited by either the occurrence of fast electron-acoustic double layers or warm and hot electron number density becoming unreal. For the first time in the study of solitons, we report on the coexistence of fast electron-acoustic solitons, in addition to the regular fast electron-acoustic solitons and double layers in our multi-species plasma model. Our results are applied to the generation of broadband electrostatic noise in the dayside auroral region.

Ion- and electron-acoustic solitons in two-electron temperature space plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lakhina, G. S.; Kakad, A. P.; Singh, S. V.; Verheest, F.

2008-01-01

Properties of ion- and electron-acoustic solitons are investigated in an unmagnetized multicomponent plasma system consisting of cold and hot electrons and hot ions using the Sagdeev pseudopotential technique. The analysis is based on fluid equations and the Poisson equation. Solitary wave solutions are found when the Mach numbers exceed some critical values. The critical Mach numbers for the ion-acoustic solitons are found to be smaller than those for electron-acoustic solitons for a given set of plasma parameters. The critical Mach numbers of ion-acoustic solitons increase with the increase of hot electron temperature and the decrease of cold electron density. On the other hand, the critical Mach numbers of electron-acoustic solitons increase with the increase of the cold electron density as well as the hot electron temperature. The ion-acoustic solitons have positive potentials for the parameters considered. However, the electron-acoustic solitons have positive or negative potentials depending whether the fractional cold electron density with respect to the ion density is greater or less than a certain critical value. Further, the amplitudes of both the ion- and electron-acoustic solitons increase with the increase of the hot electron temperature. Possible application of this model to electrostatic solitary waves observed on the auroral field lines by the Viking spacecraft is discussed

Hot-electron-plasma accumulation in the CIRCE mirror experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bardet, R.; Briand, P.; Dupas, L.; Gormezano, C.; Melin, G.

1975-01-01

In the CIRCE experiment, the plasma is obtained by the trapping of a plasma injected into a magnetic bottle by electron heating at cyclotron resonance. The plasma density lies between 5x10 11 cm -3 and 10 12 cm -3 , the electron temperature is about 100 keV and the ion temperature is in the range of few hundred electronvolts. Gross instabilities are not observed. The ratio of the plasma density to the neutral-gas density inside the plasma is higher than 100. A few kilowatts of r.f. power at 8 GHz are sufficient to obtain these results, a fact which looks encouraging as far as the creation of a more effective fast-neutral-target plasma using the CIRCE-experiment concept is concerned. (author)

Ion plasma electron gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wakalopulos, G.

1976-01-01

In the disclosed electron gun positive ions generated by a hollow cathode plasma discharge in a first chamber are accelerated through control and shield grids into a second chamber containing a high voltage cold cathode. These positive ions bombard a surface of the cathode causing the cathode to emit secondary electrons which form an electron beam having a distribution adjacent to the cathode emissive surface substantially the same as the distribution of the ion beam impinging upon the cathode. After passing through the grids and the plasma discharge chamber, the electron beam exits from the electron gun via a foil window. Control of the generated electron beam is achieved by applying a relatively low control voltage between the control grid and the electron gun housing (which resides at ground potential) to control the density of the positive ions bombarding the cathode

Flute-interchange stability in a hot electron plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dominguez, R.R.

1980-01-01

Several topics in the kinetic stability theory of flute-interchange modes in a hot electron plasma are discussed. The stability analysis of the hot-electron, curvature-driven flute-interchange mode, previously performed in a slab geometry, is extended to a cylindrical plasma. The cold electron concentration necessary for stability differs substantially from previous criteria. The inclusion of a finite temperature background plasma in the stability analysis results in an ion curvature-driven flute-interchange mode which may be stabilized by either hot-electron diamagnetic effects, hot-electron plasma density, or finite (ion) Larmor radius effects

Study of early laser-induced plasma dynamics: Transient electron density gradients via Thomson scattering and Stark Broadening, and the implications on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diwakar, P.K.; Hahn, D.W.

2008-01-01

To further develop laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as an analytical technique, it is necessary to better understand the fundamental processes and mechanisms taking place during the plasma evolution. This paper addresses the very early plasma dynamics (first 100 ns) using direct plasma imaging, light scattering, and transmission measurements from a synchronized 532-nm probe laser pulse. During the first 50 ns following breakdown, significant Thomson scattering was observed while the probe laser interacted with the laser-induced plasma. The Thomson scattering was observed to peak 15-25 ns following plasma initiation and then decay rapidly, thereby revealing the highly transient nature of the free electron density and plasma equilibrium immediately following breakdown. Such an intense free electron density gradient is suggestive of a non-equilibrium, free electron wave generated by the initial breakdown and growth processes. Additional probe beam transmission measurements and electron density measurements via Stark broadening of the 500.1-nm nitrogen ion line corroborate the Thomson scattering observations. In concert, the data support the finding of a highly transient plasma that deviates from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions during the first tens of nanoseconds of plasma lifetime. The implications of this early plasma transient behavior are discussed in the context of plasma-analyte interactions and the role on LIBS measurements

Electron densities in Jupiter’s outer magnetosphere determined from Voyager 1 and 2 plasma wave spectra

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Barnhart, B. L.; Kurth, W. S.; Groene, J. B.; Faden, J. B.; Santolík, Ondřej; Gurnett, D. A.

2009-01-01

Roč. 114, - (2009), A05218/1-A05218/14 ISSN 0148-0227 Grant - others: NASA (US) NNG05GG98G Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : Electron densities * Jupiter * magnetosphere * Voyager Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.082, year: 2009

High-frequency emissions during the propagation of an electron beam in a high-density plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lalita and Tripathi, V.K.

1988-01-01

A relativistic annular electron beam passing through a high-density plasma excites Langmuir waves via Cerenkov interaction. The Langmuir waves are backscattered off ions via nonlinear ion Landau damping. At moderately high amplitudes these waves are parametrically up-converted by the beam into high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, as observed in some recent experiments. A nonlocal theory of this process is developed in a cylindrical geometry. It is seen that the growth rate of the Langmuir wave scales as one-third power of beam density. The growth rate of parametric instability scales as one-fourth power of beam density and the square root of beam thickness

2.5-dimensional numerical modeling of the formation of a plasma channel due to ion redistribution during the propagation of a finite sequence of relativistic electron bunches through high-density and low-density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karas, V.I.; Karas, I.V.; Levchenko, V.D.; Sigov, Yu.S.; Fainberg, Ya.B.

1997-01-01

Results of numerical simulations of the excitation of wake fields in high- and low-density plasmas are presented. The propagation of relativistic electron bunches in a plasma is described by a closed set of relativistic Vlasov equations for two spatial coordinates and three velocity coordinates for each plasma component and the nonlinear Maxwell equations for self-consistent electromagnetic fields. Numerical modeling shows that, under ordinary experimental conditions (when the length and radius of the bunch are much less than the skin depth), the radius of the bunches propagating in a plasma varies over a wide range. In this case, the dynamics of both the plasma and the bunches is nonlinear. The radial redistribution of the plasma ions in self-consistent fields leads to the formation of a plasma channel. Incorporating this phenomenon is important for studying the propagation of relativistic electron bunches in a plasma

H{sub {beta}} Stark broadening in cold plasmas with low electron densities calibrated with Thomson scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palomares, J.M., E-mail: j.m.palomares-linares@tue.nl [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Huebner, S.; Carbone, E.A.D.; Vries, N. de; Veldhuizen, E.M. de [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Sola, A.; Gamero, A. [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Cordoba, Campus de Rabanales, ed. C-2, 14071 Cordoba (Spain); Mullen, J.J.A.M. van der [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2012-07-15

In the present work Stark broadening measurements have been carried out on low electron density (n{sub e} < 5{center_dot}10{sup 19} m{sup -3}) and (relatively) low gas temperature (T{sub g} < 1100 K) argon-hydrogen plasma, under low-intermediate pressure conditions (3 mbar-40 mbar). A line fitting procedure is used to separate the effects of the different broadening mechanisms (e.g. Doppler and instrumental broadening) from the Stark broadening. A Stark broadening theory is extrapolated to lower electron density values, below its theoretical validity regime. Thomson scattering measurements are used to calibrate and validate the procedure. The results show an agreement within 20%, what validates the use of this Stark broadening method under such low density conditions. It is also found that Stark broadened profiles cannot be assumed to be purely Lorentzian. Such an assumption would lead to an underestimation of the electron density. This implies that independent information on the gas temperature is needed to find the correct values of n{sub e}. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Stark broadening measurements at low density and temperature conditions Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Calibration with Thomson scattering Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Indications of the non-Lorentzian shape of the Stark broadening Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Impossibility of simultaneous diagnostic of gas temperature and electron density.

Improved GAMMA 10 tandem mirror confinement in high density plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yatsu, K.; Cho, T.; Higaki, H.; Hirata, M.; Hojo, H.; Ichimura, M.; Ishii, K.; Ishimoto, Y.; Itakura, A.; Katanuma, I.; Kohagura, J.; Minami, R.; Nakashima, Y.; Numakura, T.; Saito, T.; Saosaki, S.; Takemura, Y.; Tatematsu, Y.; Yoshida, M.; Yoshikawa, M.

2003-01-01

GAMMA 10 experiments have advanced in high density experiments after the last IAEA fusion energy conference in 2000 where we reported the production of the high density plasma through use of ion cyclotron range of frequency heating at a high harmonic frequency and neutral beam injection in the anchor cells. However, the diamagnetic signal of the plasma decreased when electron cyclotron resonance heating was applied for the potential formation. Recently a high density plasma has been obtained without degradation of the diamagnetic signal and with much improved reproducibility than before. The high density plasma was attained through adjustment of the spacing of the conducting plates installed in the anchor transition regions. The potential confinement of the plasma has been extensively studied. Dependences of the ion confinement time, ion-energy confinement time and plasma confining potential on plasma density were obtained for the first time in the high density region up to a density of 4x10 18 m -3 . (author)

Density Dependence of Particle Transport in ECH Plasmas of the TJ-II Stellarator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vargas, V. I.; Lopez-Bruna, D.; Guasp, J.; Herranz, J.; Estrada, T.; Medina, F.; Ochando, M.A.; Velasco, J.L.; Reynolds, J.M.; Ferreira, J.A.; Tafalla, D.; Castejon, F.; Salas, A.

2009-05-21

We present the experimental dependence of particle transport on average density in electron cyclotron heated (ECH) hydrogen plasmas of the TJ-II stellarator. The results are based on: (I) electron density and temperature data from Thomson Scattering and reflectometry diagnostics; (II) a transport model that reproduces the particle density profiles in steady state; and (III) Eirene, a code for neutrals transport that calculates the particle source in the plasma from the particle confinement time and the appropriate geometry of the machine/plasma. After estimating an effective particle diffusivity and the particle confinement time, a threshold density separating qualitatively and quantitatively different plasma transport regimes is found. The poor confinement times found below the threshold are coincident with the presence of ECH-induced fast electron losses and a positive radial electric field all over the plasma. (Author) 40 refs.

High density plasma productions by hydrogen storage electrode in the Tohoku University Heliac

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Utoh, H.; Takahashi, H.; Tanaka, Y.; Takenaga, M.; Ogawa, M.; Shinde, J.; Iwazaki, K.; Shinto, K.; Kitajima, S.; Sasao, M.; Nishimura, K.; Inagaki, S.

2005-01-01

In the Tohoku University Heliac (TU-Heliac), the influence of a radial electric field on improved modes has been investigated by an electrode biasing. In both positive and negative biasing experiments by the stainless steel (SUS) electrode (cold-electron or ion collection), the improvement of plasma confinement was clearly observed. Furthermore, by negative biasing with a hot cathode (electron injection), the radial electric fields can be actively controlled as a consequence of the control of the electrode current I E . By using the electrode made of a hydrogen storage metal, for example Titanium (Ti) or Vanadium (V), the following possibility can be expected: (1) ions accelerated from the positive biased electrode allow the simulation for the orbit loss of high-energy particles, (2) the electrons/neutral- particles injected from the negative biased electrode provide the production of the high- density plasma, if hydrogen are successfully stored in the electrode. In this present work, several methods were tried as the treatment for hydrogen storage. In the case of the Ti electrode biased positively after the treatment, the improvement of plasma confinement was observed in He plasma, which were same as the experimental results of the SUS electrode. However, in the electron density profiles inside the electrode position there was difference between the biased plasma by the Ti electrode and that by the SUS electrode. In some of Ar discharges biased negatively with the Ti electrode after the treatment, the electron density and the line intensity of H α increased about 10 times of those before biasing. This phenomenon has not been observed in the Ar plasma biased by the SUS electrode. This result suggested that the Ti electrode injected electrons/neutral-hydrogen into the plasma. This high-density plasma productions were observed only 1 ∼ 3 times in the one treatment for hydrogen storage. By using a Vanadium (V) electrode, productions of the high-density plasma

Interferometric characterization of density dynamics of an ultradense Z-pinch plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackenhusen, J.G.; Bach, D.R.

1979-01-01

We have measured the spatially and temporally resolved density in a Z-pinch plasma by holographic interferometry. The high electron density (4 x 10 19 e/cm 3 ), short density scale length (100 μm), and low temperature (about 20 eV) make the plasma source suitable for simulation of laser-pellet interaction experiments at 10.6-μm laser wavelengths. A cinema of density evolution, indicating plasma pinching and subsequent relaxation, provides an experimental view of plasma dynamics which is then compared to simple theoretical models

Impact of plasma triangularity and collisionality on electron heat transport in TCV L-mode plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camenen, Y.; Pochelon, A.; Behn, R.; Bottino, A.; Bortolon, A.; Coda, S.; Karpushov, A.; Sauter, O.; Zhuang, G.

2007-01-01

The impact of plasma shaping on electron heat transport is investigated in TCV L-mode plasmas. The study is motivated by the observation of an increase in the energy confinement time with decreasing plasma triangularity which may not be explained by a change in the temperature gradient induced by changes in the geometry of the flux surfaces. The plasma triangularity is varied over a wide range, from positive to negative values, and various plasmas conditions are explored by changing the total electron cyclotron (EC) heating power and the plasma density. The mid-radius electron heat diffusivity is shown to significantly decrease with decreasing triangularity and, for similar plasma conditions, only half of the EC power is required at a triangularity of -0.4 compared with +0.4 to obtain the same temperature profile. Besides, the observed dependence of the electron heat diffusivity on the electron temperature, electron density and effective charge can be grouped in a unique dependence on the plasma effective collisionality. In summary, the electron heat transport level exhibits a continuous decrease with decreasing triangularity and increasing collisionality. Local gyro-fluid and global gyro-kinetic simulations predict that trapped electron modes are the most unstable modes in these EC heated plasmas with an effective collisionality ranging from 0.2 to 1. The modes stability dependence on the plasma triangularity is investigated

The influence of plasma density decreasement by pre-pulse on the laser wakefield acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke-Gong Dong

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In the laser wakefield acceleration, the generation of electron beam is very sensitive to the plasma density. Not only the laser-wakefield interaction, but also the electron trapping and acceleration would be effected by the plasma density. However, the plasma density could be changed in the experiment by different reasons, which will result in the mismatch of parameters arranged initially. Forward Raman scattering spectrum demonstrated that the interaction density was decreased obviously in the experiment, which was verified by the pre-pulse conditions and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It was demonstrated that the plasma density was very important on the self-evolutions and energy coupling of laser pulse and wakefield, and eventually the energy spectrum of electron beam.

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

Injection into electron plasma traps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorgadze, Vladimir; Pasquini, Thomas A.; Fajans, Joel; Wurtele, Jonathan S.

2003-01-01

Computational studies and experimental measurements of plasma injection into a Malmberg-Penning trap reveal that the number of trapped particles can be an order of magnitude higher than predicted by a simple estimates based on a ballistic trapping model. Enhanced trapping is associated with a rich nonlinear dynamics generated by the space-charge forces of the evolving trapped electron density. A particle-in-cell simulation is used to identify the physical mechanisms that lead to the increase in trapped electrons. The simulations initially show strong two-stream interactions between the electrons emitted from the cathode and those reflected off the end plug of the trap. This is followed by virtual cathode oscillations near the injection region. As electrons are trapped, the initially hollow longitudinal phase-space is filled, and the transverse radial density profile evolves so that the plasma potential matches that of the cathode. Simple theoretical arguments are given that describe the different dynamical regimes. Good agreement is found between simulation and theory

Electron density measurement for steady state plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawano, Yasunori; Chiba, Shinichi; Inoue, Akira

2000-01-01

Electron density of a large tokamak has been measured successfully by the tangential CO 2 laser polarimeter developed in JT-60U. The tangential Faraday rotation angles of two different wavelength of 9.27 and 10.6 μm provided the electron density independently. Two-color polarimeter concept for elimination of Faraday rotation at vacuum windows is verified for the first time. A system stability for long time operation up to ∼10 hours is confirmed. A fluctuation of a signal baseline is observed with a period of ∼3 hours and an amplitude of 0.4 - 0.7deg. In order to improve the polarimeter, an application of diamond window for reduction of the Faraday rotation at vacuum windows and another two-color polarimeter concept for elimination of mechanical rotation component are proposed. (author)

Pulsed Plasma Electron Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Krasik, Yakov

2008-11-01

Pulsed (˜10-7 s) electron beams with high current density (>10^2 A/cm^2) are generated in diodes with electric field of E > 10^6 V/cm. The source of electrons in these diodes is explosive emission plasma, which limits pulse duration; in the case E Saveliev, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 093308 (2005). Ya. E. Krasik, A. Dunaevsky, and J. Felsteiner, Phys. Plasmas 8, 2466 (2001). D. Yarmolich, V. Vekselman, V. Tz. Gurovich, and Ya. E. Krasik, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 075004 (2008). J. Z. Gleizer, Y. Hadas and Ya. E. Krasik, Europhysics Lett. 82, 55001 (2008).

Cutoff effects of electron velocity distribution to the properties of plasma parameters near the plasma-sheath boundary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jelic, N.

2011-01-01

The plasma properties under high thermodynamic non-equilibrium condition, established due to the presence of electrically biased electrode, are investigated. Assumption of electron cut-off velocity distribution function (VDF), as done by Andrews and Varey in their investigations of the sheath region [J. Phys. A 3, 413 (1970)], has been extended here to both plasma and sheath regions. Analytic expressions for the moments of electron VDF, as well as for the electron screening temperature function dependence on the plasma-sheath local potential are derived. In deriving the ion velocity distribution the ''standard'' assumption of strict plasma quasineutrality, or equivalently vanishing of the plasma Debye length, is employed, whereas the ions are assumed to be generated at rest over the plasma region. However, unlike the standard approach of solving the plasma equation, where pure Boltzmann electron density profile is used, here we employ modified Boltzmann's electron density profile, due to cutoff effect of the electron velocity distribution. It is shown that under these conditions the quasineutrality equation solution is characterised by the electric field singularity for any negative value of the electrode bias potential as measured with respect to the plasma potential. The point of singularity i.e., the plasma length and its dependence on the electrode bias and sheath potential is established for the particular case of ionization profile mechanism proportional to the local electron density. Relevant parameters for the kinetic Bohm criterion are explicitly calculated for both ions and electrons, for arbitrary electrode bias.

Plasma diagnostics using the He I 447.1 nm line at high and low densities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez, Manuel A [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, E.T.S.I. Informatica, Universidad de Valladolid, 47071 Valladolid (Spain); Ivkovic, Milivoje; Jovicevic, Sonja; Konjevic, Nikola [Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, 11081 Belgrade, PO Box 68 (Serbia); Gigosos, Marco A; Lara, Natividad, E-mail: manuelgd@termo.uva.es, E-mail: gigosos@coyanza.opt.cie.uva.es [Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Atomica y Optica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valladolid, 47071 Valladolid (Spain)

2011-05-18

The broadening of the He I 447.1 nm line and its forbidden components in plasmas is studied using computer simulation techniques and the results are compared with our and other experiments. In these calculations wide ranges of electron densities and temperatures are considered. Experimental measurements are performed with a high electron density pulsed discharge and with a low electron density microwave torch at atmospheric pressure. Both calculations and experimental measurements are extended from previous works towards low electron densities in order to study the accuracy of plasma diagnostics using this line in ranges of interest in different practical applications. The calculation results are compared with experimental profiles registered in plasmas diagnosed using independent techniques. The obtained agreement justifies the use of these line parameters for plasma diagnostics. The influence of self-absorption on line parameters is also analysed. It is shown that the separation between the peaks of the allowed and forbidden components exhibits a clear dependence upon plasma electron density free of self-absorption influence. This allows the peak separation to be used as a good parameter for plasma diagnostics. From the simulation results, a simple fitting formula is applied that permits obtaining the electron number density plasma diagnostics in the range 5 x 10{sup 22}-7 x 10{sup 23} m{sup -3}. At lower densities the fitting of simulated to experimental full profiles is a reliable method for N{sub e} determination.

