Plasma-optical mass separation of isotopes in the magnetic field of linear current

The existing methods of electromagnetic mass separation are analyzed. The trajectories of ions injected into the separation region along various directions in the magnetic field of a linear current are calculated. On the basis of analysis, two new schemes of mass separators with a plasma accelerator as the ion source are proposed. In the first scheme, plasma is injected along the longitudinal axis of the accelerator, while in the second scheme, an accelerator with annular ejection of the plasma flow along the radius in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the separator is used.     

Effect of the ion distribution over longitudinal velocities on the efficiency and separating parameters of the ICR method of isotope separation

In the context of the ICR method of isotope separation, resonance RF heating of the ions in an electric field propagating along a constant magnetic field while simultaneously rotating in the direction perpendicular to it is calculated in a linear approximation. The analysis is carried out for two types of the initial ion distribution function over longitudinal velocities: a function proportional to the first power of the velocity in the range of low velocities and a shifted semi-Maxwellian distribution function. The distribution function of the ions over transverse velocities is calculated under the assumption that their initial distribution over transverse velocities is Maxwellian. The ion fluxes onto the collector plates are estimated by integrating the corresponding ion distribution functions over the allowed range of the longitudinal and transverse velocities and the transverse coordinates of the guiding centers of the ion trajectories in front of the extractor. In the first part of the paper, calculations are carried out for a model binary mixture of isotopes with mass numbers of 6 and 7. The effect of the shape of the ion distribution function over longitudinal velocities on the heating efficiency and on the concentration of the target isotope ions at the collector, as well as the effect of the longitudinal ion temperature on the width of resonance curves for the ion heating efficiency, is investigated. In the second part, a study is made of the selectivity of heating of isotope ions in a gadolinium plasma, in particular, the effect of the longitudinal magnetic field on the selectivity of heating of neighboring isotopes with atomic masses of 156, 157, and 158 is examined.     

Determination of the Radial Potential Profile in the Modified Penning Discharge with a Heavy Ion Beam Probe

A heavy ion beam probe is used to examine the radial electrostatic potential profile in the Modified Penning Discharge. The plasma potential in the discharge violates the usual constraint on the ion beam energy in that the primary probing beam energy undergoes large changes in its energy while passing through the plasma. In order to determine the radial potential profile, the primary beam trajectories are calculated to agree with measured trajectories by parametric variation of a potential model in the trajectory calculating program. This iteration calculation provides a first approximation to the profile. This profile can be used to predict observation of secondary ions, and observation of such ions provides a confirmation and cross check on the potential profile model found by the primary beam.     

On the possibility of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste by plasma methods

The concept of plasma separation of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste is presented. An approach that is based on using an accelerating potential to overcome the energy and angular spread of plasma ions at the separation region inlet and utilizing a potential well to separate spatially the ions of different masses is proposed. It is demonstrated that such separation may be performed at distances of about 1 m with electrical potentials of about 1 kV and a magnetic field of about 1 kG. The estimates of energy consumption and performance of the plasma separation method are presented. These estimates illustrate its potential for technological application. The results of development and construction of an experimental setup for testing the method of plasma separation are presented.     

Theoretical investigation of the possibility of isotope separation during motion of charged particles in the electromagnetic field of a cylindrical capacitor and a linear current flowing along its axis

A characteristic feature of the trajectories of charges moving in constant axisymmetric radial electric and azimuthal magnetic fields, whose strengths are inversely proportional to the center from the symmetry axis is the exponential dependence of the turning points on the parameters of motion. This leads to a noticeable difference in the trajectories for isotope ions, which makes it possible to obtain a new method for their electromagnetic separation. The trajectories of isotopes being separated are studied theoretically. The conditions under which the trajectories are closed and form toroidal surfaces (storage vortex rings) have been determined earlier. These results are given for convenience in analyzing another problem, associated with the formation of such ionic toroidal vortex surfaces (stable in Wood’s sense) during a streak lightning discharge in the atmosphere (ball lightning model).     

基于气体放电等离子体射流源的模拟离子引出实验平台物理特性

离子引出过程是原子蒸气激光同位素分离中非常重要的物理过程之一,而其中关键的等离子体参数(等离子体初始密度和电子温度等)均会对离子引出特性产生影响.基于千赫兹电源驱动的氩气高压交流放电等离子体射流源,建立了离子引出模拟实验平台-2015 (IEX-2015),开发了用于诊断氩等离子体参数的"碰撞-辐射"模型,对等离子体射流区的电子温度和电子数密度等关键参数进行了测量.结果表明,电源输入功率和驱动频率以及工作气体流量均会对等离子体射流区的电子温度和数密度产生影响;在真空腔压强为10~(-2)Pa量级下,射流区电子数密度和电子温度的可调参数范围分别为10~9—10~(11)cm~(-3)和1.7—2.8 e V,这与实际离子引出过程中的等离子体参数范围相近.在此基础上,开展了不同引出电压、极板间距和电子数密度条件下初步的离子引出实验,所得到的离子引出电流变化规律亦与实际原子蒸气激光同位素分离中的离子引出特性定性一致.上述研究结果验证了在IEX-2015上开展离子引出模拟实验的可行性,为后续深入开展离子引出特性的实验研究准备了良好的条件.     