Observation of the skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density of turbulently heated plasmas in the TRIAM-1 tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hiraki, Naoji; Nakamura, Kazuo; Toi, Kazuo; Itoh, Satoshi

1980-01-01

The time evolution of electron temperature and density profiles are measured on the turbulent heating experiment in the TRIAM-1 tokamak. The skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density are observed just after the application of the pulsed electric field for turbulent heating. The width of the skin layer of the electron temperature profile is about 1 cm, and agrees well with the theoretical value. The above mentioned skin heating of electrons just after the heating pulse is also spectroscopically confirmed by the remarkable decrease of the volume emission of visible lines which is localized at the outer plasma region. (author)

Observation of the skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density of turbulently heated plasmas in the TRIAM-1 tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hiraki, N; Nakamura, K; Toi, K; Itoh, S [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Research Inst. for Applied Mechanics

1980-07-01

The time evolution of electron temperature and density profiles are measured on the turbulent heating experiment in the TRIAM-1 tokamak. The skin-like profiles of electron temperature and density are observed just after the application of the pulsed electric field for turbulent heating. The width of the skin layer of the electron temperature profile is about 1 cm, and agrees well with the theoretical value. The above mentioned skin heating of electrons just after the heating pulse is also spectroscopically confirmed by the remarkable decrease of the volume emission of visible lines which is localized at the outer plasma region.

Determination of plasma spot current and arc discharge plasma current on the system of plasma cathode electron sources using Rogowski coil technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wirjoadi; Bambang Siswanto; Lely Susita RM; Agus Purwadi; Sudjatmoko

2015-01-01

It has been done the function test experiments of ignitor electrode system and the plasma generator electrode system to determine the current spot plasma and arc discharge plasma current with Rogowski coil technique. Ignitor electrode system that gets power supply from IDPS system can generate the plasma spot current of 11.68 ampere to the pulse width of about 33 μs, this value is greater than the design probably because of electronic components used in the IDPS system was not as planned. For the plasma generator electrode system that gets power from ADPS system capable of producing an arc discharge plasma current around 103.15 amperes with a pulse width of about 96 μs, and this value as planned. Based on the value of the arc discharge plasma current can be determined plasma electron density, which is about 10.12 10"1"9 electrons/m"3, and with this electron density value, an ignitor electrode system and a plasma generator system is quite good if used as a plasma cathode electron source system. (author)

Large density amplification measured on jets ejected from a magnetized plasma gun

OpenAIRE

Yun, Gunsu S.; You, Setthivoine; Bellan, Paul M.

2007-01-01

Observation of a large density amplification in the collimating plasma jet ejected from a coplanar coaxial plasma gun is reported. The jet velocity is ~30 km s^-1 and the electron density increases from ~10^20 to 10^(22–23) m^-3. In previous spheromak experiments, electron density of the order 10^(19–21) m^-3 had been measured in the flux conserver region, but no density measurement had been reported for the source gun region. The coplanar geometry of our electrodes permits direct observation...

Characterization of electron cyclotron resonance hydrogen plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Outten, C.A.

1990-01-01

Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas yield low energy and high ion density plasmas. The characteristics downstream of an ECR hydrogen plasma were investigated as a function of microwave power and magnetic field. A fast-injection Langmuir probe and a carbon resistance probe were used to determine plasma potential (V p ), electron density (N e ), electron temperature (T e ), ion energy (T i ), and ion fluence. Langmuir probe results showed that at 17 cm downstream from the ECR chamber the plasma characteristics are approximately constant across the center 7 cm of the plasma for 50 Watts of absorbed power. These results gave V p = 30 ± 5 eV, N e = 1 x 10 8 cm -3 , and T e = 10--13 eV. In good agreement with the Langmuir probe results, carbon resistance probes have shown that T i ≤ 50 eV. Also, based on hydrogen chemical sputtering of carbon, the hydrogen (ion and energetic neutrals) fluence rate was determined to be 1 x 10 16 /cm 2 -sec. at a pressure of 1 x 10 -4 Torr and for 50 Watts of absorbed power. 19 refs

MICROWAVE NOISE MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRON TEMPERATURES IN AFTERGLOW PLASMAS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leiby, Jr., C. C.; McBee, W. D.

1963-10-15

Transient electron temperatures in afterglow plasmas were determined for He (5 and 10 torr), Ne, and Ne plus or minus 5% Ar (2.4 and 24 torr) by combining measurements of plasma microwave noise power, and plasma reflectivity and absorptivity. Use of a low-noise parametric preamplifier permitted continuous detection during the afterglow of noise power at 5.5 Bc in a 1 Mc bandwidth. Electron temperature decays were a function of pressure and gas but were slower than predicted by electron energy loss mechanisms. The addition of argon altered the electron density decay in the neon afterglow but the electron temperature decay was not appreciably changed. Resonances in detected noise power vs time in the afterglow were observed for two of the three plasma waveguide geometries studied. These resonances correlate with observed resonances in absorptivity and occur over the same range of electron densities for a given geometry independent of gas type and pressure. (auth)

Measurements of line-averaged electron density of pulsed plasmas using a He-Ne laser interferometer in a magnetized coaxial plasma gun device

Science.gov (United States)

Iwamoto, D.; Sakuma, I.; Kitagawa, Y.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2012-10-01

In next step of fusion devices such as ITER, lifetime of plasma-facing materials (PFMs) is strongly affected by transient heat and particle loads during type I edge localized modes (ELMs) and disruption. To clarify damage characteristics of the PFMs, transient heat and particle loads have been simulated by using a plasma gun device. We have performed simulation experiments by using a magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG) device at University of Hyogo. The line-averaged electron density measured by a He-Ne interferometer is 2x10^21 m-3 in a drift tube. The plasma velocity measured by a time of flight technique and ion Doppler spectrometer was 70 km/s, corresponding to the ion energy of 100 eV for helium. Thus, the ion flux density is 1.4x10^26 m-2s-1. On the other hand, the MCPG is connected to a target chamber for material irradiation experiments. It is important to measure plasma parameters in front of target materials in the target chamber. In particular, a vapor cloud layer in front of the target material produced by the pulsed plasma irradiation has to be characterized in order to understand surface damage of PFMs under ELM-like plasma bombardment. In the conference, preliminary results of application of the He-Ne laser interferometer for the above experiment will be shown.

Edge density profiles in high-performance JET plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Summers, D.D.R.; Viaccoz, B.; Vince, J.

1997-01-01

Detailed electron density profiles of the scrape-off layer in high-performance JET plasmas (plasma current, I p nbi ∝17 MW) have been measured by means of a lithium beam diagnostic system featuring high spatial resolution [Kadota (1978)[. Measurements were taken over a period of several seconds, allowing examination of the evolution of the edge profile at a location upstream from the divertor target. The data clearly show the effects of the H-mode transition - an increase in density near the plasma separatrix and a reduction in density scrape-off length. The profiles obtained under various plasma conditions are compared firstly with data from other diagnostics, located elsewhere in the vessel, and also with the predictions of an 'onion-skin' model (DIVIMP), which used, as initial parameters, data from an array of probes located in the divertor target. (orig.)

Electron conductivity model for dense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Y.T.; More, R.M.

1984-01-01

An electron conductivity model for dense plasmas is described which gives a consistent and complete set of transport coefficients including not only electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, but also thermoelectric power, and Hall, Nernst, Ettinghausen, and Leduc--Righi coefficients. The model is useful for simulating plasma experiments with strong magnetic fields. The coefficients apply over a wide range of plasma temperature and density and are expressed in a computationally simple form. Different formulas are used for the electron relaxation time in plasma, liquid, and solid phases. Comparisons with recent calculations and available experimental measurement show the model gives results which are sufficiently accurate for many practical applications

Fast-electron self-collimation in a plasma density gradient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, X. H.; Borghesi, M.; Robinson, A. P. L.

2012-01-01

A theoretical and numerical study of fast electron transport in solid and compressed fast ignition relevant targets is presented. The principal aim of the study is to assess how localized increases in the target density (e.g., by engineering of the density profile) can enhance magnetic field generation and thus pinching of the fast electron beam through reducing the rate of temperature rise. The extent to which this might benefit fast ignition is discussed.

Multichannel microwave interferometer with an antenna switching system for electron density measurement in a laboratory plasma experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawamori, Eiichirou; Lin, Yu-Hsiang [Institute of Space and Plasma Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Mase, Atsushi [Art, Science and Technology Center for Cooperative Research, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816-8580 (Japan); Nishida, Yasushi; Cheng, C. Z. [Institute of Space and Plasma Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Plasma and Space Science Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China)

2014-02-15

This study presents a simple and powerful technique for multichannel measurements of the density profile in laboratory plasmas by microwave interferometry. This technique uses electromechanical microwave switches to temporally switch the connection between multiple receiver antennas and one phase-detection circuit. Using this method, the phase information detected at different positions is rearranged into a time series that can be acquired from a minimum number of data acquisition channels (e.g., two channels in the case of quadrature detection). Our successfully developed multichannel microwave interferometer that uses the antenna switching method was applied to measure the radial electron density profiles in a magnetized plasma experiment. The advantage of the proposed method is its compactness and scalability to multidimensional measurement systems at low cost.

Tunable Laser Plasma Accelerator based on Longitudinal Density Tailoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonsalves, Anthony; Nakamura, Kei; Lin, Chen; Panasenko, Dmitriy; Shiraishi, Satomi; Sokollik, Thomas; Benedetti, Carlo; Schroeder, Carl; Geddes, Cameron; Tilborg, Jeroen van; Osterhoff, Jens; Esarey, Eric; Toth, Csaba; Leemans, Wim

2011-07-15

Laser plasma accelerators have produced high-quality electron beams with GeV energies from cm-scale devices and are being investigated as hyperspectral fs light sources producing THz to {gamma}-ray radiation and as drivers for future high-energy colliders. These applications require a high degree of stability, beam quality and tunability. Here we report on a technique to inject electrons into the accelerating field of a laser-driven plasma wave and coupling of this injector to a lower-density, separately tunable plasma for further acceleration. The technique relies on a single laser pulse powering a plasma structure with a tailored longitudinal density profile, to produce beams that can be tuned in the range of 100-400 MeV with percent-level stability, using laser pulses of less than 40 TW. The resulting device is a simple stand-alone accelerator or the front end for a multistage higher-energy accelerator.

Density fluctuations due to Raman forward scattering in quantum plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Punit, E-mail: punitkumar@hotmail.com; Singh, Shiv; Rathore, Nisha Singh, E-mail: nishasingh-rathore@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, University of Lucknow, Lucknow-226007 (India)

2016-05-06

Density fluctuations due Raman forward scattering (RFS) is analysed in the interaction of a high intensity laser pulse with high density quantum plasma. The interaction model is developed using the quantum hydrodynamic (QHD) model which consist of a set of equations describing the transport of charge, density, momentum and energy of a charged particle system interacting through a self-consistent electrostatic potential. The nonlinear source current has been obtained incorporating the effects of quantum Bohm potential, Fermi pressure and electron spin. The laser spectrum is strongly modulated by the interaction, showing sidebands at the plasma frequency. Furthermore, as the quiver velocity of the electrons in the high electric field of the laser beam is quit large, various quantum effects are observed which can be attributed to the variation of electron mass with laser intensity.

Development of a Nomarski-type multi-frame interferometer as a time and space resolving diagnostics for the free electron density of laser-generated plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boerner, M.; Frank, A.; Pelka, A.; Schaumann, G.; Schoekel, A.; Schumacher, D.; Roth, M.; Fils, J.; Blazevic, A.; Hessling, T.; Basko, M. M.; Maruhn, J.; Tauschwitz, An.

2012-01-01

This article reports on the development and set-up of a Nomarski-type multi-frame interferometer as a time and space resolving diagnostics of the free electron density in laser-generated plasma. The interferometer allows the recording of a series of 4 images within 6 ns of a single laser-plasma interaction. For the setup presented here, the minimal accessible free electron density is 5 x 10 18 cm -3 , the maximal one is 2 x 10 20 cm -3 . Furthermore, it provides a resolution of the electron density in space of 50 μm and in time of 0.5 ns for one image with a customizable magnification in space for each of the 4 images. The electron density was evaluated from the interferograms using an Abel inversion algorithm. The functionality of the system was proven during first experiments and the experimental results are presented and discussed. A ray tracing procedure was realized to verify the interferometry pictures taken. In particular, the experimental results are compared to simulations and show excellent agreement, providing a conclusive picture of the evolution of the electron density distribution.

Ion acoustic solitons in a plasma with two-temperature kappa-distributed electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baluku, T. K.; Hellberg, M. A.

2012-01-01

Existence domains and characteristics of ion acoustic solitons are studied in a two-temperature electron plasma with both electron components being kappa-distributed, as found in Saturn's magnetosphere. As is the case for double-Boltzmann electrons, solitons of both polarities can exist over restricted ranges of fractional hot electron density ratio for this plasma model. Low κ values, which indicate increased suprathermal particles in the tail of the distribution, yield a smaller domain in the parameter space of hot density fraction and normalized soliton velocity (f, M), over which both soliton polarities are supported for a given plasma composition (the coexistence region). For some density ratios that support coexistence, solitons occur even at the lowest (critical) Mach number (i.e., at the acoustic speed), as found recently for a number of other plasma models. Like Maxwellians, low-κ distributions also support positive potential double layers over a narrow range of low fractional cool electron density (<10%).

Ion acoustic solitons in a plasma with two-temperature kappa-distributed electrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baluku, T. K.; Hellberg, M. A. [School of Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000 (South Africa)

2012-01-15

Existence domains and characteristics of ion acoustic solitons are studied in a two-temperature electron plasma with both electron components being kappa-distributed, as found in Saturn's magnetosphere. As is the case for double-Boltzmann electrons, solitons of both polarities can exist over restricted ranges of fractional hot electron density ratio for this plasma model. Low {kappa} values, which indicate increased suprathermal particles in the tail of the distribution, yield a smaller domain in the parameter space of hot density fraction and normalized soliton velocity (f, M), over which both soliton polarities are supported for a given plasma composition (the coexistence region). For some density ratios that support coexistence, solitons occur even at the lowest (critical) Mach number (i.e., at the acoustic speed), as found recently for a number of other plasma models. Like Maxwellians, low-{kappa} distributions also support positive potential double layers over a narrow range of low fractional cool electron density (<10%).

High density plasmas formation in Inertial Confinement Fusion and Astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez-Val, J. M.; Minguez, E.; Velarde, P.; Perlado, J. M.; Velarde, G.; Bravo, E.; Eliezer, S.; Florido, R.; Garcia Rubiano, J.; Garcia-Senz, D.; Gil de la Fe, J. M.; Leon, P. T.; Martel, P.; Ogando, F.; Piera, M.; Relano, A.; Rodriguez, R.; Garcia, C.; Gonzalez, E.; Lachaise, M.; Oliva, E.

2005-01-01

In inertially confined fusion (ICF), high densities are required to obtain high gains. In Fast Ignition, a high density, low temperature plasma can be obtained during the compression. If the final temperature reached is low enough, the electrons of the plasma can be degenerate. In degenerate plasmas. Bremsstrahlung emission is strongly suppressed an ignition temperature becomes lower than in classical plasmas, which offers a new design window for ICF. The main difficulty of degenerate plasmas in the compression energy needed for high densities. Besides that, the low specific heat of degenerate electrons (as compared to classical values) is also a problem because of the rapid heating of the plasma. Fluid dynamic evolution of supernovae remnants is a very interesting problem in order to predict the thermodynamical conditions achieved in their collision regions. Those conditions have a strong influence in the emission of light and therefore the detection of such events. A laboratory scale system has been designed reproducing the fluid dynamic field in high energy experiments. The evolution of the laboratory system has been calculated with ARWEN code, 2D Radiation CFD that works with Adaptive Mesh Refinement. Results are compared with simulations on the original system obtained with a 3D SPH astrophysical code. New phenomena at the collision plane and scaling of the laboratory magnitudes will be described. Atomic physics for high density plasmas has been studied with participation in experiments to obtain laser produced high density plasmas under NLTE conditions, carried out at LULI. A code, ATOM3R, has been developed which solves rate equations for optically thin plasmas as well as for homogeneous optically thick plasmas making use of escape factors. New improvements in ATOM3R are been done to calculate level populations and opacities for non homogeneous thick plasmas in NLTE, with emphasis in He and H lines for high density plasma diagnosis. Analytical expression

Density functional and many-body theories of Hydrogen plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrot, F.; Dharma-Wardana, M.W.C.

1983-11-01

This work is an attempt to go beyond the standard description of hot condensed matter using the well-known ''average atom model''. The first part describes a static model using ''Density functional theory'' to calculate self-consistent coupled electron and ion density profiles of the plasma not restricted to a single average atomic sphere. In a second part, the results are used as ingredients for a many-body approach to electronic properties: the one-particle Green-function self-energy is calculated, from which shifted levels, populations and level-widths are deduced. Results for the Hydrogen plasma are reported, with emphasis on the 1s bound state

Nonquasineutral electron vortices in nonuniform plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Angus, J. R.; Richardson, A. S.; Swanekamp, S. B.; Schumer, J. W. [Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia 20375 (United States); Ottinger, P. F. [Engility Corporation, Chantilly, Virginia 20151 (United States)

2014-11-15

Electron vortices are observed in the numerical simulation of current carrying plasmas on fast time scales where the ion motion can be ignored. In plasmas with nonuniform density n, vortices drift in the B × ∇n direction with a speed that is on the order of the Hall speed. This provides a mechanism for magnetic field penetration into a plasma. Here, we consider strong vortices with rotation speeds V{sub ϕ} close to the speed of light c where the vortex size δ is on the order of the magnetic Debye length λ{sub B}=|B|/4πen and the vortex is thus nonquasineutral. Drifting vortices are typically studied using the electron magnetohydrodynamic model (EMHD), which ignores the displacement current and assumes quasineutrality. However, these assumptions are not strictly valid for drifting vortices when δ ≈ λ{sub B}. In this paper, 2D electron vortices in nonuniform plasmas are studied for the first time using a fully electromagnetic, collisionless fluid code. Relatively large amplitude oscillations with periods that correspond to high frequency extraordinary modes are observed in the average drift speed. The drift speed W is calculated by averaging the electron velocity field over the vorticity. Interestingly, the time-averaged W from these simulations matches very well with W from the much simpler EMHD simulations even for strong vortices with order unity charge density separation.

Plasma dynamics near critical density inferred from direct measurements of laser hole boring

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Chao; Tochitsky, Sergei Ya.; Fiuza, Frederico; Pigeon, Jeremy J.; Joshi, Chan

2016-06-01

We have used multiframe picosecond optical interferometry to make direct measurements of the hole boring velocity, vHB, of the density cavity pushed forward by a train of C O2 laser pulses in a near critical density helium plasma. As the pulse train intensity rises, the increasing radiation pressure of each pulse pushes the density cavity forward and the plasma electrons are strongly heated. After the peak laser intensity, the plasma pressure exerted by the heated electrons strongly impedes the hole boring process and the vHB falls rapidly as the laser pulse intensity falls at the back of the laser pulse train. A heuristic theory is presented that allows the estimation of the plasma electron temperature from the measurements of the hole boring velocity. The measured values of vHB, and the estimated values of the heated electron temperature as a function of laser intensity are in reasonable agreement with those obtained from two-dimensional numerical simulations.

Electron Density in Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Surface Wave Discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jasinski, M.; Zakrzewski, Z.; Mizeraczyk, J.

2008-01-01

In this paper, we present results of the spectroscopic measurements of the electron density in a microwave surface wave sustained discharges in Ar and Ne at atmospheric pressure. The discharge in the form of a plasma column was generated inside a quartz tube cooled with a dielectric liquid. The microwave power delivered to the discharge via rectangular waveguide was applied in the range of 200-1500 W. In all investigations presented in this paper, the gas flow rate was relatively low (0.5 l/min), so the plasma column was generated in the form of a single filament, and the lengths of the upstream and downstream plasma columns were almost the same. The electron density in the plasma columns was determined using the method based on the Stark broadening of H β spectral line, including plasma region inside the waveguide which was not investigated earlier

On the effect of electron's runaway in partially ionized hydrogen semiclassical nonideal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turekhanova, K.M.

2011-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. The effect of runaway electrons occurs frequently in tokamak plasmas. The majority of experiments in tokamak research have been devoted to the study of confinement properties of runaway electrons. Runaway electrons are reason of various destroying untolarance in tokamak plasmas. At high plasma density, when the critical energy is comparable with the rest energy the multiplication of runaway electrons accelerate at the sacrifice of increase of plasma density. The plasma conductivity is determined by electrons with energy several times higher than the thermal one and does not practically depend on slower electrons distribution. It is important to analyze the probability of runaway electrons at investigation of physical properties of nonideal plasmas under external electric field and running numerical simulations of their. The present paper is devoted to the investigation of effect of runaway electrons in partially ionized hydrogen dense plasma using the effective potentials of particle's interaction. At the investigation of composition of plasma we used the Saha equation with corrections to nonideality (lowering of ionization potentials). The Saha equation was solved for obtaining of plasma ionization stages at the different number density and temperature. As well, when take into account quantum-mechanical diffraction and screening effects, whereas free path of electrons increases with increase of plasma coupling parameter. The condition for appearance of runaway electrons in semiclassical partially ionized plasma is more favorable in regime of dense plasma. In summary it means that the probability of runaway electron in dense plasma is more than the same in rarified plasma that is possibly connected with formation of some ordered structures in dense plasma.

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)

Electron inertia effects on the planar plasma sheath problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duarte, V. N.; Clemente, R. A.

2011-01-01

The steady one-dimensional planar plasma sheath problem, originally considered by Tonks and Langmuir, is revisited. Assuming continuously generated free-falling ions and isothermal electrons and taking into account electron inertia, it is possible to describe the problem in terms of three coupled integro-differential equations that can be numerically integrated. The inclusion of electron inertia in the model allows us to obtain the value of the plasma floating potential as resulting from an electron density discontinuity at the walls, where the electrons attain sound velocity and the electric potential is continuous. Results from numerical computation are presented in terms of plots for densities, electric potential, and particles velocities. Comparison with results from literature, corresponding to electron Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution (neglecting electron inertia), is also shown.

Generation of Low-Energy High-Current Electron Beams in Plasma-Anode Electron Guns

Science.gov (United States)

Ozur, G. E.; Proskurovsky, D. I.

2018-01-01

This paper is a review of studies on the generation of low-energy high-current electron beams in electron guns with a plasma anode and an explosive-emission cathode. The problems related to the initiation of explosive electron emission under plasma and the formation and transport of high-current electron beams in plasma-filled systems are discussed consecutively. Considerable attention is given to the nonstationary effects that occur in the space charge layers of plasma. Emphasis is also placed on the problem of providing a uniform energy density distribution over the beam cross section, which is of critical importance in using electron beams of this type for surface treatment of materials. Examples of facilities based on low-energy high-current electron beam sources are presented and their applications in materials science and practice are discussed.

Experimental investigation of ultraviolet laser induced plasma density and temperature evolution in air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thiyagarajan, Magesh; Scharer, John

2008-01-01

We present measurements and analysis of laser induced plasma neutral densities and temperatures in dry air by focusing 200 mJ, 10 MW high power, 193 nm ultraviolet ArF (argon fluoride) laser radiation to a 30 μm radius spot size. We examine these properties that result from multiphoton and collisional cascade processes for pressures ranging from 40 Torr to 5 atm. A laser shadowgraphy diagnostic technique is used to obtain the plasma electron temperature just after the shock front and this is compared with optical emission spectroscopic measurements of nitrogen rotational and vibrational temperatures. Two-color laser interferometry is employed to measure time resolved spatial electron and neutral density decay in initial local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and non-LTE conditions. The radiating species and thermodynamic characteristics of the plasma are analyzed by means of optical emission spectroscopy (OES) supported by SPECAIR, a special OES program for air constituent plasmas. Core plasma rotational and vibrational temperatures are obtained from the emission spectra from the N 2 C-B(2+) transitions by matching the experimental spectrum results with the SPECAIR simulation results and the results are compared with the electron temperature just behind the shock wave. The plasma density decay measurements are compared with a simplified electron density decay model that illustrates the dominant three-and two-body recombination terms with good correlation

Plasma characterization using ultraviolet Thomson scattering from ion-acoustic and electron plasma waves (invited)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Follett, R. K., E-mail: rfollett@lle.rochester.edu; Delettrez, J. A.; Edgell, D. H.; Henchen, R. J.; Katz, J.; Myatt, J. F.; Froula, D. H. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States)

2016-11-15

Collective Thomson scattering is a technique for measuring the plasma conditions in laser-plasma experiments. Simultaneous measurements of ion-acoustic and electron plasma-wave spectra were obtained using a 263.25-nm Thomson-scattering probe beam. A fully reflective collection system was used to record light scattered from electron plasma waves at electron densities greater than 10{sup 21} cm{sup −3}, which produced scattering peaks near 200 nm. An accurate analysis of the experimental Thomson-scattering spectra required accounting for plasma gradients, instrument sensitivity, optical effects, and background radiation. Practical techniques for including these effects when fitting Thomson-scattering spectra are presented and applied to the measured spectra to show the improvements in plasma characterization.

Ion Flux Measurements in Electron Beam Produced Plasmas in Atomic and Molecular Gases

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, S. G.; Leonhardt, D.; Blackwell, D. D.; Murphy, D. P.; Fernsler, R. F.; Meger, R. A.

2001-10-01

In this presentation, mass- and time-resolved measurements of ion fluxes sampled from pulsed, electron beam-generated plasmas will be discussed. Previous works have shown that energetic electron beams are efficient at producing high-density plasmas (10^10-10^12 cm-3) with low electron temperatures (Te < 1.0 eV) over the volume of the beam. Outside the beam, the plasma density and electron temperature vary due, in part, to ion-neutral and electron-ion interactions. In molecular gases, electron-ion recombination plays a significant role while in atomic gases, ion-neutral interactions are important. These interactions also determine the temporal variations in the electron temperature and plasma density when the electron beam is pulsed. Temporally resolved ion flux and energy distributions at a grounded electrode surface located adjacent to pulsed plasmas in pure Ar, N_2, O_2, and their mixtures are discussed. Measurements are presented as a function of operating pressure, mixture ratio, and electron beam-electrode separation. The differences in the results for atomic and molecular gases will also be discussed and related to their respective gas-phase kinetics.

Arbitrary electron acoustic waves in degenerate dense plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Ata-ur; Mushtaq, A.; Qamar, A.; Neelam, S.

2017-05-01

A theoretical investigation is carried out of the nonlinear dynamics of electron-acoustic waves in a collisionless and unmagnetized plasma whose constituents are non-degenerate cold electrons, ultra-relativistic degenerate electrons, and stationary ions. A dispersion relation is derived for linear EAWs. An energy integral equation involving the Sagdeev potential is derived, and basic properties of the large amplitude solitary structures are investigated in such a degenerate dense plasma. It is shown that only negative large amplitude EA solitary waves can exist in such a plasma system. The present analysis may be important to understand the collective interactions in degenerate dense plasmas, occurring in dense astrophysical environments as well as in laser-solid density plasma interaction experiments.

Theory of a spheroidal probe in low-density continuum plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamitsuma, M.; Teii, S.

1982-01-01

A spheroidal probe theory for a low-density continuum plasma, i.e., one where the electron density is N/sub e/ 8 cm -3 and the gas pressure is P> or approx. =1 Torr has been developed using a spheroidal coordinate system in order to properly take into account the effect of the finite length of the probe. The numerical results of both the electron- and the ion-current characteristics are obtained for various values of R/sub p//lambda/sub D/ ranging from 0 to 1, epsilon = T/sub i//T/sub e/ from 0.1 to 1, and C/sub p/ = L/sub p//2R/sub p/ from 1 to 100, where lambda/sub D/ is the Debye length, R/sub p/ and L/sub p/ are the probe radius and the probe length, T/sub i/ and T/sub e/ are the ion and the electron temperature, respectively. Using these results, new methods to determine the electron temperature and the plasma space potential (consequently, the electron density) by practical measurements are also proposed and discussed

Development of plasma cathode electron guns

Science.gov (United States)

Oks, Efim M.; Schanin, Peter M.

1999-05-01

The status of experimental research and ongoing development of plasma cathode electron guns in recent years is reviewed, including some novel upgrades and applications to various technological fields. The attractiveness of this kind of e-gun is due to its capability of creating high current, broad or focused beams, both in pulsed and steady-state modes of operation. An important characteristic of the plasma cathode electron gun is the absence of a thermionic cathode, a feature which leads to long lifetime and reliable operation even in the presence of aggressive background gas media and at fore-vacuum gas pressure ranges such as achieved by mechanical pumps. Depending on the required beam parameters, different kinds of plasma discharge systems can be used in plasma cathode electron guns, such as vacuum arcs, constricted gaseous arcs, hollow cathode glows, and two kinds of discharges in crossed E×B fields: Penning and magnetron. At the present time, plasma cathode electron guns provide beams with transverse dimension from fractional millimeter up to about one meter, beam current from microamperes to kiloamperes, beam current density up to about 100 A/cm2, pulse duration from nanoseconds to dc, and electron energy from several keV to hundreds of keV. Applications include electron beam melting and welding, surface treatment, plasma chemistry, radiation technologies, laser pumping, microwave generation, and more.

Electron cyclotron heating (ECH) of tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, Katsumichi

1990-01-01

Electron cyclotron heating (ECH) is one of the intense methods of plasma heating, and which utilizes the collisionless electron-cyclotron-resonance-interaction between the launched electromagnetic waves (called electron cyclotron waves) and electrons which are one of the constituents of the high temperature plasmas. Another constituent, namely the ions which are subject to nuclear fusion, are heated indirectly but strongly and instantly (in about 0.1 s) by the collisions with the ECH-heated electrons in the fusion plasmas. The recent progress on the development of high-power and high-frequency millimeter-wave-source enabled the ECH experiments in the middle size tokamaks such as JFT-2M (Japan), Doublet III (USA), T-10 (USSR) etc., and ECH has been demonstrated to be the sure and intense plasma heating method. The ECH attracts much attention for its remarkable capabilities; to produce plasmas (pre-ionization), to heat plasmas, to drive plasma current for the plasma confinement, and recently especially by the localization and the spatial controllability of its heating zone, which is beneficial for the fine controls of the profiles of plasma parameters (temperature, current density etc.), for the control of the magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, or for the optimization/improvement of the plasma confinement characteristics. Here, the present status of the ECH studies on tokamak plasmas are reviewed. (author)

Ultra-High Density Electron Beams for Beam Radiation and Beam Plasma Interaction

CERN Document Server

Anderson, Scott; Frigola, Pedro; Gibson, David J; Hartemann, Fred V; Jacob, Jeremy S; Lim, Jae; Musumeci, Pietro; Rosenzweig, James E; Travish, Gil; Tremaine, Aaron M

2005-01-01

Current and future applications of high brightness electron beams, which include advanced accelerators such as the plasma wake-field accelerator (PWFA) and beam-radiation interactions such as inverse-Compton scattering (ICS), require both transverse and longitudinal beam sizes on the order of tens of microns. Ultra-high density beams may be produced at moderate energy (50 MeV) by compression and subsequent strong focusing of low emittance, photoinjector sources. We describe the implementation of this method used at LLNL's PLEIADES ICS x-ray source in which the photoinjector-generated beam has been compressed to 300 fsec duration using the velocity bunching technique and focused to 20 μm rms size using an extremely high gradient, permanent magnet quadrupole (PMQ) focusing system.

Dark-ground illumination: a quantitative diagnostic for plasma density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paul, S.F.

1981-01-01

Radial electron density profiles of a toroidal belt pinch plasma have been obtained by a single measurement. Collimated ruby laser light, incident on the plasma, is focused to a diffraction limited spot (100 μm). The technique, a variation of the dark-ground microscope, involves masking the center of the plasma diffraction pattern with a thin wire. Undiffracted light is blocked by a thin wire, whereas light diffracted by the plasma passes around the wire and onto a photoplate. The resulting interference generates a high contrast fringe pattern whose intensity varies as 1-cosΔ phi, where Δ phi is the phase shift induced by the plasma. The fringes are recorded on Polaroid type 46L transparency film. Using this technique, radial density profiles of the plasma produced in the Columbia Torus I belt pinch have been measured. The plasma minor cross section is elliptical with a approx. 2 cm, b approx. 30 cm and approx. 3 x 10 16 /cm 3 . Average densities as low as 2 x 10 15 /cm 3 have been measured

Anticorrelated Emission of High Harmonics and Fast Electron Beams From Plasma Mirrors.

Science.gov (United States)

Bocoum, Maïmouna; Thévenet, Maxence; Böhle, Frederik; Beaurepaire, Benoît; Vernier, Aline; Jullien, Aurélie; Faure, Jérôme; Lopez-Martens, Rodrigo

2016-05-06

We report for the first time on the anticorrelated emission of high-order harmonics and energetic electron beams from a solid-density plasma with a sharp vacuum interface-plasma mirror-driven by an intense ultrashort laser pulse. We highlight the key role played by the nanoscale structure of the plasma surface during the interaction by measuring the spatial and spectral properties of harmonics and electron beams emitted by a plasma mirror. We show that the nanoscale behavior of the plasma mirror can be controlled by tuning the scale length of the electron density gradient, which is measured in situ using spatial-domain interferometry.

Density response to central electron heating: theoretical investigations and experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade

Science.gov (United States)

Angioni, C.; Peeters, A. G.; Garbet, X.; Manini, A.; Ryter, F.; ASDEX Upgrade Team

2004-08-01

Theory of ion temperature gradient (ITG) and trapped electron modes (TEMs) is applied to the study of particle transport in experimental conditions with central electron heating. It is shown that in the unstable domain of TEMs, the electron thermodiffusive flux is directed outwards. By means of such a flux, a mechanism is identified likely to account for density flattening with central electron heating. Theoretical predictions are compared with experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade. A parameter domain (including L- and H-mode plasmas) is identified, in which flattening with central electron heating is observed in the experiments. In general, this domain turns out to be the same domain in which the dominant plasma instability is a TEM. On the contrary, the dominant instability is an ITG in plasmas whose density profile is not affected significantly by central electron heating. The flattening predicted by quasi-linear theory for low density L-mode plasmas is too small compared to the experimental observations. At very high density, even when the dominant instability is an ITG, electron heating can provide density flattening, via the coupling with the ion heat channel. In these conditions the anomalous diffusivity increases in response to the increased ion heat flux, while the large collisionality makes the anomalous pinch small and the Ware pinch important.

Measurements of Electron Density Profiles of Plasmas Produced by Nike KrF Laser for Laser Plasma Instability (LPI) Research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Obenschain, S. P.; Schmitt, A. J.; Kehne, D. M.; Karasik, M.; Chan, L.-Y.; Serlin, V.; Phillips, L.

2013-10-01

Knowing spatial profiles of electron density (ne) in the underdense coronal region (n Nike LPI experiment, a side-on grid imaging refractometer (GIR) was deployed for measuring the underdense plasma profiles. Plasmas were produced from flat CH targets illuminated by Nike KrF laser with total energies up to 1 kJ of 0.5 ~ 1 nsec FWHM pulses. The GIR resolved ne up to 3 ×1021 /cm3 in space taking 2D snapshot images of probe laser (λ = 263 nm, Δt = 10 ps) beamlets (50 μm spacing) refracted by the plasma at a selected time during the laser illumination. The individual beamlet transmittances were also measured for Te estimation. Time-resolved spectrometers with an absolute-intensity-calibrated photodiode array and a streak camera simultaneously detected light emission from the plasma in spectral ranges relevant to Raman (SRS) and two plasmon decay instabilities. The measured spatial profiles are compared with simulation results from the FAST3D radiation hydrocode and their effects on the LPI observations are investigated. Work supported by DoE/NNSA and performed at Naval Research Laboratory.

Electron density measurement of a colliding plasma using soft x-ray laser interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan, A.S.; Back, C.A.; Barbee, T.W.Jr.; Cauble, R.; Celliers, P.; DaSilva, L.B.; Glenzer, S.; Moreno, J.C.; Rambo, P.W.; Stone, G.F.; Trebes, J.E.; Weber, F.

1996-05-01

The understanding of the collision and subsequent interaction of counter-streaming high-density plasmas is important for the design of indirectly-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) hohlraums. We have employed a soft x-ray Mach-Zehnder interferometer, using a Ne- like Y x-ray laser at 155 angstrom as the probe source, to study interpenetration and stagnation of two colliding plasmas. We observed a peaked density profile at the symmetry axis with a wide stagnation region with width of order 100 μm. We compare the measured density profile with density profiles calculated by the radiation hydrodynamic code LASNEX and a multi-specie fluid code which allows for interpenetration. The measured density profile falls in between the calculated profiles using collisionless and fluid approximations. By using different target materials and irradiation configurations, we can vary the collisionality of the plasma. We hope to use the soft x-ray laser interferometry as a mechanism to validate and benchmark our numerical codes used for the design and analysis of high-energy- density physics experiments

Dynamic trapping of electrons in space plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenning, N.; Bohm, M.; Faelthammar, C.G.

1989-12-01

The neutralization of positive space charge is studied in a case where heavy positive ions are added to a limited region of length L in a collisionfree magnetized plasma. It is found that electrons which become accelerated towards the positive space charge can only achieve a partial neutralization: they overshoot, and the positive region becomes surrounded by negative space charges which screen the electric field from the surroundings. The process is studied both analytically and by computer simulations with consistent results: large positive potentials (U>>kT e /e) can be built up with respect to the surrounding plasma. In the process of growth, the potential maximum traps electrons in transit so that quasineutrality is maintained. The potential U is proportional to the ambient electron temperature and the square of the plasma density increase, but independent of both the ion injection rate and the length L. The process explains several features of the Porcupinge xenon beam injection experiment. It could also have importance for the electrodynamic coupling between plasmas of different densities, e.g. the injection of neutral clouds in the ionosphere of species that becomes rapidly photoionized, or penetration of dense plasma clouds from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. (31 refs.) (authors)

Axisymmetric Eigenmodes of Spheroidal Pure Electron Plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Kawai, Yosuke; Saitoh, Haruhiko; Yoshida, Zensho; Kiwamoto, Yasuhito

2010-11-01

The axisymmetric electrostatic eigenmodes of spheroidal pure electron plasmas have been studied experimentally. It is confirmed that the observed spheroidal plasma attains a theoretically expected equilibrium density distribution, with the exception of a low-density halo distribution surrounding the plasma. When the eigenmode frequency observed for the plasma is compared with the frequency predicted by the dispersion relation derived under ideal conditions wherein the temperature is zero and the boundary is located at an infinite distance from the plasma, it is observed that the absolute value of the observed frequency is systematically higher than the theoretical prediction. Experimental examinations and numerical calculations indicate that the upward shift of the eigenmode frequency cannot be accounted for solely by the finite temperature effect, but is significantly affected by image charges induced on the conducting boundary and the resulting distortion of the density profile from the theoretical expectation.

Electron acceleration by femtosecond laser interaction with micro-structured plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Goers, Andy James

Laser-driven accelerators are a promising and compact alternative to RF accelerator technology for generating relativistic electron bunches for medical, scientific, and security applications. This dissertation presents three experiments using structured plasmas designed to advance the state of the art in laser-based electron accelerators, with the goal of reducing the energy of the drive laser pulse and enabling higher repetition rate operation with current laser technology. First, electron acceleration by intense femtosecond laser pulses in He-like nitrogen plasma waveguides is demonstrated. Second, significant progress toward a proof of concept realization of quasi-phasematched direct acceleration (QPM-DLA) is presented. Finally, a laser wakefield accelerator at very high plasma density is studied, enabling relativistic electron beam generation with ˜10 mJ pulse energies. Major results from these experiments include: • Acceleration of electrons up to 120 MeV from an ionization injected wakefield accelerator driven in a 1.5 mm long He-like nitrogen plasma waveguide • Guiding of an intense, quasi-radially polarized femtosecond laser pulse in a 1 cm plasma waveguide. This pulse provides a strong drive field for the QPM-DLA concept. • Wakefield acceleration of electrons up to ˜10 MeV with sub-terawatt, ˜10 mJ pulses interacting with a thin (˜200 mum), high density (>1020 cm-3) plasma. • Observation of an intense, coherent, broadband wave breaking radiation flash from a high plasma density laser wakefield accelerator. The flash radiates > 1% of the drive laser pulse energy in a bandwidth consistent with half-cycle (˜1 fs) emission from violent unidirectional acceleration of electron bunches from rest. These results open the way to high repetition rate (>˜kHz) laser-driven generation of relativistic electron beams with existing laser technology.

Kinetic electron model for plasma thruster plumes

Science.gov (United States)

Merino, Mario; Mauriño, Javier; Ahedo, Eduardo

2018-03-01

A paraxial model of an unmagnetized, collisionless plasma plume expanding into vacuum is presented. Electrons are treated kinetically, relying on the adiabatic invariance of their radial action integral for the integration of Vlasov's equation, whereas ions are treated as a cold species. The quasi-2D plasma density, self-consistent electric potential, and electron pressure, temperature, and heat fluxes are analyzed. In particular, the model yields the collisionless cooling of electrons, which differs from the Boltzmann relation and the simple polytropic laws usually employed in fluid and hybrid PIC/fluid plume codes.

Nonlocal effects in a bounded low-temperature plasma with fast electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeJoseph, C. A. Jr.; Demidov, V. I.; Kudryavtsev, A. A.

2007-01-01

Effects associated with nonlocality of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) in a bounded, low-temperature plasma containing fast electrons, can lead to a significant increase in the near-wall potential drop, leading to self-trapping of fast electrons in the plasma volume, even if the density of this group is only a small fraction (∼0.001%) of the total electron density. If self-trapping occurs, the fast electrons can substantially increase the rate of stepwise excitation, supply additional heating to slow electrons, and reduce their rate of diffusion cooling. Altering the source terms of these fast electrons will, therefore, alter the near-wall sheath and, through modification of the EEDF, a number of plasma parameters. Self-trapping of fast electrons is important in a variety of plasmas, including hollow-cathode discharges and capacitive rf discharges, and is especially pronounced in an afterglow plasma, which is a key phase of any pulse-modulated discharge. In the afterglow, the electron temperature is less than a few tenths of an electron volt, and the fast electrons will have energies typically greater than an electron volt. It is shown that in the afterglow plasma of noble gases, fast electrons, arising from Penning ionization of metastable atoms, can lead to the above condition and significantly change the plasma and sheath properties. Similar effects can be important in technologically relevant electronegative gas plasmas, where fast electrons can arise due to electron detachment in collisions of negative ions with atomic species. Both experimental and modeling results are presented to illustrate these effects

RF compensation of single Langmuir probe in low density helicon plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghosh, Soumen, E-mail: soumen@ipr.res.in; Chattopadhyay, Prabal K.; Ghosh, Joydeep; Bora, Dhiraj

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Appropriate density and temperature measurement with Langmuir probe in RF Eenvironment. • Necessity of large auxiliary electrode for RF compensation at low densities (∼10{sup 16} m{sup −3}). • Measured two temperature electrons in low pressure helicon antenna produced RF plasma. • Tail electrons are localized only at off-axis in our cylindrical plasma system. - Abstract: Interpretations of Single Langmuir probe measurements in electrode-less radio frequency (RF) plasmas are noteworthy tricky and require adequate compensation of RF. Conventional RF compensation technique is limited only at high density (>10{sup 17} m{sup −3}) RF plasmas. RF compensation of single Langmuir probe at low density RF plasmas (∼10{sup 16} m{sup −3}) is presented in this paper. In RF driven plasmas, where the RF voltage is high (∼50 V) and density is in the range (∼10{sup 16} m{sup −3}), the primary RF compensation condition (Z{sub ck} > >Z{sub sh}) is very difficult to fulfill, because of high sheath impedance (Z{sub sh}) at 13.56 MHz and the construction limitation of a self-resonant tiny chock (Z{sub ck}) with very high impedance. Introducing a large auxiliary electrode (A{sub x}), (A{sub x} >>> A{sub p}), close to the small Langmuir probe (A{sub p}) tip, connected in parallel with probe via a coupling capacitor (C{sub cp}), significantly reduces the effective sheath impedance (Z{sub sh}) and allows probe bias to follow the RF oscillation. Dimensional requirements of the auxiliary electrode and the role of suitable coupling capacitor are discussed in this paper. Observations show proper compensation leads to estimation of more positive floating potentials and lower electron temperatures compared to uncompensated probe. The electron energy probability function (EEPF) is also obtained by double differentiating the collected current with respect to the applied bias voltage using an active analog circuit.

Plasma electron losses in a multidipole plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haworth, M.D.

1983-01-01

The magnitude of the plasma electron cusp losses in a multidipole plasma device is determined by using a plasma electron heating technique. This method consists of suddenly generating approximately monoenergetic test electrons inside the multidipole plasma, which is in a steady-state equilibrium prior to the introduction of the test electrons. The Coulomb collisions between the test electrons and the plasma electrons result in heating the plasma electrons. The experimentally measured time evolution of the plasma electron temperature is compared with that predicted by a kinetic-theory model which calculates the time evolution of the test electron and the plasma electron distribution functions. The analytical solution of the plasma electron heating rate when the test electrons are first introduced into the plasma predicts that there is no dependence on ion mass. Experimental results in helium, neon, argon, and krypton multidipole plasmas confirm this prediction. The time-evolved solution of the kinetic equations must be solved numerically, and these results (when coupled with the experimental heating results) show that the plasma electron cusp-loss width is on the order of an electron Larmor radius

Hot electron spatial distribution under presence of laser light self-focusing in over-dense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanimoto, T; Yabuuchi, T; Habara, H; Kondo, K; Kodama, R; Mima, K; Tanaka, K A; Lei, A L

2008-01-01

In fast ignition for laser thermonuclear fusion, an ultra intense laser (UIL) pulse irradiates an imploded plasma in order to fast-heat a high-density core with hot electrons generated in laser-plasma interactions. An UIL pulse needs to make plasma channel via laser self-focusing and to propagate through the corona plasma to reach close enough to the core. Hot electrons are used for heating the core. Therefore the propagation of laser light in the high-density plasma region and spatial distribution of hot electron are important in issues in order to study the feasibility of this scheme. We measure the spatial distribution of hot electron when the laser light propagates into the high-density plasma region by self-focusing

Studies of instabilities and waves in a mirror confined hot electron plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Chaosong; Qiu Lijian; Ren Zhaoxing

1989-01-01

The stability of hot electron plasmas is studied. The hot electron component can stabilize the low frequency drift wave and the interchange mode driven by the plasma, which depends only on α=N h /N i , the density ratio of the hot electrons to the plasma ions, but not on the beta value and the annular structure of the hot electrons. Stabilization of the drift wave occurs for α > 40%, and that of the interchange mode for α > 5%, which allows the prediction that the interchange mode can be suppressed in hot electron plasma experiments. The experiments have been conducted in a simple mirror machine. It is observed that the plasma drives a drift wave at 40 kHz and an interchange mode at about 100 kHz. The fluctuation amplitude of the drift wave is much higher than that of the interchange mode. The hot electrons reduce the density gradient, the fluctuation amplitude and the radial loss of the plasma. On the other hand, the hot electrons drive the interchange mode and drift wave in the ion cyclotron frequency region. The effects of a cold plasma on hot electron perturbations are discussed. (author). 10 refs, 6 figs

''Heavy light bullets'' in electron-positron plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezhiani, V.I.; Mahajan, S.M.

1995-03-01

The nonlinear propagation of circularly polarized electromagnetic waves with relativistically strong amplitudes in an unmagnetized hot electron-positron plasma with a small fraction of ions is investigated. The possibility of finding localized solutions in such a plasma is explored. It is shown that these plasmas support the propagation of ''heavy light bullets''; nondiffracting and nondispersive electromagnetic (EM) pulses with large density bunching. (author). 24 refs, 12 figs

Effects of positron density and temperature on large amplitude ion-acoustic waves in an electron-positron-ion plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nejoh, Y.N.

1997-01-01

The nonlinear wave structures of large amplitude ion-acoustic waves are studied in a plasma with positrons. We have presented the region of existence of the ion-acoustic waves by analysing the structure of the pseudopotential. The region of existence sensitively depends on the positron to electron density ratio, the ion to electron mass ratio and the positron to electron temperature ratio. It is shown that the maximum Mach number increases as the positron temperature increases and the region of existence of the ion-acoustic waves spreads as the positron temperature increases. 12 refs., 6 figs

Control of quasi-monoenergetic electron beams from laser-plasma accelerators with adjustable shock density profile

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Hai-En; Swanson, Kelly K.; Barber, Sam K.; Lehe, Remi; Mao, Hann-Shin; Mittelberger, Daniel E.; Steinke, Sven; Nakamura, Kei; van Tilborg, Jeroen; Schroeder, Carl; Esarey, Eric; Geddes, Cameron G. R.; Leemans, Wim

2018-04-01

The injection physics in a shock-induced density down-ramp injector was characterized, demonstrating precise control of a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA). Using a jet-blade assembly, experiments systematically varied the shock injector profile, including shock angle, shock position, up-ramp width, and acceleration length. Our work demonstrates that beam energy, energy spread, and pointing can be controlled by adjusting these parameters. As a result, an electron beam that was highly tunable from 25 to 300 MeV with 8% energy spread (ΔEFWHM/E), 1.5 mrad divergence, and 0.35 mrad pointing fluctuation was produced. Particle-in-cell simulation characterized how variation in the shock angle and up-ramp width impacted the injection process. This highly controllable LPA represents a suitable, compact electron beam source for LPA applications such as Thomson sources and free-electron lasers.

Spatially resolved electron density and electron energy distribution function in Ar magnetron plasmas used for sputter-deposition of ZnO-based thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maaloul, L.; Gangwar, R. K.; Morel, S.; Stafford, L., E-mail: luc.stafford@umontreal.ca [Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7 (Canada)

2015-11-15

Langmuir probe and trace rare gases optical emission spectroscopy were used to analyze the spatial structure of the electron density and electron energy distribution function (EEDF) in a cylindrical Ar magnetron plasma reactor used for sputter-deposition of ZnO-based thin films. While a typical Bessel (zero order) diffusion profile was observed along the radial direction for the number density of charged particles at 21 cm from the ZnO target, a significant rise of these populations with respect to the Bessel function was seen in the center of the reactor at 4 cm from the magnetron surface. As for the EEDF, it was found to transform from a more or less Maxwellian far from the target to a two-temperature Maxwellian with a depletion of high-energy electrons where magnetic field confinement effects become important. No significant change in the behavior of the electron density and EEDF across a wide range of pressures (5–100 mTorr) and self-bias voltages (115–300 V) was observed during magnetron sputtering of Zn, ZnO, and In{sub 2}O{sub 3} targets. This indicates that sputtering of Zn, In, and O atoms do not play a very significant role on the electron particle balance and electron heating dynamics, at least over the range of experimental conditions investigated.

Acceleration of laser-injected electron beams in an electron-beam driven plasma wakefield accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knetsch, Alexander

2018-03-01

Plasma wakefields deliver accelerating fields that are approximately a 100 times higher than those in conventional radiofrequency or even superconducting radiofrequency cavities. This opens a transformative path towards novel, compact and potentially ubiquitous accelerators. These prospects, and the increasing demand for electron accelerator beamtime for various applications in natural, material and life sciences, motivate the research and development on novel plasma-based accelerator concepts. However, these electron beam sources need to be understood and controlled. The focus of this thesis is on electron beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) and the controlled injection and acceleration of secondary electron bunches in the accelerating wake fields by means of a short-pulse near-infrared laser. Two laser-triggered injection methods are explored. The first one is the Trojan Horse Injection, which relies on very good alignment and timing control between electron beam and laser pulse and then promises electron bunches with hitherto unprecedented quality as regards emittance and brightness. The physics of electron injection in the Trojan Horse case is explored with a focus on the final longitudinal bunch length. Then a theoretical and numerical study is presented that examines the physics of Trojan Horse injection when performed in an expanding wake generated by a smooth density down-ramp. The benefits are radically decreased drive-electron bunch requirements and a unique bunch-length control that enables longitudinal electron-bunch shaping. The second laser-triggered injection method is the Plasma Torch Injection, which is a versatile, all-optical laser-plasma-based method capable to realize tunable density downramp injection. At the SLAC National Laboratory, the first proof-of-principle was achieved both for Trojan Horse and Plasma Torch injection. Setup details and results are reported in the experimental part of the thesis along with the commissioning

UV laser ionization and electron beam diagnostics for plasma lenses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govil, R.; Volfbeyn, P.; Leemans, W.

1995-04-01

A comprehensive study of focusing of relativistic electron beams with overdense and underdense plasma lenses requires careful control of plasma density and scale lengths. Plasma lens experiments are planned at the Beam Test Facility of the LBL Center for Beam Physics, using the 50 MeV electron beam delivered by the linac injector from the Advanced Light Source. Here we present results from an interferometric study of plasmas produced in tri-propylamine vapor with a frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG laser at 266 nm. To study temporal dynamics of plasma lenses we have developed an electron beam diagnostic using optical transition radiation to time resolve beam size and divergence. Electron beam ionization of the plasma has also been investigated

Quasi-phase-matched acceleration of electrons in a corrugated plasma channel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. J. Yoon

2012-08-01

Full Text Available A laser pulse propagating in a corrugated plasma channel is composed of spatial harmonics whose phase velocities can be subluminal. The phase velocity of a spatial harmonic can be matched to the speed of a relativistic electron resulting in direct acceleration by the guided laser field in a plasma waveguide and linear energy gain over the interaction length. Here we examine the fully self-consistent interaction of the laser pulse and electron beam using particle-in-cell (PIC simulations. For low electron beam densities, we find that the ponderomotive force of the laser pulse pushes plasma channel electrons towards the propagation axis, which deflects the beam electrons. When the beam density is high, the space charge force of the beam drives the channel electrons off axis, providing collimation of the beam. In addition, we consider a ramped density profile for lowering the threshold energy for trapping in a subluminal spatial harmonic. By using a density ramp, the trapping energy for a normalized vector potential of a_{0}=0.1 is reduced from a relativistic factor γ_{0}=170 to γ_{0}=20.

Electron temperature measurement by a helium line intensity ratio method in helicon plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boivin, R.F.; Kline, J.L.; Scime, E.E.

2001-01-01

Electron temperature measurements in helicon plasmas are difficult. The presence of intense rf fields in the plasma complicates the interpretation of Langmuir probe measurements. Furthermore, the non-negligible ion temperature in the plasma considerably shortens the lifetime of conventional Langmuir probes. A spectroscopic technique based on the relative intensities of neutral helium lines is used to measure the electron temperature in the HELIX (Hot hELicon eXperiment) plasma [P. A. Keiter et al., Phys. Plasmas 4, 2741 (1997)]. This nonintrusive diagnostic is based on the fact that electron impact excitation rate coefficients for helium singlet and triplet states differ as a function of the electron temperature. The different aspects related to the validity of this technique to measure the electron temperature in rf generated plasmas are discussed in this paper. At low plasma density (n e ≤10 11 cm -3 ), this diagnostic is believed to be very reliable since the population of the emitting level can be easily estimated with reasonable accuracy by assuming that all excitation originates from the ground state (steady-state corona model). At higher density, secondary processes (excitation transfer, excitation from metastable, cascading) become more important and a more complex collisional radiative model must be used to predict the electron temperature. In this work, different helium transitions are examined and a suitable transition pair is identified. For an electron temperature of 10 eV, the line ratio is measured as a function of plasma density and compared to values predicted by models. The measured line ratio function is in good agreement with theory and the data suggest that the excitation transfer is the dominant secondary process in high-density plasmas

Mode-conversion process and overdense-plasma heating in the electron cyclotron range of frequencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, S.; Abe, H.

1988-01-01

Through a particle-simulation investigation, a new mode-conversion process, through which an incident fast extraordinary mode (fast X mode) is converted into an electron Bernstein mode (B mode) via a (slow extraordinary mode slow X mode), is discovered in plasmas whose maximum density exceeds the cutoff density of the slow X mode. The converted B mode is found to heat the electrons efficiently in an overdense plasma region, when the plasma has the optimum density gradient at the plasma surface

Simulation of density measurements in plasma wakefields using photo acceleration

CERN Document Server

Kasim, Muhammad Firmansyah; Ceurvorst, Luke; Sadler, James; Burrows, Philip N; Trines, Raoul; Holloway, James; Wing, Matthew; Bingham, Robert; Norreys, Peter

2015-01-01

One obstacle in plasma accelerator development is the limitation of techniques to diagnose and measure plasma wakefield parameters. In this paper, we present a novel concept for the density measurement of a plasma wakefield using photon acceleration, supported by extensive particle in cell simulations of a laser pulse that copropagates with a wakefield. The technique can provide the perturbed electron density profile in the laser’s reference frame, averaged over the propagation length, to be accurate within 10%. We discuss the limitations that affect the measurement: small frequency changes, photon trapping, laser displacement, stimulated Raman scattering, and laser beam divergence. By considering these processes, one can determine the optimal parameters of the laser pulse and its propagation length. This new technique allows a characterization of the density perturbation within a plasma wakefield accelerator.

Local thermodynamic equilibrium in rapidly heated high energy density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aslanyan, V.; Tallents, G. J.

2014-01-01

Emission spectra and the dynamics of high energy density plasmas created by optical and Free Electron Lasers (FELs) depend on the populations of atomic levels. Calculations of plasma emission and ionization may be simplified by assuming Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE), where populations are given by the Saha-Boltzmann equation. LTE can be achieved at high densities when collisional processes are much more significant than radiative processes, but may not be valid if plasma conditions change rapidly. A collisional-radiative model has been used to calculate the times taken by carbon and iron plasmas to reach LTE at varying densities and heating rates. The effect of different energy deposition methods, as well as Ionization Potential Depression are explored. This work shows regimes in rapidly changing plasmas, such as those created by optical lasers and FELs, where the use of LTE is justified, because timescales for plasma changes are significantly longer than the times needed to achieve an LTE ionization balance

Effects of the light beam bending on the interferometric electron density measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Y.; Koyama, K.; Tanimoto, M.; Sugiura, M.

1980-01-01

In the measurements of plasma density profile with laser interferometers, the maximum relative errors due to the deflection of laser light caused by steep gradients of the electron density are analytically evaluated. As an example the errors in the measurements of density profile of a plasma focus by using a UV-N 2 laser are estimated. (author)

Discharge regimes and density jumps in a helicon plasma source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinohara, S.; Yonekura, K.

1999-01-01

A high density plasma source using a helicon wave is becoming very attractive in plasma processing and confinement devices. In the previous work, the characteristics of this wave and plasma performance with diameters of 5 and 45 cm have been studied, and the helicon wave was only observed after the density jump. Recently, density jumps from the low to high electron densities with a level of 10 13 cm -3 were investigated by changing the antenna wavenumber spectrum, and the obtained results were compared with the inductively coupled plasma (ICP). However, the mechanisms of density jumps and plasma production are still open questions to be answered. Here, the authors try to investigate the discharge regimes and density jumps in a helicon plasma source, by changing the antenna wavenumber spectrum. For he case of the parallel current directions in the antenna, where the low wavenumber spectrum part is large, the density jump was observed with the low RF input power of P in < 300 W regardless of the magnetic field. On the other hand, for the case of the opposite directions, where the low wavenumber spectrum part is small, the threshold power to obtain the jump became high with the increase in the magnetic field. This can be understood from the dispersion relation of the helicon wave. The wave structures and the dispersion relations in the discharge modes will be also shown

Influence of the electron density on the characteristics of terahertz waves generated under laser–cluster interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frolov, A. A., E-mail: frolov@ihed.ras.ru [Russian Academy of Sciences, Joint Institute for High Temperatures (Russian Federation)

2016-12-15

A theory of generation of terahertz radiation under laser–cluster interaction, developed earlier for an overdense cluster plasma [A. A. Frolov, Plasma Phys. Rep. 42. 637 (2016)], is generalized for the case of arbitrary electron density. The spectral composition of radiation is shown to substantially depend on the density of free electrons in the cluster. For an underdense cluster plasma, there is a sharp peak in the terahertz spectrum at the frequency of the quadrupole mode of a plasma sphere. As the electron density increases to supercritical values, this spectral line vanishes and a broad maximum at the frequency comparable with the reciprocal of the laser pulse duration appears in the spectrum. The dependence of the total energy of terahertz radiation on the density of free electrons is analyzed. The radiation yield is shown to increase significantly under resonance conditions, when the laser frequency is close to the eigenfrequency of the dipole or quadrupole mode of a plasma sphere.

Plasma heating by a relativistic electron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janssen, G.C.A.M.

1983-01-01

This thesis is devoted to the interaction of a Relativistic Electron Beam (REB) with a plasma. The goal of the experiment described herein is to study in detail the mechanism of energy transfer from the beam to the plasma. The beam particles have an energy of 800 keV, a current of 6 kA, a diameter of 3 cm and an adjustable pulse length of 50-150 ns. This beam is injected into cold hydrogen and helium plasmas with densities ranging from 10 18 to 10 20 m -3 . First, the technical aspects of the experiment are described. Then measurements on the hf fields excited by the REB-plasma are presented (optical line profiles and spectra of beam electrons). The final section is devoted to plasma heating. (Auth.)

Probing plasma wakefields using electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C. J.; Wan, Y.; Guo, B.; Hua, J. F.; Pai, C.-H.; Li, F.; Zhang, J.; Ma, Y.; Wu, Y. P.; Xu, X. L.; Mori, W. B.; Chu, H.-H.; Wang, J.; Lu, W.; Joshi, C.

2018-04-01

We show experimental results of probing the electric field structure of plasma wakes by using femtosecond relativistic electron bunches generated from a laser wakefield accelerator. Snapshots of laser-driven linear wakes in plasmas with different densities and density gradients are captured. The spatiotemporal evolution of the wake in a plasma density up-ramp is recorded. Two parallel wakes driven by a laser with a main spot and sidelobes are identified in the experiment and reproduced in simulations. The capability of this new method for capturing the electron- and positron-driven wakes is also shown via 3D particle-in-cell simulations.

A simple electron plasma wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brodin, G.; Stenflo, L.

2017-01-01

Considering a class of solutions where the density perturbations are functions of time, but not of space, we derive a new exact large amplitude wave solution for a cold uniform electron plasma. This result illustrates that most simple analytical solutions can appear even if the density perturbations are large. - Highlights: • The influence of large amplitude electromagnetic waves on electrostatic oscillations is found. • A generalized Mathieu equation is derived. • Anharmonic wave profiles are computed numerically.

A simple electron plasma wave

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brodin, G., E-mail: gert.brodin@physics.umu.se [Department of Physics, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå (Sweden); Stenflo, L. [Department of Physics, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping (Sweden)

2017-03-18

Considering a class of solutions where the density perturbations are functions of time, but not of space, we derive a new exact large amplitude wave solution for a cold uniform electron plasma. This result illustrates that most simple analytical solutions can appear even if the density perturbations are large. - Highlights: • The influence of large amplitude electromagnetic waves on electrostatic oscillations is found. • A generalized Mathieu equation is derived. • Anharmonic wave profiles are computed numerically.

Electron self-injection and trapping into an evolving plasma bubble.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalmykov, S; Yi, S A; Khudik, V; Shvets, G

2009-09-25

The blowout (or bubble) regime of laser wakefield acceleration is promising for generating monochromatic high-energy electron beams out of low-density plasmas. It is shown analytically and by particle-in-cell simulations that self-injection of the background plasma electrons into the quasistatic plasma bubble can be caused by slow temporal expansion of the bubble. Sufficient criteria for the electron trapping and bubble's expansion rate are derived using a semianalytic nonstationary Hamiltonian theory. It is further shown that the combination of bubble's expansion and contraction results in monoenergetic electron beams.

The stationary non-equilibrium plasma of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons

Science.gov (United States)

Tomaschitz, Roman

2016-06-01

The statistical properties of the two-component plasma of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons measured by the AMS-02 experiment on the International Space Station and the HESS array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes are analyzed. Stationary non-equilibrium distributions defining the relativistic electron-positron plasma are derived semi-empirically by performing spectral fits to the flux data and reconstructing the spectral number densities of the electronic and positronic components in phase space. These distributions are relativistic power-law densities with exponential cutoff, admitting an extensive entropy variable and converging to the Maxwell-Boltzmann or Fermi-Dirac distributions in the non-relativistic limit. Cosmic-ray electrons and positrons constitute a classical (low-density high-temperature) plasma due to the low fugacity in the quantized partition function. The positron fraction is assembled from the flux densities inferred from least-squares fits to the electron and positron spectra and is subjected to test by comparing with the AMS-02 flux ratio measured in the GeV interval. The calculated positron fraction extends to TeV energies, predicting a broad spectral peak at about 1 TeV followed by exponential decay.

Deriving the coronal hole electron temperature: electron density dependent ionization / recombination considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doyle, John Gerard; Perez-Suarez, David; Singh, Avninda; Chapman, Steven; Bryans, Paul; Summers, Hugh; Savin, Daniel Wolf

2010-01-01

Comparison of appropriate theoretically derived line ratios with observational data can yield estimates of a plasma's physical parameters, such as electron density or temperature. The usual practice in the calculation of the line ratio is the assumption of excitation by electrons/protons followed by radiative decay. Furthermore, it is normal to use the so-called coronal approximation, i.e. one only considers ionization and recombination to and from the ground-state. A more accurate treatment is to include ionization/recombination to and from metastable levels. Here, we apply this to two lines from adjacent ionization stages, Mg IX 368 A and Mg X 625 A, which has been shown to be a very useful temperature diagnostic. At densities typical of coronal hole conditions, the difference between the electron temperature derived assuming the zero density limit compared with the electron density dependent ionization/recombination is small. This, however, is not the case for flares where the electron density is orders of magnitude larger. The derived temperature for the coronal hole at solar maximum is around 1.04 MK compared to just below 0.82 MK at solar minimum.

Simulation of density measurements in plasma wakefields using photon acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Firmansyah Kasim

2015-03-01

Full Text Available One obstacle in plasma accelerator development is the limitation of techniques to diagnose and measure plasma wakefield parameters. In this paper, we present a novel concept for the density measurement of a plasma wakefield using photon acceleration, supported by extensive particle in cell simulations of a laser pulse that copropagates with a wakefield. The technique can provide the perturbed electron density profile in the laser’s reference frame, averaged over the propagation length, to be accurate within 10%. We discuss the limitations that affect the measurement: small frequency changes, photon trapping, laser displacement, stimulated Raman scattering, and laser beam divergence. By considering these processes, one can determine the optimal parameters of the laser pulse and its propagation length. This new technique allows a characterization of the density perturbation within a plasma wakefield accelerator.

Plasma core electron density and temperature measurements using CVI line emissions in TCABR Tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nascimento, F. do, E-mail: fellypen@ifi.unicamp.br [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Centro de Componentes Semicondutores; Machida, M. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica Gleb Wataghin; Severo, J.H.F.; Sanada, E.; Ronchi, G. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica

2015-08-15

In this work, we present results of electron temperature (T{sub e} ) and density (n {sub e} ) measurements obtained in Tokamak Chauffage Alfven Bresilien (TCABR) tokamak using visible spectroscopy from CVI line emissions which occurs mainly near the center of the plasma column. The presented method is based on a well-known relationship between the particle flux (Γ {sub ion}) and the photon flux (ø {sub ion}) emitted by an ion species combined with ionizations per photon atomic data provided by the atomic data and analysis structure (ADAS) database. In the experiment, we measured the photon fluxes of three different CVI spectral line emissions, 4685.2, 5290.5, and 6200.6 Å (one line per shot). Using this method it was possible to find out the temporal evolution of T{sub e} and n{sub e} in the plasma. The results achieved are in good agreement with T{sub e} and n{sub e} measurements made using other diagnostic tools. (author)

Numerical studies of independent control of electron density and gas temperature via nonlinear coupling in dual-frequency atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Z. L.; Nie, Q. Y.; Wang, Z. B.; Gao, X. T.; Kong, F. R.; Sun, Y. F.; Jiang, B. H.

2016-01-01

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) provide a promising technology of generating non-equilibrium cold plasmas in atmospheric pressure gases. For both application-focused and fundamental studies, it is important to explore the strategy and the mechanism for enabling effective independent tuning of key plasma parameters in a DBD system. In this paper, we report numerical studies of effects of dual-frequency excitation on atmospheric DBDs, and modulation as well as separate tuning mechanism, with emphasis on dual-frequency coupling to the key plasma parameters and discharge evolution. With an appropriately applied low frequency to the original high frequency, the numerical calculation demonstrates that a strong nonlinear coupling between two frequencies governs the process of ionization and energy deposition into plasma, and thus raises the electron density significantly (e.g., three times in this case) in comparisons with a single frequency driven DBD system. Nevertheless, the gas temperature, which is mainly determined by the high frequency discharge, barely changes. This method then enables a possible approach of controlling both averaged electron density and gas temperature independently.

Plasma probe characteristics in low density hydrogen pulsed plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astakhov, D I; Lee, C J; Bijkerk, F; Goedheer, W J; Ivanov, V V; Krivtsun, V M; Zotovich, A I; Zyryanov, S M; Lopaev, D V

2015-01-01

Probe theories are only applicable in the regime where the probe’s perturbation of the plasma can be neglected. However, it is not always possible to know, a priori, that a particular probe theory can be successfully applied, especially in low density plasmas. This is especially difficult in the case of transient, low density plasmas. Here, we applied probe diagnostics in combination with a 2D particle-in-cell model, to an experiment with a pulsed low density hydrogen plasma. The calculations took into account the full chamber geometry, including the plasma probe as an electrode in the chamber. It was found that the simulations reproduce the time evolution of the probe IV characteristics with good accuracy. The disagreement between the simulated and probe measured plasma density is attributed to the limited applicability of probe theory to measurements of low density pulsed plasmas on a similarly short time scale as investigated here. Indeed, in the case studied here, probe measurements would lead to, either a large overestimate, or underestimate of the plasma density, depending on the chosen probe theory. In contrast, the simulations of the plasma evolution and the probe characteristics do not suffer from such strict applicability limits. These studies show that probe theory cannot be justified through probe measurements. However, limiting cases of probe theories can be used to estimate upper and lower bounds on plasma densities. These theories include and neglect orbital motion, respectively, with different collisional terms leading to intermediate estimates. (paper)

High energy density Z-pinch plasmas using flow stabilization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shumlak, U., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Golingo, R. P., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Nelson, B. A., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Bowers, C. A., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Doty, S. A., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Forbes, E. G., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Hughes, M. C., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Kim, B., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Knecht, S. D., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Lambert, K. K., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Lowrie, W., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Ross, M. P., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu; Weed, J. R., E-mail: shumlak@uw.edu [Aerospace and Energetics Research Program, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195-2250 (United States)

2014-12-15

The ZaP Flow Z-Pinch research project[1] at the University of Washington investigates the effect of sheared flows on MHD instabilities. Axially flowing Z-pinch plasmas are produced that are 100 cm long with a 1 cm radius. The plasma remains quiescent for many radial Alfvén times and axial flow times. The quiescent periods are characterized by low magnetic mode activity measured at several locations along the plasma column and by stationary visible plasma emission. Plasma evolution is modeled with high-resolution simulation codes – Mach2, WARPX, NIMROD, and HiFi. Plasma flow profiles are experimentally measured with a multi-chord ion Doppler spectrometer. A sheared flow profile is observed to be coincident with the quiescent period, and is consistent with classical plasma viscosity. Equilibrium is determined by diagnostic measurements: interferometry for density; spectroscopy for ion temperature, plasma flow, and density[2]; Thomson scattering for electron temperature; Zeeman splitting for internal magnetic field measurements[3]; and fast framing photography for global structure. Wall stabilization has been investigated computationally and experimentally by removing 70% of the surrounding conducting wall to demonstrate no change in stability behavior.[4] Experimental evidence suggests that the plasma lifetime is only limited by plasma supply and current waveform. The flow Z-pinch concept provides an approach to achieve high energy density plasmas,[5] which are large, easy to diagnose, and persist for extended durations. A new experiment, ZaP-HD, has been built to investigate this approach by separating the flow Z-pinch formation from the radial compression using a triaxial-electrode configuration. This innovation allows more detailed investigations of the sheared flow stabilizing effect, and it allows compression to much higher densities than previously achieved on ZaP by reducing the linear density and increasing the pinch current. Experimental results and

Plasma heating via electron Bernstein wave heating using ordinary and extraodinary mode

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Parvazian

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Magnetically confined plasma can be heated with high power microwave sources. In spherical torus the electron plasma frequency exeeds the electron cyclotron frequency (EC and, as a consequence, electromagnetic waves at fundamental and low harmonic EC cannot propagate within the plasma. In contrast, electron Bernstein waves (EBWs readily propagate in spherical torus plasma and are absorbed strongly at the electron cyclotron resonances. In order to proagate EBWs beyond the upper hybrid resonance (UHR, that surrounds the plasma, the EBWs must convert via one of two processes to either ordinary (O-mode or extraordinary (X-mode electromagnetic waves. O-mode and X-mode electromagnetic waves lunched at the plasma edge can convert to the electron Bernstein waves (EBWs which can propagate without and cut-off into the core of the plasma and damp on electrons. Since the electron Bernstein wave (EBW has no cut-off limits, it is well suited to heat an over-dense plasma by resonant absorption. An important problem is to calculate mode conversion coefficient that is very sensitive to density. Mode conversion coefficient depends on Budden parameter ( ñ and density scale length (Ln in upper hybrid resonance (UHR. In Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST, the optimized conversion efficiency approached 72.5% when Ln was 4.94 cm and the magnetic field was 0.475 Tesla in the core of the plasma.

Cross-field Mobility in a Pure Electron Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fossum, E.C.; King, L.B.

2006-01-01

An electron trapping apparatus was constructed in order to study electron dynamics in the defining electric and magnetic field of a Hall-effect thruster. The approach presented here decouples the cross-field mobility from plasma effects by conducting measurements on a pure electron plasma in a highly controlled environment. Dielectric walls are removed completely eliminating all wall effect; thus, electrons are confined solely by a radial magnetic field and a crossed, independently-controlled, axial electric field that induces the closed-drift azimuthal Hall current. Electron trajectories and cross-field mobility were examined in response to electric and magnetic field strength and background neutral density

Impurities, temperature, and density in a miniature electrostatic plasma and current source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Den Hartog, D.J.; Craig, D.J.; Fiksel, G.; Sarff, J.S.

1996-10-01

We have spectroscopically investigated the Sterling Scientific miniature electrostatic plasma source-a plasma gun. This gun is a clean source of high density (10 19 - 10 20 m -3 ), low temperature (5 - 15 eV) plasma. A key result of our investigation is that molybdenum from the gun electrodes is largely trapped in the internal gun discharge; only a small amount escapes in the plasma flowing out of the gun. In addition, the gun plasma parameters actually improve (even lower impurity contamination and higher ion temperature) when up to 1 kA of electron current is extracted from the gun via the application of an external bias. This improvement occurs because the internal gun anode no longer acts as the current return for the internal gun discharge. The gun plasma is a virtual plasma electrode capable of sourcing an electron emission current density of 1 kA/cm 2 . The high emission current, small size (3 - 4 cm diameter), and low impurity generation make this gun attractive for a variety of fusion and plasma technology applications

Small scale structure of magnetospheric electron density through on-line tracking of plasma resonances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higel, B.

1978-01-01

The plasma resonance phenomena observed at fsub(pe), nfsub(ce), and fsub(qn) by the GEOS-1 S-301 relaxation sounder are identified through a pattern recognition software process implemented in a mini-computer which receives on-line the compressed data. First, this processing system distributes in real time fsub(pe) and fsub(ce) measurements to the ground media. Second, it drives and controls automatically the S-301 on-board experiment by sending appropriate telecommands: the tracking of resonances is performed by shortening the frequency sweeps to a narrow range centered on the resonance location. Examples of such tracking sequences are presented, exhibiting sampling rates of the electron density measurements from once every 22s (slowest rate) to once every 86 ms (highest rate available). The results give evidence of the existence of very small scale structures in the magnetospheric density, having characteristic sizes of the order of a few 10 2 m or/and a few 10 -1 s. The relative amplitude of these density fluctuations is typically 1%. Because of satellite spinning, fixed frequency sounding sequences allow to measure in a few seconds the directivity features of the plasma resonance signals. Examples of directional patterns in the plane perpendicular to the geomagnetic field are presented: the electrostatic nature of the waves received at fsub(pe), nfsub(ce), and fsub(qn) being consistent with these patterns, the corresponding k vector orientations become available. The Bernstein modes properties are used to interpret the nfsub(ce) and fsub(qn) results. (Auth.)

Studies on the propagation of relativistic plasma waves in high density plasmas produced by hypersonic ionizing shock waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, R.L.; Johnson, J.A. III

1993-01-01

The feasibility of using an ionizing shock wave to produce high density plasmas suitable for the propagation large amplitude relativistic plasma waves is being investigated. A 20 kv arc driven shock tube of coaxial geometry produces a hypersonic shock wave (10 p > 10 17 cm -3 ). The shock can be made to reflect off the end of the tube, collide with its wake, and thus increase the plasma density further. After reflecting, the plasma is at rest. The shock speed is measured using piezoelectric pressure probes and the ion density is measured using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques on argon 488.0 nm and 422.8 nm lines. The future plans are to excite large amplitude relativistic plasma waves in this plasma by either injecting a short pulse laser (Laser Wake Field Scheme), two beating lasers (Plasma Beat Wave Scheme), or a short bunch of relativistic electrons (Plasma Wake Field Scheme). Results of recent computational and theoretical studies, as well as initial experimental measurements on the plasma using LIF, are reported. Implications for the application of high density plasmas produced in this way to such novel schemes as the plasma wave accelerator, photon accelerator, plasma wave undulator, and also plasma lens, are discussed. The effect of plasma turbulence is also discussed

Analysis of detached recombining plasmas by collisonal-radiative model with energetic electron component

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, N.; Motoyama, M.; Takamura, S.

2001-01-01

Investigation of plasma detachment is still one of the most important subjects in the edge plasma of magnetically confined fusion devices. It was found that volumetric plasma recombination plays an essential role on reduction of particle flux in detached plasmas. The volumetric plasma recombination process has been confirmed in several diverted tokamaks and linear simulators by observing line emission from highly excited states due to three-body recombination process and continuum emission due to radiative recombination process. Electron temperature and density in the detached plasma were also evaluated from analysis of the light emission. To determine the electron temperature, the line emission spectrum is analyzed to calculate the population densities of excited levels. The population distribution among the highly excited states follows the Saha-Boltzmann distribution very closely. This implies that those states are in local thermal equilibrium (LTE) condition with free electrons in plasma so that the electron temperature can be obtained by using method of Boltzmann plot. Another method to determine the electron temperature is to compare the observed continuum spectrum with the theoretically calculated one. In our experiments using the linear diverter simulator, however, there is a clear difference for two evaluated values. One of the possible reasons is thought to be that there is a small amount of energetic electrons existing in detached recombining region. In order to evaluate the electron temperature more preciously, we need to investigate the influence of the energetic electrons on the evaluation of bulk electron temperature in a detached plasma. Collisonal-radiative (GR) model has been utilized for analyzing the light emission intensities from plasma. However, Maxwellian electron distribution function is usually assumed in the CR model. In this paper, we report a quantitative analysis of the line emission spectrum in the detached recombining plasmas by

Quadrature interferometry for plasma density measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warthen, B.J.; Shlachter, J.S.

1995-01-01

A quadrature interferometer has been used routinely in several pulsed power experiments to measure the line-averaged electron density. The optical source is a 30 mW, continuous wave Nd-YAG laser operating at 1,300 nm. The light is coupled directly to an optical fiber and split into reference and scene beams with a fiber splitter. The scene beam is transported to and from the plasma using single mode optical fibers up to 100 m in length. To simplify alignment through the plasma, the authors have used GRIN lenses on both the launch and receive sides of the single pass transmission diagnostic where this is possible. The return beam passes through a half-wave plate which is used to compensate for polarization rotation associated with slow (hour) time scale drift in the single mode fibers. The reference beam is sent through a quarter-wave plate to produce circular polarization; mixing of the reference and scene beams is accomplished using a non-polarizing beam splitter, and the interference signals are focused into additional fibers which relay the light to fast photodiodes. The quadrature optics allow for an unambiguous determination of the slope of the density changes at inflection points. All of the beam processing optics are located on a stable optical table which is remote and protected from the experiment. Final setup of the interferometer is facilitated by looking at the Lissajous figure generated from the two quadrature components. The authors have used this interferometer to diagnose the background density in the Pegasus-II power flow channel, to study the plasma plume generated in foil implosion experiments, to measure the plasma blowoff during implosions, and to understand the plasma formation mechanism in a fusion target plasma system

An x-ray backlit Talbot-Lau deflectometer for high-energy-density electron density diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Valdivia, M. P.; Stutman, D.; Stoeckl, C.; Theobald, W.; Mileham, C.; Begishev, I. A.; Bromage, J.; Regan, S. P.

2016-02-01

X-ray phase-contrast techniques can measure electron density gradients in high-energy-density plasmas through refraction induced phase shifts. An 8 keV Talbot-Lau interferometer consisting of free standing ultrathin gratings was deployed at an ultra-short, high-intensity laser system using K-shell emission from a 1-30 J, 8 ps laser pulse focused on thin Cu foil targets. Grating survival was demonstrated for 30 J, 8 ps laser pulses. The first x-ray deflectometry images obtained under laser backlighting showed up to 25% image contrast and thus enabled detection of electron areal density gradients with a maximum value of 8.1 ± 0.5 × 1023 cm-3 in a low-Z millimeter sized sample. An electron density profile was obtained from refraction measurements with an error of x-ray source-size, similar to conventional radiography.

Magnetic rotational polarisation in plasmas. Application to the measurement of electronic density; Polarisation rotatoire magnetique dans les plasmas. Application a la mesure de la densite electronique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Consoli, Terenzio; Dagai, Michel [Commissariat a l' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives - CEA (France)

1960-07-01

The rotation of a linearly polarised wave passing through a layer of plasma is determined. A network of curves enables these results to be applied to the electronic density measurement in a plasma during its evolution. Reprint of a paper published in Comptes rendus des seances de l'Academie des Sciences, t. 250, p. 1010-1012, sitting of 8 February 1960 [French] On determine la rotation d'une onde polarisee lineairement, traversant une couche de plasma. Un reseau de courbes permet d'appliquer ces resultats a la mesure de la densite electronique d'un plasma en evolution. Reproduction d'un article publie dans les Comptes rendus des seances de l'Academie des Sciences, t. 250, p. 1010-1012, seance du 8 fevrier 1960.

Density gradient instabilities in a neutron inhomogeneous guiding-centre plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoucri, M.M.; Gagne, R.R.J.

1977-01-01

The guiding-centre equations for a plasma of cold ions and thermal electrons admit neutral and non-neutral inhomogeneous equilibrium solutions, and the linear stability of these solutions has been recently investigated numerically by Shoucri and Knorr (1975). With arbitrary density profiles, numerical techniques appear to be the only practical way to study the linear stability of the inhomogeneous equilibrium solutions for the guiding centre plasma. However, analytical methods can be applied to some simple types of density profiles. The purpose of the present note is to present some analytical results on the linear instabilities of an inhomogeneous neutral guiding centre plasma. (U.K.)

Electron density and temperature determination in a Tokamak plasma using light scattering; Determinacion de la densidad y temperatura electronicas en un Tokamak mediante difusion luminosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez-Navarro Gomerz, A; Zurro Hernandez, B

1976-07-01

A theoretical foundation review for light scattering by plasmas is presented. Furthermore, we have included a review of the experimental methods for electron density and temperature measurements, with spatial and time resolution, in a Tokamak plasma using spectral analysis of the scattered radiation. (Author) 13 refs.

Injection of an electron beam into a plasma and spacecraft charging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okuda, H.; Kan, J.R.

1987-01-01

Injection of a nonrelativistic electron beam into a fully ionized plasma from a spacecraft including the effect of charging has been studied using a one-dimensional particle simulation model. It is found that the spacecraft charging remains negligible and the beam can propagate into a plasma, if the beam density is much smaller than the ambient density. When the injection current is increased by increasing the beam density, significant spacecraft charging takes place and the reflection of beam electrons back to the spacecraft reduces the beam current significantly. On the other hand, if the injection current is increased by increasing the beam energy, spacecraft charging remains negligible and a beam current much larger than the thermal return current can be injected. It is shown that the electric field caused by the beam--plasma instability accelerates the ambient electrons toward the spacecraft thereby enhancing the return current

Computationally efficient description of relativistic electron beam transport in dense plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Polomarov, Oleg; Sefkov, Adam; Kaganovich, Igor; Shvets, Gennady

2006-10-01

A reduced model of the Weibel instability and electron beam transport in dense plasma is developed. Beam electrons are modeled by macro-particles and the background plasma is represented by electron fluid. Conservation of generalized vorticity and quasineutrality of the plasma-beam system are used to simplify the governing equations. Our approach is motivated by the conditions of the FI scenario, where the beam density is likely to be much smaller than the plasma density and the beam energy is likely to be very high. For this case the growth rate of the Weibel instability is small, making the modeling of it by conventional PICs exceedingly time consuming. The present approach does not require resolving the plasma period and only resolves a plasma collisionless skin depth and is suitable for modeling a long-time behavior of beam-plasma interaction. An efficient code based on this reduced description is developed and benchmarked against the LSP PIC code. The dynamics of low and high current electron beams in dense plasma is simulated. Special emphasis is on peculiarities of its non-linear stages, such as filament formation and merger, saturation and post-saturation field and energy oscillations. *Supported by DOE Fusion Science through grant DE-FG02-05ER54840.

High Current, High Density Arc Plasma as a New Source for WiPAL

Science.gov (United States)

Waleffe, Roger; Endrizzi, Doug; Myers, Rachel; Wallace, John; Clark, Mike; Forest, Cary; WiPAL Team

2016-10-01

The Wisconsin Plasma Astrophysics Lab (WiPAL) has installed a new array of nineteen plasma sources (plasma guns) on its 3 m diameter, spherical vacuum vessel. Each gun is a cylindrical, molybdenum, washer-stabilized, arc plasma source. During discharge, the guns are maintained at 1.2 kA across 100 V for 10 ms by the gun power supply establishing a high density plasma. Each plasma source is fired independently allowing for adjustable plasma parameters, with densities varying between 1018 -1019 m-3 and electron temperatures of 5-15 eV. Measurements were characterized using a 16 tip Langmuir probe. The plasma source will be used as a background plasma for the magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG), the Terrestrial Reconnection Experiment (TREX), and as the plasma source for a magnetic mirror experiment. Temperature, density, and confinement results will be presented. This work is supported by the DoE and the NSF.

Electron current extraction from a permanent magnet waveguide plasma cathode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weatherford, B. R.; Foster, J. E. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States); Kamhawi, H. [NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44135 (United States)

2011-09-15

An electron cyclotron resonance plasma produced in a cylindrical waveguide with external permanent magnets was investigated as a possible plasma cathode electron source. The configuration is desirable in that it eliminates the need for a physical antenna inserted into the plasma, the erosion of which limits operating lifetime. Plasma bulk density was found to be overdense in the source. Extraction currents over 4 A were achieved with the device. Measurements of extracted electron currents were similar to calculated currents, which were estimated using Langmuir probe measurements at the plasma cathode orifice and along the length of the external plume. The influence of facility effects and trace ionization in the anode-cathode gap are also discussed.

Shaping the electron beams with submicrosecond pulse duration in sources and electron accelerators with plasma emitters

CERN Document Server

Gushenets, V I

2001-01-01

One studies the techniques in use to shape submicrosecond electron beams and the physical processes associated with extraction of electrons from plasma in plasma emitters. Plasma emitter base sources and accelerators enable to generate pulse beams with currents varying from tens of amperes up to 10 sup 3 A, with current densities up to several amperes per a square centimeter, with pulse duration constituting hundreds of nanoseconds and with high frequencies of repetition

Hot electron effects on the satellite spectrum of laser-produced plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdallah, J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Faenov, A.Y.; Pikuz, T.A. [MISDC, NPO ' VNIIFTRI' , Mendeleevo, Moscow Region, 141570 (Russian Federation); Wilke, M.D.; Kyrala, G.A.; Clark, R.E.H. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM (United States)

1999-05-01

In laser-produced plasmas, the interaction of the intense laser light with plasma electrons can produce high-energy superthermal electrons with energies in the keV range. These hot electrons can influence the level populations which determine spectral line structure. In the present paper, the effect of hot electrons on the X-ray satellite spectrum of laser-produced plasmas is studied. Calculated spectra are compared with experimental observations. Magnesium targets irradiated by three different types of laser pulses are considered. These include, a high-intensity 600 fs Nd-glass laser, a 1 ns Nd-glass laser, and a 2ns CO{sub 2} laser. The Nd-glass laser experiments were conducted recently at the Los Alamos Trident Facility and the CO{sub 2} data were recorded by MISDC. High-resolution spectra were measured near the He-like resonance line of magnesium. The calculations employ an electron energy distribution which includes a thermal and a hot electron component, as part of a detailed collisional-radiative model. Plasma parameters including electron temperature, density, and hot electron fraction are estimated by choosing best fits to the experimental measurements. The calculations show that hot electrons can cause several anomalous effects. The Li-like jkl, abcd, and qr satellites can show intensities which are generally attributed to electron densities in excess of 10{sup 23} cm{sup -3}. In addition, the relative amplitude of the intercombination line can be unusually large even at high electron densities due to enhanced collisional excitation of the 1s2p{sup 3}P state by hot electrons. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

Observation of Electron Energy Pinch in HT-7 ICRF Heated Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Siye; Wan Baonian; Ti Ang; Zhang Xinjun; Liu Zixi; Qian Jinping; Zhong Guoqiang; Duan Yanmin; Wang Lu

2014-01-01

Inward energy transport (pinch phenomenon) in the electron channel is observed in HT-7 plasmas using off-axis ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating. Experimental results and power balance transport analysis by TRANSP code are presented in this article. With the aids of GLF23 and Chang-Hinton transport models, which predict energy diffusivity in experimental conditions, the estimated electron pinch velocity is obtained by experimental data and is found reasonably comparable to the results in the previous study, such as Song on Tore Supra. Density scanning shows that the energy convective velocity in the electron channel has a close relation to density scale length, which is qualitatively in agreement with Wang's theoretical prediction. The parametric dependence of electron energy convective velocity on plasma current is still ambiguous and is worthy of future research on EAST. (magnetically confined plasma)

Electron temperature measurements in lowdensity plasmas by helium spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenning, N.

1977-09-01

This method to use relative intensities of singlet and triplet lines of neutral helium to measure electron temperature in low-density plasmas is examined. Calculations from measured and theoretical data about transitions in neutral helium are carried out and compared to experimental results. It is found that relative intensities of singlet and triplet lines from neutral helium only can be used for TE determination in low-density, short-duration plasmas. The most important limiting processes are excitation from the metastable 2 3 S level and excitation transfer in collisions between electrons and excited helium atoms. An evaluation method is suggested, which minimizes the effect of these processes. (author)

Ponderomotive Acceleration of Hot Electrons in Tenuous Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geyko, V.I.; Fraiman, G.M.; Dodin, I.Y.; Fisch, N.J.

2009-01-01

The oscillation-center Hamiltonian is derived for a relativistic electron injected with an arbitrary momentum in a linearly polarized laser pulse propagating in tenuous plasma, assuming that the pulse length is smaller than the plasma wavelength. For hot electrons generated at collisions with ions under intense laser drive, multiple regimes of ponderomotive acceleration are identified and the laser dispersion is shown to affect the process at plasma densities down to 10 17 cm -3 . Assuming a/γ g 0 ∼ g , where a is the normalized laser field, and γ g is the group velocity Lorentz factor. Yet γ ∼ Γ is attained within a wide range of initial conditions; hence a cutoff in the hot electron distribution is predicted

Enhanced confinement in electron cyclotron resonance ion source plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Schachter, L; Stiebing, K E; Dobrescu, S

2010-02-01

Power loss by plasma-wall interactions may become a limitation for the performance of ECR and fusion plasma devices. Based on our research to optimize the performance of electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS) devices by the use of metal-dielectric (MD) structures, the development of the method presented here, allows to significantly improve the confinement of plasma electrons and hence to reduce losses. Dedicated measurements were performed at the Frankfurt 14 GHz ECRIS using argon and helium as working gas and high temperature resistive material for the MD structures. The analyzed charge state distributions and bremsstrahlung radiation spectra (corrected for background) also clearly verify the anticipated increase in the plasma-electron density and hence demonstrate the advantage by the MD-method.

Development and studies on a compact electron cyclotron resonance plasma source

Science.gov (United States)

Ganguli, A.; Tarey, R. D.; Arora, N.; Narayanan, R.

2016-04-01

It is well known that electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) produced plasmas are efficient, high-density plasma sources and have many industrial applications. The concept of a portable compact ECR plasma source (CEPS) would thus become important from an application point of view. This paper gives details of such a CEPS that is both portable and easily mountable on a chamber of any size. It uses a fully integrated microwave line operating at 2.45 GHz, up to 800 W, cw. The required magnetic field is produced by a set of suitably designed NdFeB ring magnets; the device has an overall length of  ≈60 cm and weighs  ≈14 kg including the permanent magnets. The CEPS was attached to a small experimental chamber to judge its efficacy for plasma production. In the pressure range of 0.5-10 mTorr and microwave power of  ≈400-500 W the experiments indicate that the CEPS is capable of producing high-density plasma (≈9  ×  1011-1012 cm-3) with bulk electron temperature in the range  ≈2-3 eV. In addition, a warm electron population with density and temperature in the range ≈7  ×  108-109 cm-3 and  ≈45-80 eV, respectively has been detected. This warm population plays an important role at high pressures in maintaining the high-density plasma, when plasma flow from the CEPS into the test chamber is strongly affected.

Potential formation and confinement in high density plasma on the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yatsu, K.

2002-01-01

After the attainment of doubling of the density due to the potential confinement, GAMMA 10 experiments have been directed to realization of a high density plasma and also to study dependence of the confining potential and confinement time on the plasma density. These problems are important to understand the physics of potential formation in tandem mirrors and also for the development of a tandem mirror reactor. We reported high density plasma production by using an ion cyclotron range of frequency heating at a high harmonic frequency in the last IAEA Conference. However, the diamagnetic signal of the high density plasma decreased when electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) was applied due to some instabilities. Recently, the high density plasma production was much improved by adjusting the spacing of the conducting plates installed in the anchor transition regions, which enabled us to produce a high density plasma without degradation of the diamagnetic signal with ECRH and also to study the density dependence. In this paper we report production of a high density plasma and dependence of the confining potential and the confinement time on the density. (author)

Ion accumulation in an electron plasma confined on magnetic surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berkery, John W.; Marksteiner, Quinn R.; Pedersen, Thomas Sunn; Kremer, Jason P.

2007-01-01

Accumulation of ions can alter and may destabilize the equilibrium of an electron plasma confined on magnetic surfaces. An analysis of ion sources and ion content in the Columbia Non-neutral Torus (CNT) [T.S. Pedersen, J.P. Kremer, R.G. Lefrancois, Q. Marksteiner, N. Pomphrey, W. Reiersen, F. Dahlgreen, and X. Sarasola, Fusion Sci. Technol. 50, 372 (2006)] is presented. In CNT ions are created preferentially at locations of high electron temperature, near the outer magnetic surfaces. A volumetric integral of n e ν iz gives an ion creation rate of 2.8x10 11 ions/s. This rate of accumulation would cause neutralization of a plasma with 10 11 electrons in about half a second. This is not observed experimentally, however, because currently in CNT ions are lost through recombination on insulated rods. From a steady-state balance between the calculated ion creation and loss rates, the equilibrium ion density in a 2x10 -8 Torr neutral pressure, 7.5x10 11 m -3 electron density plasma in CNT is calculated to be n i =6.2x10 9 m -3 , or 0.8%. The ion density is experimentally measured through the measurement of the ion saturation current on a large area probe to be about 6.0x10 9 m -3 for these plasmas, which is in good agreement with the predicted value

Interpretation of fast measurements of plasma potential, temperature and density in SOL of ASDEX Upgrade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Horacek, J.; Adamek, J.; Müller, H.W.

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on interpretation of fast (1 µs) and local (2–4 mm) measurements of plasma density, potential and electron temperature in the edge plasma of tokamak ASDEX Upgrade. Steady-state radial profiles demonstrate the credibility of the ball-pen probe. We demonstrate that floating...... potential fluctuations measured by a Langmuir probe are dominated by plasma electron temperature rather than potential. Spatial and temporal scales are found consistent with expectations based on interchange-driven turbulence. Conditionally averaged signals found for both potential and density are also...

Observation of trapped-electron-mode microturbulence in reversed field pinch plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Duff, J. R.; Williams, Z. R.; Brower, D. L.; Chapman, B. E.; Ding, W. X.; Pueschel, M. J.; Sarff, J. S.; Terry, P. W.

2018-01-01

Density fluctuations in the large-density-gradient region of improved confinement Madison Symmetric Torus reversed field pinch (RFP) plasmas exhibit multiple features that are characteristic of the trapped-electron mode (TEM). Core transport in conventional RFP plasmas is governed by magnetic stochasticity stemming from multiple long-wavelength tearing modes. Using inductive current profile control, these tearing modes are reduced, and global confinement is increased to that expected for comparable tokamak plasmas. Under these conditions, new short-wavelength fluctuations distinct from global tearing modes appear in the spectrum at a frequency of f ˜ 50 kHz, which have normalized perpendicular wavenumbers k⊥ρs≲ 0.2 and propagate in the electron diamagnetic drift direction. They exhibit a critical-gradient threshold, and the fluctuation amplitude increases with the local electron density gradient. These characteristics are consistent with predictions from gyrokinetic analysis using the Gene code, including increased TEM turbulence and transport from the interaction of remnant tearing magnetic fluctuations and zonal flow.

Mechanisms of the electron density depletion in the SAR arc region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Pavlov

1996-02-01

Full Text Available This study compares the measurements of electron density and temperature and the integral airglow intensity at 630 nm in the SAR arc region and slightly south of this (obtained by the Isis 2 spacecraft during the 18 December 1971 magnetic storm, with the model results obtained using the time dependent one-dimensional mathematical model of the Earth\\'s ionosphere and plasmasphere. The explicit expression in the third Enskog approximation for the electron thermal conductivity coefficient in the multicomponent mixture of ionized gases and a simplified calculation method for this coefficient presents an opportunity to calculate more exactly the electron temperature and density and 630 nm emission within SAR arc region are used in the model. Collisions between N2 and hot thermal electrons in the SAR arc region produce vibrationally excited nitrogen molecules. It appears that the loss rate of O+(4S due to reactions with the vibrationally excited nitrogen is enough to explain electron density depression by a factor of two at F-region heights and the topside ionosphere density variations within the SAR arc if the erosion of plasma within geomagnetic field tubes, during the main phase of the geomagnetic storm and subsequent filling of geomagnetic tubes during the recovery phase, are considered. To explain the disagreement by a factor 1.5 between the observed and modeled SAR arc electron densities an additional plasma drift velocity ~–30 m s–1 in the ion continuity equations is needed during the recovery phase. This additional plasma drift velocity is likely caused by the transition from convecting to corotating flux tubes on the equatorward wall of the trough. The electron densities and temperatures and 630 nm integral intensity at the SAR arc and slightly south of this region as measured for the 18 December 1971 magnetic storm were correctly described by the model without perpendicular electric fields. Within this model framework the effect of the

The structural and electronic properties of amine-functionalized boron nitride nanotubes via ammonia plasmas: a density functional theory study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Fenglei; Ji Yuemeng; Zhao Cunyuan; Ren Wei

2009-01-01

The reaction behavior of the chemical modification of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) with ammonia plasmas has been investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Unlike previously studied functionalization with NH 3 and amino functional groups, we found that NH 2 * radicals involved in the ammonia plasmas can be covalently incorporated to BNNTs through a strong single B-N bond. Subsequently, the H * radicals also involved in the ammonia plasmas would prefer to combine with the N atoms neighboring the NH 2 -functionalized B atoms. Our study revealed that this reaction behavior can be elucidated using the frontier orbital theory. The calculated band structures and density of states (DOS) indicate that this modification is an effective method to modulate the electronic properties of BNNTs. We have discussed various defects on the surface of BNNTs generated by collisions of N 2 + ions. For most defects considered, the reactivity of the functionalization of BNNTs with NH 2 * are enhanced. Our conclusions are independent of the chirality, and the diameter dependence of the reaction energies is presented.

Slow electron acoustic double layer (SEADL) structures in bi-ion plasma with trapped electrons

Science.gov (United States)

Shan, Shaukat Ali; Imtiaz, Nadia

2018-05-01

The properties of ion acoustic double layer (IADL) structures in bi-ion plasma with electron trapping are investigated by using the quasi-potential analysis. The κ-distributed trapped electrons number density expression is truncated to some finite order of the electrostatic potential. By utilizing the reductive perturbation method, a modified Schamel equation which describes the evolution of the slow electron acoustic double layer (SEADL) with the modified speed due to the presence of bi-ion species is investigated. The Sagdeev-like potential has been derived which accounts for the effect of the electron trapping and superthermality in a bi-ion plasma. It is found that the superthermality index, the trapping efficiency of electrons, and ion to electron temperature ratio are the inhibiting parameters for the amplitude of the slow electron acoustic double layers (SEADLs). However, the enhanced population of the cold ions is found to play a supportive role for the low frequency DLs in bi-ion plasmas. The illustrations have been presented with the help of the bi-ion plasma parameters in the Earth's ionosphere F-region.

Probing electron acceleration and x-ray emission in laser-plasma accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thaury, C.; Ta Phuoc, K.; Corde, S.; Brijesh, P.; Lambert, G.; Malka, V.; Mangles, S. P. D.; Bloom, M. S.; Kneip, S.

2013-01-01

While laser-plasma accelerators have demonstrated a strong potential in the acceleration of electrons up to giga-electronvolt energies, few experimental tools for studying the acceleration physics have been developed. In this paper, we demonstrate a method for probing the acceleration process. A second laser beam, propagating perpendicular to the main beam, is focused on the gas jet few nanosecond before the main beam creates the accelerating plasma wave. This second beam is intense enough to ionize the gas and form a density depletion, which will locally inhibit the acceleration. The position of the density depletion is scanned along the interaction length to probe the electron injection and acceleration, and the betatron X-ray emission. To illustrate the potential of the method, the variation of the injection position with the plasma density is studied

Measurements of electron density and temperature profiles in a gas blanket experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuthy, A.

1979-02-01

Radial profiles of electron density, temperature and H sub(β) intensity are presented for the rotating plasma device F-1. The hydrogen filling pressure, the average magnetic field strength at the midplane, and the power input to the discharge have been varied in the ranges 10-100 mTorr, 0.25-0.5 Tesla, and 0.1 to 1.5 MW, respectively. These experiments have been performed with the main purpose of studying the gas blanket (cold-mantle) state of the plasma. It is shown, that a simple spectroscopic method can be used to derive the radial distribution of the electron temperature in such plasmas. The observed peak temperatures and densities are in agreement with earlier theoretical estimates. (author)

Atto-second control of collective electron motion in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borot, Antonin; Malvache, Arnaud; Chen, Xiaowei; Jullien, Aurelie; Lopez-Martens, Rodrigo; Geindre, Jean-Paul; Audebert, Patrick; Mourou, Gerard; Quere, Fabien

2012-01-01

Today, light fields of controlled and measured waveform can be used to guide electron motion in atoms and molecules with atto-second precision. Here, we demonstrate atto-second control of collective electron motion in plasmas driven by extreme intensity (approximate to 10 18 W cm -2 ) light fields. Controlled few-cycle near-infrared waves are tightly focused at the interface between vacuum and a solid-density plasma, where they launch and guide sub-cycle motion of electrons from the plasma with characteristic energies in the multi-kilo-electron-volt range-two orders of magnitude more than has been achieved so far in atoms and molecules. The basic spectroscopy of the coherent extreme ultraviolet radiation emerging from the light-plasma interaction allows us to probe this collective motion of charge with sub-200 as resolution. This is an important step towards atto-second control of charge dynamics in laser-driven plasma experiments. (authors)

Energy exchange in strongly coupled plasmas with electron drift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.; Ghorbanalilu, M.

2015-01-01

In this paper, the generalized viscoelastic collisional quantum hydrodynamic model is employed in order to investigate the linear dielectric response of a quantum plasma in the presence of strong electron-beam plasma interactions. The generalized Chandrasekhar's relativistic degeneracy pressure together with the electron-exchange and Coulomb interaction effects are taken into account in order to extend current research to a wide range of plasma number density relevant to big planetary cores and astrophysical compact objects. The previously calculated shear viscosity and the electron-ion collision frequencies are used for strongly coupled ion fluid. The effect of the electron-beam velocity on complex linear dielectric function is found to be profound. This effect is clearly interpreted in terms of the wave-particle interactions and their energy-exchange according to the sign of the imaginary dielectric function, which is closely related to the wave attenuation coefficient in plasmas. Such kinetic effect is also shown to be in close connection with the stopping power of a charged-particle beam in a quantum plasma. The effect of many independent plasma parameters, such as the ion charge-state, electron beam-velocity, and relativistic degeneracy, is shown to be significant on the growing/damping of plasma instability or energy loss/gain of the electron-beam

ANTHEM simulation of the early time magnetic field penetration of the plasma surrounding a high density Z-pinch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, R.J.

1989-01-01

The early time penetration of magnetic field into the low density coronal plasma of a Z-pinch fiber is studied with the implicit plasma simulation code ANTHEM. Calculations show the emission of electrons from the cathode, pinching of the electron flow, magnetic insulation of the electrons near the anode, and low density ion blow off. PIC-particle ion calculations show a late time clumping of the ion density not seen with a fluid ion treatment. 4 refs., 4 figs

Measurement of electron density profiles by soft X-ray tomography on the RTP tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cruz, D.F. da; Donne, A.J.H.; Lyadina, E.S.; Rutteman, R.H.; Tanzi, C.P. [FOM-Instituut voor Plasmafysica, Rijnhuizen (Netherlands)

1993-12-31

Tomographic diagnosis of the soft x-ray emissivity profile is a powerful method for studying several plasma parameters. The x-ray emissivity is a complicated function of plasma quantities like the electron density and temperature, and the impurity content in the plasma. These quantities can be studied separately provided that information is available on the remaining parameters. Soft x-ray emissivity profiles have already been used successfully in other machines to determine local values of impurity densities and the effective charge Z{sub eff}. In the RTP tokamak the electron density profile has been inferred from a modelling of the x-ray emissivity in situations where information is available on the electron temperature profile, the value of Z{sub eff}, and the relative proportion of the impurities. The method can be useful for the study of hollow density profiles that cannot be properly reconstructed by Abel inversion of interferometer or reflectometer data. (author) 7 refs., 2 figs.

Measurement of electron density profiles by soft X-ray tomography on the RTP tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cruz, D.F. da; Donne, A.J.H.; Lyadina, E.S.; Rutteman, R.H.; Tanzi, C.P.

1993-01-01

Tomographic diagnosis of the soft x-ray emissivity profile is a powerful method for studying several plasma parameters. The x-ray emissivity is a complicated function of plasma quantities like the electron density and temperature, and the impurity content in the plasma. These quantities can be studied separately provided that information is available on the remaining parameters. Soft x-ray emissivity profiles have already been used successfully in other machines to determine local values of impurity densities and the effective charge Z eff . In the RTP tokamak the electron density profile has been inferred from a modelling of the x-ray emissivity in situations where information is available on the electron temperature profile, the value of Z eff , and the relative proportion of the impurities. The method can be useful for the study of hollow density profiles that cannot be properly reconstructed by Abel inversion of interferometer or reflectometer data. (author) 7 refs., 2 figs

Pulsed high-density plasmas for advanced dry etching processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banna, Samer; Agarwal, Ankur; Cunge, Gilles; Darnon, Maxime; Pargon, Erwine; Joubert, Olivier

2012-01-01

Plasma etching processes at the 22 nm technology node and below will have to satisfy multiple stringent scaling requirements of microelectronics fabrication. To satisfy these requirements simultaneously, significant improvements in controlling key plasma parameters are essential. Pulsed plasmas exhibit considerable potential to meet the majority of the scaling challenges, while leveraging the broad expertise developed over the years in conventional continuous wave plasma processing. Comprehending the underlying physics and etching mechanisms in pulsed plasma operation is, however, a complex undertaking; hence the full potential of this strategy has not yet been realized. In this review paper, we first address the general potential of pulsed plasmas for plasma etching processes followed by the dynamics of pulsed plasmas in conventional high-density plasma reactors. The authors reviewed more than 30 years of academic research on pulsed plasmas for microelectronics processing, primarily for silicon and conductor etch applications, highlighting the potential benefits to date and challenges in extending the technology for mass-production. Schemes such as source pulsing, bias pulsing, synchronous pulsing, and others in conventional high-density plasma reactors used in the semiconductor industry have demonstrated greater flexibility in controlling critical plasma parameters such as ion and radical densities, ion energies, and electron temperature. Specifically, plasma pulsing allows for independent control of ion flux and neutral radicals flux to the wafer, which is key to eliminating several feature profile distortions at the nanometer scale. However, such flexibility might also introduce some difficulty in developing new etching processes based on pulsed plasmas. Therefore, the main characteristics of continuous wave plasmas and different pulsing schemes are compared to provide guidelines for implementing different schemes in advanced plasma etching processes based on

Electron density and temperature in NIO1 RF source operated in oxygen and argon

Science.gov (United States)

Barbisan, M.; Zaniol, B.; Cavenago, M.; Pasqualotto, R.; Serianni, G.; Zanini, M.

2017-08-01

The NIO1 experiment, built and operated at Consorzio RFX, hosts an RF negative ion source, from which it is possible to produce a beam of maximum 130 mA in H- ions, accelerated up to 60 kV. For the preliminary tests of the extraction system the source has been operated in oxygen, whose high electronegativity allows to reach useful levels of extracted beam current. The efficiency of negative ions extraction is strongly influenced by the electron density and temperature close to the Plasma Grid, i.e. the grid of the acceleration system which faces the source. To support the tests, these parameters have been measured by means of the Optical Emission Spectroscopy diagnostic. This technique has involved the use of an oxygen-argon mixture to produce the plasma in the source. The intensities of specific Ar I and Ar II lines have been measured along lines of sight close to the Plasma Grid, and have been interpreted with the ADAS package to get the desired information. This work will describe the diagnostic hardware, the analysis method and the measured values of electron density and temperature, as function of the main source parameters (RF power, pressure, bias voltage and magnetic filter field). The main results show that not only electron density but also electron temperature increase with RF power; both decrease with increasing magnetic filter field. Variations of source pressure and plasma grid bias voltage appear to affect only electron temperature and electron density, respectively.

Planar and nonplanar electron-acoustic solitary waves in a plasma with a q-nonextensive electron velocity distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Jiu-Ning; Luo, Jun-Hua; Sun, Gui-Hua; Liu, Zhen-Lai; Ge, Su-Hong; Wang, Xin-Xing; Li, Jun-Xiu

2014-01-01

The nonlinear dynamics of nonplanar (cylindrical and spherical) electron-acoustic solitary wave structures in an unmagnetized, collisionless plasma composed of stationary ions, cold fluid electrons and hot q-nonextensive distributed electrons are theoretically studied. We discuss the effects of the nonplanar geometry, nonextensivity of hot electrons and ‘hot’ to ‘cold’ electron number density ratio on the time evolution characters of cylindrical and spherical solitary waves. Moreover, the effects of plasma parameters on the nonlinear structure induced by the interaction between two planar solitary waves are also investigated. It is found that these plasma parameters have significant influences on the properties of the above-mentioned nonlinear structures. Our theoretical study may be useful to understand the nonlinear features of electron-acoustic wave structures in astrophysical plasma systems. (paper)

Prospects for the creation of positron-electron plasmas in a non-neutral stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, T Sunn; Boozer, A H; Dorland, W; Kremer, J P; Schmitt, R

2003-01-01

The prospects of creating positron-electron plasmas confined in a stellarator are discussed. A pure electron plasma would be created before the positrons are introduced, to facilitate efficient injection and a long confinement time of the positrons. Gyrokinetic simulations are presented suggesting that a positron-electron plasma may be stable to low-frequency microturbulence if operated well below the Brillouin limit, and transport may be neoclassical. If this is the case, significant positron-electron plasma densities can be reached with positron sources that exist today

Modified electron-acoustic and lower-hybrid drift dissipative instability in a two-electron temperature plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bose, M.

1989-01-01

It is often found, in fusion devices as well as in the auroral ionosphere, that the electrons consist of two distinct group, viz., hot and cold. These two-temperature electron model is sometimes convenient for analytical purposes. Thus the authors have considered a two-temperature electron plasma. In this paper, they investigated analytically the drift dissipative instabilities of modified electron-acoustic and lower-hybrid wve in a two-electron temperature plasma. It is found that the modified electron-acoustic drift dissipative mode are strongly dependent on the number density of cold electrons. From the expression of the growth rate, it is clear that these cold electrons can control the growth of this mode as well

Magnetic-field generation and electron-collimation analysis for propagating fast electron beams in overdense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Hongbo; Zhu Shaoping; Chen Mo; Wu Sizhong; He, X. T.; Mima, Kunioki

2011-01-01

An analytical fluid model is proposed for artificially collimating fast electron beams produced in the interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with specially engineered low-density-core-high-density-cladding structure targets. Since this theory clearly predicts the characteristics of the spontaneously generated magnetic field and its dependence on the plasma parameters of the targets transporting fast electrons, it is of substantial relevance to the target design for fast ignition. The theory also reveals that the rapid changing of the flow velocity of the background electrons in a transverse direction (perpendicular to the flow velocity) caused by the density jump dominates the generation of a spontaneous interface magnetic field for these kinds of targets. It is found that the spontaneously generated magnetic field reaches as high as 100 MG, which is large enough to collimate fast electron transport in overdense plasmas. This theory is also supported by numerical simulations performed using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell code. It is found that the simulation results agree well with the theoretical analysis.

Real-time control of the plasma density profile on ASDEX upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mlynek, Alexander

2010-01-01

The tokamak concept currently is the most promising approach to future power generation by controlled thermonuclear fusion. The spatial distribution of the particle density in the toroidally confined fusion plasma is of particular importance. This thesis work therefore focuses on the question as to what extent the shape of the density profile can be actively controlled by a feedback loop in the fusion experiment ASDEX Upgrade. There are basically two essential requirements for such feedback control of the density profile, which has been experimentally demonstrated within the scope of this thesis work: On the one hand, for this purpose the density profile must be continuously calculated under real-time constraints during a plasma discharge. The calculation of the density profile is based on the measurements of a sub-millimeter interferometer, which provides the line-integrated electron density along 5 chords through the plasma. Interferometric density measurements can suffer from counting errors by integer multiples of 2π when detecting the phase difference between a probing and a reference beam. As such measurement errors have severe impact on the reconstructed density profile, one major part of this work consists in the development of new readout electronics for the interferometer, which allows for detection of such measurement errors in real-time with high reliability. A further part of this work is the design of a computer algorithm which reconstructs the spatial distribution of the plasma density from the line-integrated measurements. This algorithm has to be implemented on a computer which communicates the measured data to other computers in real-time, especially to the tokamak control system. On the other hand, a second fundamental requirement for the successful implementation of a feedback controller is the identification of at least one actuator which enables a modification of the density profile. Here, electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) has been

The dynamics of electron and ion holes in a collisionless plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Eliasson

2005-01-01

Full Text Available We present a review of recent analytical and numerical studies of the dynamics of electron and ion holes in a collisionless plasma. The new results are based on the class of analytic solutions which were found by Schamel more than three decades ago, and which here work as initial conditions to numerical simulations of the dynamics of ion and electron holes and their interaction with radiation and the background plasma. Our analytic and numerical studies reveal that ion holes in an electron-ion plasma can trap Langmuir waves, due the local electron density depletion associated with the negative ion hole potential. Since the scale-length of the ion holes are on a relatively small Debye scale, the trapped Langmuir waves are Landau damped. We also find that colliding ion holes accelerate electron streams by the negative ion hole potentials, and that these streams of electrons excite Langmuir waves due to a streaming instability. In our Vlasov simulation of two colliding ion holes, the holes survive the collision and after the collision, the electron distribution becomes flat-topped between the two ion holes due to the ion hole potentials which work as potential barriers for low-energy electrons. Our study of the dynamics between electron holes and the ion background reveals that standing electron holes can be accelerated by the self-created ion cavity owing to the positive electron hole potential. Vlasov simulations show that electron holes are repelled by ion density minima and attracted by ion density maxima. We also present an extension of Schamel's theory to relativistically hot plasmas, where the relativistic mass increase of the accelerated electrons have a dramatic effect on the electron hole, with an increase in the electron hole potential and in the width of the electron hole. A study of the interaction between electromagnetic waves with relativistic electron holes shows that electromagnetic waves can be both linearly and nonlinearly

Bremsstrahlung spectra for Al, Cs, and Au atoms in high-temperature, high-density plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, L.; Pratt, R.H.; Tseng, H.K.

1985-01-01

Results are presented from a numerical calculation for the bremsstrahlung spectrum and Gaunt factors of Al, Cs, and Au atoms in high-temperature (-T), high-density (-rho) plasmas. Plasma temperatures kT = 0.1 and 1.0 keV and plasma densities rho = rho 0 (the normal solid density) and rho = 100rho 0 are considered. This allows us to determine the generality and identify the origins of features which we had previously identified in calculations for Cs. We also now present results for the total energy loss of an electron in such a plasma. We use a relativistic multipole code which treats the bremsstrahlung process as a single-electron transition in a static screened central potential. We take for the static potential corresponding to an atom in a hot dense plasma the finite-temperature, finite-density Thomas-Fermi model. This approach corresponds to an average atom in local thermodynamic equilibrium. In comparison to isolated-neutral-atom results we observe general suppression of cross sections and a particular suppression in the tip region of the spectrum. Within this model, both superscreening and shape resonances are found in the circumstances of extreme density. At more normal densities and except for the soft-photon end, the spectrum at these energies for an atom in a hot plasma (characterized by an average degree of ionization) can be well represented by the spectrum of the corresponding isolated ion, which has a similar potential shape at the distances which characterize the process

Chemical modeling of a high-density inductively-coupled plasma reactor containing silane

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kovalgin, Alexeij Y.; Boogaard, A.; Brunets, I.; Holleman, J.; Schmitz, Jurriaan

We carried out the modeling of chemical reactions in a silane-containing remote Inductively Coupled Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (ICPECVD) system, intended for deposition of silicon, silicon oxide, and silicon nitride layers. The required electron densities and Electron Energy

Stabilizing effects of hot electrons on low frequency plasma drift waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Chaosong; Qiu Lijian; Ren Zhaoxing

1988-01-01

The MHD equation is used to study the stabilization of low frequency drift waves driven by density gradient of plasma in a hot electron plasma. The dispersion relation is derived, and the stabilizing effects of hot electrons are discussed. The physical mechanism for hot electron stabilization of the low frequency plasma perturbations is charge uncovering due to the hot electron component, which depends only on α, the ratio of N h /N i , but not on the value of β h . The hot electrons can reduce the growth rate of the interchange mode and drift wave driven by the plasma, and suppress the enomalous plasma transport caused by the drift wave. Without including the effectof β h , the stabilization of the interchange mode requires α≅2%, and the stabilization of the drift wave requires α≅40%. The theoretical analyses predict that the drift wave is the most dangerous low frequency instability in the hot electron plasma

Analysis of Total Electron Content and Electron Density Profile during Different Geomagnetic Storms

Science.gov (United States)

Chapagain, N. P.; Rana, B.; Adhikari, B.

2017-12-01

Total Electron content (TEC) and electron density are the key parameters in the mitigation of ionospheric effects on radio communication system. Detail study of the TEC and electron density variations has been carried out during geomagnetic storms, with longitude and latitude, for four different locations: (13˚N -17˚N, 88˚E -98˚E), (30˚N-50˚N, 120˚W -95˚W), (29˚S-26˚S, 167˚W-163˚W,) and (60˚S-45˚S, 120˚W-105˚W) using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite observations. In order to find the geomagnetic activity, the solar wind parameters such as north-south component of inter planetary magnetic field (Bz), plasma drift velocity (Vsw), flow pressure (nPa), AE, Dst and Kp indices were obtained from Operating Mission as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI) web system. The data for geomagnetic indices have been correlated with the TEC and electron density for four different events of geomagnetic storms on 6 April 2008, 27 March 2008, 4 September 2008, and 11 October 2008. The result illustrates that the observed TEC and electron density profile significantly vary with longitudes and latitudes. This study illustrates that the values of TEC and the vertical electron density profile are influenced by the solar wind parameters associated with solar activities. The peak values of electron density and TEC increase as the geomagnetic storms become stronger. Similarly, the electron density profile varies with altitudes, which peaks around the altitude range of about 250- 350 km, depending on the strength of geomagnetic storms. The results clearly show that the peak electron density shifted to higher altitude (from about 250 km to 350 km) as the geomagnetic disturbances becomes stronger.

Drift-Alfven eigenmodes in inhomogeneous electron-positron-ion plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haque, Q; Ahmad, Ali [Theoretical Plasma Physics Division, PINSTECH, PO Nilore, Islamabad (Pakistan); Yamin, S, E-mail: qamar@pinstech.org.pk [Physics Division, PO Nilore, Islamabad (Pakistan)

2011-03-15

An analytical description of drift-Alfven modes in nonuniform bounded magnetized electron-positron-ion plasmas is presented here. In the linear domain, linearized equations are solved by considering the Gaussian density profile in the radial direction. For this bounded plasma, the condition for the quantization of the modes is found. We note that the condition depends upon the density ratios of different plasma species. The full set of nonlinear equations is also solved, yielding stationary rotating solutions in terms of Bessel functions. We also note that the behavior of the nonlinear structures can be affected by the concentration of the positrons in the system. The importance of the present results with respect to astrophysical plasmas is pointed out.

Relation between the CF2 radical and plasma density measured using LIF and cutoff probe in a CF4 inductively coupled plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jung-Hyung; Shin, Yong-Hyeon; Chung, Kwang-Hwa; Yoo, Yong-Shim

2004-01-01

The behavior of the CF 2 radical was studied in a CF 4 inductively coupled plasma. The CF 2 radical was measured using a laser-induced fluorescence method. Absolute electron density was measured using a cutoff probe and the electron temperature was measured using a double probe to study the relationship between these electron properties and the CF 2 radical. To examine the relationship between them, the CF 2 radical and electron density were measured as a function of the rf power, which is a major external parameter influencing the electron density. As the rf power was increased, the CF 2 radical density increased in the range of low electron density, and then decreased beyond a critical electron density. The dependence of the CF 2 radical density on the electron density was theoretically analyzed with rate equations. The theoretical result was in good agreement with experiment

Pulsed time-of-flight refractometry measurements of the electron density in the T-11M tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrov, A.A.; Petrov, V.G.; Malyshev, A.Yu.; Markov, V.K.; Babarykin, A.V.

2002-01-01

A new method for measuring the plasma density in magnetic confinement systems - pulsed time-of-flight refractometry - is developed and tested experimentally in the T-11M tokamak. The method is based on the measurements of the time delay of short (with a duration of several nanoseconds) microwave pulses propagating through the plasma. When the probing frequency is much higher than the plasma frequency, the measured delay in the propagation time is proportional to the line-averaged electron density regardless of the density profile. A key problem in such measurements is the short time delay of the pulse in the plasma (∼1 ns or less for small devices) and, consequently, low accuracy of the measurements of the average density. Various methods for improving the accuracy of such measurements are proposed and implemented in the T-11M experiments. The measurements of the line-averaged density in the T-11M tokamak in the low-density plasma regime are performed. The results obtained agree satisfactorily with interferometric data. The measurement errors are analyzed, and the possibility of using this technique to measure the electron density profile and the position of the plasma column is discussed

Temporal evolution of electron density in a low pressure pulsed two-frequency (60 MHz/2 MHz) capacitively coupled plasma discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sirse, N; Ellingboe, A R; Jeon, M H; Yeom, G Y

2014-01-01

Time-resolved electron density, n e , is measured in a low pressure pulsed two-frequency capacitively coupled plasma discharge sustained in Ar and in Ar/CF 4 /O 2 (80 : 10 : 10) gas mixture using a floating resonance hairpin probe. The top electrode is powered by 60 MHz in pulse mode and the bottom electrode is powered by 2 MHz in continuous wave mode. The dependence of time-resolved n e on the low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) power levels, operating gas pressure, pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and duty cycle are investigated. It is found that the steady state n e in the long on-phase is greatly influenced by the HF power level and slightly affected by the LF power level in both Ar and Ar/CF 4 /O 2 plasma. The decay time of n e is slow (∼30–90 µs) in the case of Ar plasma and strongly depends on the LF power level, whereas in the case of Ar/CF 4 /O 2 gas mixture it is very fast (∼15 µs) and marginally dependent on LF power level. In Ar plasma the steady state n e is increasing with a rise in operating gas pressure, however, in Ar/CF 4 /O 2 plasma it first increases with gas pressure reaching to the maximum (at 20 mTorr) value and then decreases. The pressure dependence of decay time constant mimics the pressure variation of steady state n e . Furthermore, it is observed that the on-phase electron density is greatly affected by changing the PRF and duty cycle. This effect is more prominent in Ar/CF 4 /O 2 plasma when compared to Ar discharge. In addition, n e is observed to overshoot the steady state densities in the beginning of the on-phase in Ar/CF 4 /O 2 gas mixture, but this effect is either small or absent in the case of Ar plasma. (paper)

Interacting Eigenmodes of a plasma diode with a density gradient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loefgren, T.; Gunell, H.

1997-08-01

The formation of narrow high frequency electric field spikes in plasma density gradients is investigated using one-dimensional particle in cell simulations. It is found that the shape of the plasma density gradient is very important for the spike formation. The spike appears also in simulations with immobile ions showing that a coupling to the ion motion, as for example in wave interactions, is not necessary for the formation of HF spikes. However, the HF spike influences the ion motion, and ion waves are seen in the simulations. It has been found, in experiments and simulations, that the electron velocity distribution function deviates from the Maxwellian distribution. Dispersion relations are calculated using realistic distribution functions. The spike can be seen as a coupled system of two Eigenmodes of a plasma diode fed by the beam-plasma interaction. Based on a simplified fluid description of such Eigenmodes, explanations for the localization of the spike, spatially and in frequency, are given. The density amplitude is comparable with the DC density level close to the cathode. Space charge limits of waves in this region seem to determine the amplitude of the spike through the Poisson's equation

Formation Process of Non-Neutral Plasmas by Multiple Electron Beams on BX-U

Science.gov (United States)

Sanpei, Akio; Himura, Haruhiko; Masamune, Sadao

An imaging diagnostic system, which is composed of a handmade phosphor screen and a high-speed camera, has been applied to identify the dynamics of multiple electron beams on BX-U. The relaxation process of those toward a non-neutral plasma is experimentally identified. Also, the radial density profile of the plasma is measured as a function of time. Assuming that the plasma is a spheroidal shape, the value of electron density ne is in the range between 2.2 × 106 and 4.4 × 108 cm-3 on BX-U.

Diagnosing high density, fast-evolving plasmas using x-ray lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cauble, R.; Da Silva, L.B.; Barbee, T.W. Jr.

1994-09-01

As x-ray laser (XRL) research has matured, it has become possible to reliably utilize XRLs for applications in the laboratory. Laser coherence, high brightness and short pulse duration all make the XRL a unique tool for the diagnosis of laboratory plasmas. The high brightness of XRLs makes them well-suited for imaging and for interferometry when used in conjunction with multilayer mirrors and beamsplitters. We have utilized a soft x-ray laser in such an imaging system to examine laser-produced plasmas using radiography, moire deflectometry, and interferometry. Radiography experiments yield 100-200 ps snapshots of laser driven foils at a resolution of 1-2 μm. Moire deflectometry with an XRL has been used to probe plasmas at higher density than by optical means. Interferograms, which allow direct measurement of electron density in laser plasmas, have been obtained with this system

Impact of rotating resonant magnetic perturbation fields on plasma edge electron density and temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoschus, H.; Schmitz, O.; Frerichs, H.; Reiser, D.; Unterberg, B.; Lehnen, M.; Reiter, D.; Samm, U.; Jakubowski, M.W.

2012-01-01

Rotating resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields impose a characteristic modulation to the edge electron density n e (r, t) and temperature T e (r, t) fields, which depends on the relative rotation f rel between external RMP field and plasma fluid. The n e (r, t) and T e (r, t) fields measured in the edge (r/a = 0.9–1.05) of TEXTOR L-mode plasmas are in close correlation with the local magnetic vacuum topology for low relative rotation f rel = −0.2 kHz. In comparison with the 3D neutral and plasma transport code EMC3-Eirene, this provides substantial experimental evidence that for low relative rotation level and high resonant field amplitudes (normalized radial field strength B r 4/1 /B t =2×10 -3 ), a stochastic edge with a remnant island chain dominated by diffusive transport exists. Radially outside a helical scrape-off layer, the so-called laminar zone embedded into a stochastic domain is found to exist. In contrast for high relative rotation of f rel = 1.8 kHz, the measured modulation of n e is shifted by π/2 toroidally with respect to the modelled vacuum topology. A pronounced flattening in T e (r) and a reduction in n e (r) is measured at the resonant flux surface and represents a clear signature for a magnetic island, which is phase shifted with respect to the vacuum island position. A correlated shift of the laminar zone radially outwards at the very plasma edge is observed suggesting that the actual near-field structure at the perturbation source is determined by the plasma response as well. (paper)

Laser pulse propagation and enhanced energy coupling to fast electrons in dense plasma gradients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, R J; Carroll, D C; Yuan, X H; Brenner, C M; Coury, M; Quinn, M N; Tresca, O; McKenna, P; Burza, M; Wahlström, C-G; Lancaster, K L; Neely, D; Lin, X X; Li, Y T

2014-01-01

Laser energy absorption to fast electrons during the interaction of an ultra-intense (10 20 W cm −2 ), picosecond laser pulse with a solid is investigated, experimentally and numerically, as a function of the plasma density scale length at the irradiated surface. It is shown that there is an optimum density gradient for efficient energy coupling to electrons and that this arises due to strong self-focusing and channeling driving energy absorption over an extended length in the preformed plasma. At longer density gradients the laser filaments, resulting in significantly lower overall energy coupling. As the scale length is further increased, a transition to a second laser energy absorption process is observed experimentally via multiple diagnostics. The results demonstrate that it is possible to significantly enhance laser energy absorption and coupling to fast electrons by dynamically controlling the plasma density gradient. (paper)

Characterization of Electron Temperature and Density Profiles of Plasmas Produced by Nike KrF Laser for Laser Plasma Instability (LPI) Research

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Jaechul; Weaver, J. L.; Phillips, L.; Obenschain, S. P.; Schmitt, A. J.; Kehne, D. M.; Chan, L.-Y.; Serlin, V.

2011-10-01

Previous experiments with Nike KrF laser (λ = 248 nm , Δν ~ 1 THz) observed LPI signatures near quarter critical density (nc / 4) in CH plasmas, however, detailed measurement of the temperature (Te) and density (ne) profiles was missing. The current Nike LPI campaign will perform experimental determination of the plasma profiles. A side-on grid imaging refractometer (GIR) is the main diagnostic to resolve Te and ne in space taking 2D snapshots of probe laser (λ = 266 nm , Δt = 8 psec) beamlets (50 μm spacing) refracted by the plasma at laser peak time. Ray tracing of the beamlets through hydrodynamically simulated (FASTRAD3D) plasma profiles estimates the refractometer may access densities up to ~ 0 . 2nc . With the measured Te and ne profiles in the plasma corona, we will discuss analysis of light data radiated from the plasmas in spectral ranges relevant to two plasmon decay and convective Raman instabilities. Validity of the (Te ,ne) data will also be discussed for the thermal transport study. Work supported by DoE/NNSA and ONR and performed at NRL.

The scattering of E. M. waves from density fluctuations in a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagfors, T.

1977-01-01

The scattering of electromagnetic (EM) waves by a single electron is developed from first principles. The result is used to derive the relationship of the scattered power spectrum to the spacetime Fourier transform of the electron density fluctuations in a plasma. (Auth.)

Self-consistent electron transport in collisional plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, R.J.

1982-01-01

A self-consistent scheme has been developed to model electron transport in evolving plasmas of arbitrary classical collisionality. The electrons and ions are treated as either multiple donor-cell fluids, or collisional particles-in-cell. Particle suprathermal electrons scatter off ions, and drag against fluid background thermal electrons. The background electrons undergo ion friction, thermal coupling, and bremsstrahlung. The components move in self-consistent advanced E-fields, obtained by the Implicit Moment Method, which permits Δt >> ω/sub p/ -1 and Δx >> lambda/sub D/ - offering a 10 2 - 10 3 -fold speed-up over older explicit techniques. The fluid description for the background plasma components permits the modeling of transport in systems spanning more than a 10 7 -fold change in density, and encompassing contiguous collisional and collisionless regions. Results are presented from application of the scheme to the modeling of CO 2 laser-generated suprathermal electron transport in expanding thin foils, and in multi-foil target configurations

Electron density measurement in an evolving plasma. Experimental devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Consoli, Terenzio; Dagai, Michel

1960-01-01

The experimental devices described here allow the electron density measurements in the 10 16 e/m 3 to 10 20 e/m 3 interval. Reprint of a paper published in Comptes rendus des seances de l'Academie des Sciences, t. 250, p. 1223-1225, sitting of 15 February 1960 [fr

The density and velocity of plasma bullets propagating along one dielectric tube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Longfei Ji

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study shows that the propagation of plasma bullets along one dielectric tube is strongly affected by many discharge parameters, such as the waveform of applied voltage (AC or pulsed DC, peak voltage, He flow rate, and the frequency of AC voltage. Analysis indicates that the density and velocity of plasma bullets are mainly determined by the electric field at the front of plasma bullets. These discharge parameters may significantly influence the distribution of plasma potential along the tube, thus control the electric field at the front of plasma bullets and their propagation. An increase in the pulsed DC voltage with its rise time of <40-50 ns can lead to an obvious improvement in the electric field at the front of plasma bullets, resulting in generation of a plasma in the high density gas and a fast propagation of plasma bullets. He flowing through the tube can contribute to the surface diffusion of charged species, and greatly increase the electric field at the front of plasma bullets. During the propagation of plasma bullets, their density is decreased due to the surface recombination of charged species, such as electrons and ions.

Influence of an axial magnetic field on the density profile of capillary plasma channels

CERN Document Server

Ivanov, V V; Toma, E S; Bijkerk, F

2003-01-01

A narrow capillary plasma channel, with a sizeable depletion of the electron density on the channel axis, has been proposed to guide a laser pulse over a length of several to several tens of centimetres. We discuss the possibility to significantly improve the wave-guiding properties of such a channel by applying an axial magnetic field. Our analytical and numerical studies show that a pulsed axial magnetic field of 10 T in a hydrogen capillary plasma at a pressure of 50 Torr will reduce the on-axis plasma density by a factor of three, and the full width at half maximum of the density profile by a factor of two. The resulting parabolic plasma density profile is expected to be more efficient in guiding laser pulses.

CH spectroscopy for carbon chemical erosion analysis in high density low temperature hydrogen plasma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerhout, J.; Cardozo, N. J. L.; Rapp, J.; van Rooij, G. J.

2009-01-01

The CH A-X molecular band is measured upon seeding the hydrogen plasma in the linear plasma generator Pilot-PSI [electron temperature T-e=0.1-2.5 eV and electron density n(e)=(0.5-5) X 10(20) m(-3)] with methane. Calculated inverse photon efficiencies for these conditions range from 3 up to

Particle-in-cell modeling of laser Thomson scattering in low-density plasmas at elevated laser intensities

Science.gov (United States)

Powis, Andrew T.; Shneider, Mikhail N.

2018-05-01

Incoherent Thomson scattering is a non-intrusive technique commonly used for measuring local plasma density. Within low-density, low-temperature plasmas and for sufficient laser intensity, the laser may perturb the local electron density via the ponderomotive force, causing the diagnostic to become intrusive and leading to erroneous results. A theoretical model for this effect is validated numerically via kinetic simulations of a quasi-neutral plasma using the particle-in-cell technique.

Estimation of electron temperature and density by de convolving the absorption part of the plasma dispersion function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez D, H.; Cabral P, A.; Melendez L, L.; Lopez C, R.; Colunga S, S.; Valencia A, R.; Cruz J, S.; Gaytan G, E.; Chavez A, E.

1992-04-01

In this work a method to estimate the temperature and density of the electron (T e , n e ), based on the deconvolution of the part of absorption of the dispersion function of the plasma is suggested. The absorptive part of this function, is proportional to the convolution of a Gauss distribution with a Lorentz function. The Gaussian represents to the Maxwell function of velocities distribution of the electrons of the plasma. The Lorentzian represents to the form of it lines of an linearized electrostatic wave that spreads with reduction in the plasma. The complex variable z of the plasma dispersion function is written as: z = u + ia, where u = 2 (w-w 0 ) √ Ln 2 /Γ G is the dimensionless frequency variable, a = Γ L √ Ln 2 /Γ G is the Posener parameter, Γ G = k Γ ' G where k is the wave number of the oscillatory phenomenon, Γ ' G is the FWHM of the Gaussian and Γ L = 2 α, α being the damping constant; i.e the imaginary part of the frequency ω. In this method, it will be assumed that a wave of frequency , and of amplitude small enough to avoid non-linear effects, propagates in the plasma and decays in such a way α is the Landau damping. With this assumption, the method is only valid in the interval k D , where k D is the Debye wave number. Deconvolution of the detected absorption frequency spectrum of the signal, gives the values of Γ G and Γ L from which the values of n e and T e can be deduced. (Author)

Semi-analytical model of laser resonance absorption in plasmas with a parabolic density profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pestehe, S J; Mohammadnejad, M

2010-01-01

Analytical expressions for mode conversion and resonance absorption of electromagnetic waves in inhomogeneous, unmagnetized plasmas are required for laboratory and simulation studies. Although most of the analyses of this problem have concentrated on the linear plasma density profile, there are a few research works that deal with different plasma density profiles including the parabolic profile. Almost none of them could give clear analytical formulae for the electric and magnetic components of the electromagnetic field propagating through inhomogeneous plasmas. In this paper, we have considered the resonant absorption of laser light near the critical density of plasmas with parabolic electron density profiles followed by a uniform over-dense region and have obtained expressions for the electric and magnetic vectors of laser light propagating through the plasma. An estimation of the fractional absorption of laser energy has also been carried out. It has been shown that, in contrast to the linear density profile, the energy absorption depends explicitly on the value of collision frequency as well as on a new parameter, N, called the over-dense density order.

Experimental observation of electron-temperature-gradient turbulence in a laboratory plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattoo, S K; Singh, S K; Awasthi, L M; Singh, R; Kaw, P K

2012-06-22

We report the observation of electron-temperature-gradient (ETG) driven turbulence in the laboratory plasma of a large volume plasma device. The removal of unutilized primary ionizing and nonthermal electrons from uniform density plasma and the imposition and control of the gradient in the electron temperature (T[Symbol: see text] T(e)) are all achieved by placing a large (2 m diameter) magnetic electron energy filter in the middle of the device. In the dressed plasma, the observed ETG turbulence in the lower hybrid range of frequencies ν = (1-80 kHz) is characterized by a broadband with a power law. The mean wave number k perpendicular ρ(e) = (0.1-0.2) satisfies the condition k perpendicular ρ(e) ≤ 1, where ρ(e) is the electron Larmor radius.

Time-dependent plasma behavior triggered by a pulsed electron gun under conditions of beam-plasma-discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szuszczewicz, E.P.; Lin, C.S.

1982-01-01

This chapter reports on experiments whose purpose was to simulate spaceborne applications of energetic electron guns while exploring the ''in situ'' diagnostics of time-dependent beam-plasma behavior under pulsed electron gun conditions. Beam-plasma-discharge (BPD), the BPD afterglow that exists after gun-pulse termination, and the plasma decay process are considered. It is concluded that there is a rapid enhancement in plasma density as the gas turns on; that during the pulse-ON time a quasi-steady-state BPD can be maintained with characteristics identical with its dc counterpart; that in the period immediately following gun-pulse termination the plasma loss process is dominated by cross-field radial diffusion; and that the afterglow plasma is within + or -10% of being an isodensity contour

Mechanisms of the electron density depletion in the SAR arc region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Pavlov

Full Text Available This study compares the measurements of electron density and temperature and the integral airglow intensity at 630 nm in the SAR arc region and slightly south of this (obtained by the Isis 2 spacecraft during the 18 December 1971 magnetic storm, with the model results obtained using the time dependent one-dimensional mathematical model of the Earth's ionosphere and plasmasphere. The explicit expression in the third Enskog approximation for the electron thermal conductivity coefficient in the multicomponent mixture of ionized gases and a simplified calculation method for this coefficient presents an opportunity to calculate more exactly the electron temperature and density and 630 nm emission within SAR arc region are used in the model. Collisions between N₂ and hot thermal electrons in the SAR arc region produce vibrationally excited nitrogen molecules. It appears that the loss rate of O⁺(⁴S due to reactions with the vibrationally excited nitrogen is enough to explain electron density depression by a factor of two at F-region heights and the topside ionosphere density variations within the SAR arc if the erosion of plasma within geomagnetic field tubes, during the main phase of the geomagnetic storm and subsequent filling of geomagnetic tubes during the recovery phase, are considered. To explain the disagreement by a factor 1.5 between the observed and modeled SAR arc electron densities an additional plasma drift velocity ~–30 m s^–1 in the ion continuity equations is needed during the recovery phase. This additional plasma drift velocity is likely caused by the transition from convecting to corotating flux tubes on the equatorward wall of the trough. The electron densities and temperatures and 630 nm integral intensity at the SAR arc and slightly south of this region as measured for the 18 December 1971 magnetic storm were correctly described by the model without perpendicular electric fields

PWFA plasma source - interferometric diagnostics for Li vapor density measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivakumaran, V.; Mohandas, K.K.; Singh, Sneha; Ravi Kumar, A.V.

2015-01-01

A prototype (40 cm long) plasma source based on Li heat pipe oven has been developed for the Plasma Wakefield Acceleration (PWFA) experiments at IPR (IPR), Gujarat as a part of the ongoing Accelerator Programme. Li vapor in the oven is produced by heating solid Li in helium buffer gas. A uniform column of Li plasma is generated by UV photo ionization (193 nm) of the Li vapor in the heat pipe oven. In these experiments, an accurate measurement of Li vapor density is important as it has got a direct consequence on the plasma electron density. In the present experiment, the vapor density is measured optically by using Hook method (spectrally resolved white light interferometry). The hook like structure formed near the vicinity of the Li 670.8 nm resonance line was recorded with a white light Mach Zehnder interferometer crossed with an imaging spectrograph to estimate the Li vapor density. The vapor density measurements have been carried out as a function of external oven temperature and the He buffer gas pressure. This technique has the advantage of being insensitive to line broadening and line shape, and its high dynamic range even with optically thick absorption line. Here, we present the line integrated Lithium vapor density measurement using Hook method and also compare the same with other optical diagnostic techniques (White light absorption and UV absorption) for Li vapor density measurements. (author)

Impedance of an intense plasma-cathode electron source for tokamak startup

Science.gov (United States)

Hinson, E. T.; Barr, J. L.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Perry, J. M.

2016-05-01

An impedance model is formulated and tested for the ˜1 kV , 1 kA/cm2 , arc-plasma cathode electron source used for local helicity injection tokamak startup. A double layer sheath is established between the high-density arc plasma ( narc≈1021 m-3 ) within the electron source, and the less dense external tokamak edge plasma ( nedge≈1018 m-3 ) into which current is injected at the applied injector voltage, Vinj . Experiments on the Pegasus spherical tokamak show that the injected current, Iinj , increases with Vinj according to the standard double layer scaling Iinj˜Vinj3 /2 at low current and transitions to Iinj˜Vinj1 /2 at high currents. In this high current regime, sheath expansion and/or space charge neutralization impose limits on the beam density nb˜Iinj/Vinj1 /2 . For low tokamak edge density nedge and high Iinj , the inferred beam density nb is consistent with the requirement nb≤nedge imposed by space-charge neutralization of the beam in the tokamak edge plasma. At sufficient edge density, nb˜narc is observed, consistent with a limit to nb imposed by expansion of the double layer sheath. These results suggest that narc is a viable control actuator for the source impedance.

Numerical simulation of neutral injection in a hot-electron mirror target plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Werkoff, F.; Bardet, R.; Briand, P.; Dupas, L.; Gormezano, C.; Melin, G.; Association Euratom-CEA, Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Grenoble, 38

1976-01-01

In the case of neutral injection into a hot-electron target plasma, the use of the existing Fokker-Planck codes is greatly complicated by the fact that the scale of the energies and times of the confined ions and electrons is very large. To avoid this difficulty, a simplified multi-species model is set up, in which each species is described by time-dependent density and energy equations with analytical approximations for the interactions between the species. During the neutral injection, instantaneous high values of the ambipolar potential (higher than the half value of hot-ion energy) may appear, but do not prevent hot-ion density build-up. However, the hot-electron target plasma must not be maintained for a too long time. Numerical runs are performed with typical target parameters: density 2x10 13 cm -3 , electron energy 30 keV, ion energy 400 eV, time duration during which the target density is maintained 1 ms. Hot-ion density, a few 10 14 cm -3 , can be achieved with a neutral beam of 100 A, 20 keV. (author)

Electron beam effects on the spectroscopy of multiply charged ions in plasma focus experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdallah, J.; Clark, R.E.H.; Faenov, A.Y.; Karpinski, L.; Pikuz, S.A.; Romanova, V.M.; Sadowski, M.; Scholz, M.; Szydlowski, A.

1999-01-01

Argon-hydrogen mixture plasma focus experiments performed at the Warsaw Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion show detailed space resolved spectra for Ar K-shell satellite lines up to F-like Ar and K-alpha of Ar. These transitions originating from autoionizing levels are caused by collisions of ions with the energetic electron beams which are created by the constrictions of the plasma column due to the development of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. A collisional-radiative model was constructed using a non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution consisting of a thermal Maxwellian part plus a Gaussian part to represent the high-energy electron beam. The shapes of the observed satellite structures are consistent with the calculated spectrum for electron temperatures between 20 and 230 eV, and beam densities of about 10 -3 times the plasma electron density. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

Electron beam effects on the spectroscopy of multiply charged ions in plasma focus experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdallah, J. [UCLA Plasma Physics Laboratory, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Clark, R.E.H. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Faenov, A.Y. [MISDC, NPO ' VNIIFTRI' , Mendeleevo, Moscow region, 141570 (Russian Federation); Karpinski, L. [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland); Pikuz, S.A.; Romanova, V.M. [P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation); Sadowski, M. [Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies, Swierk (Poland); Scholz, M.; Szydlowski, A. [Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Warsaw (Poland)

1999-05-01

Argon-hydrogen mixture plasma focus experiments performed at the Warsaw Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion show detailed space resolved spectra for Ar K-shell satellite lines up to F-like Ar and K-alpha of Ar. These transitions originating from autoionizing levels are caused by collisions of ions with the energetic electron beams which are created by the constrictions of the plasma column due to the development of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. A collisional-radiative model wasconstructed using a non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution consisting of a thermal Maxwellian part plus a Gaussian part to represent the high-energy electron beam. The shapes of the observed satellite structures are consistent with the calculated spectrum for electron temperatures between 20 and 230 eV, and beam densities of about 10{sup -3} times the plasma electron density. (Copyright (c) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)