Screening of a charged particle field in rarefied ionized gas

A self-consistent field of a charged micron-size particle placed in a rarefied ionized gas is created by both free ions moving along infinite trajectories and trapped ions moving in closed orbits. The character of screening of the particle field is analyzed under dynamic conditions in a nonequilibrium plasma where the temperature (or the mean energy) of electrons greatly exceeds the ion temperature. Under these conditions, trapped ions are generated in a restricted region of the particle field where the transitions between closed ion orbits resulting from resonant charge exchange dominate. This leads to a higher number density of trapped ions compared to that of free ions. The parameters of the self-consistent field of the particle and ions are found when free or trapped ions determine the screening of the particle field, and a similarity law is established for a simultaneous variation of the number density of plasma particles and the particle size. In dusty plasmas of the Solar System, which result from the interaction of the solar wind with dust, formation of trapped ions increases the plasma number density compared to that in the solar wind.     

Heating of Powders in the Fire Ball of an Induction Plasma

A theoretical model has been developed for the calculation of the trajectories and temperature histories of particles injected in the fire-ball of an inductively coupled plasma. Calculations were made for alumina particles of different diameters ranging between 10 and 250 ?m. The particles were injected through a water cooled probe upstream of the fire-ball. The results shows that the internal plasma recirculation in the coil region is responsable for the bouncing of the particles on the fire-ball. Particles of the order of 10 ?m and smaler are entrained in the fire-ball by the inward radial flow caused by the electromagnetic pumping, and are subsequently completely evaporated. Larger particles, depending on their initial position and velocity of injection, could by-pass the plasma fire-ball, and in some cases, end up deposited on the wall of the plasma confining tube. Particles with diameters larger than 100 ?m were found to pass straight through the fire-ball when injected close to the center line of the torch.     

Ion-acoustic shock waves and their head-on collision in a dense electron-positron-ion quantum plasma

Ion-acoustic shock waves and their head-on collision in a dense quantum plasma comprised of electrons, positrons, and ions are studied. The extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo perturbation method is used to derive the Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equations for shock waves in this plasma. The dissipation is introduced by taking into account the kinematic viscosity among the plasma constituents. The effects of the ratio of positrons to ions unperturbation number density μ, the normalized kinematic viscosity ηi0, and the quantum Bohm potential H on the interaction and structure of the shock waves are investigated. It is found that there are integrally vertical downward movements for both the colliding shocks after their head-on collision, but there are no shifts of the postcollision trajectories (phase shifts). It is also found that these plasma parameters can significantly influence the collision and properties of the colliding shocks. The results may have relevance in dense astrophysical plasmas (such as neutron stars or white dwarfs) as well as in intense laser-solid density plasma experiments.     

Ion separation due to magnetic field penetration into a multispecies plasma

The magnetic field, the electron density, and the ion velocities in a multispecies plasma conducting a high fast-rising current are determined using simultaneous spectroscopic measurements. It is found that ion separation occurs in which a light-ion plasma is pushed ahead while a heavy-ion plasma lags behind the magnetic piston. We show that most of the momentum imparted by the magnetic field pressure is taken by the reflected light ions, and most of the dissipated magnetic field energy is converted into kinetic energy of these ions, even though their mass is only a small part of the total plasma mass. Such species separation with implications to the momenta and energy partitioning is shown to be of a general nature.     

The collisions of two ion acoustic solitary waves in a magnetized nonextensive plasma

Using the extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo (EPLK) method, the interaction between two ion acoustic solitary waves (IASWs) in a multicomponent magnetized plasma (including Tsallis nonextensive electrons) has been theoretically investigated. The analytical phase shifts of the two solitary waves after interaction are estimated. The proposed model leads to rarefactive solitons only. The effects of colliding angle, ratio of number densities of (positive/negative) ions species to the density of nonextensive electrons, ion-to-electron temperature ratio, mass ratio of the negative-to-positive ions and the electron nonextensive parameter on the phase shifts are investigated numerically. The present results show that these parameters have strong effects on the phase shifts and trajectories of the two IASWs after collision. Evidently, this model is helpful for interpreting the propagation and the oblique collision of IASWs in magnetized multicomponent plasma experiments and space observations.     

Action-derived molecular dynamics in the study of rare events

We present a practical method to generate classical trajectories with fixed initial and final boundary conditions. Our method is based on the minimization of a suitably defined discretized action. The method finds its most natural application in the study of rare events. Its capabilities are illustrated by nontrivial examples. The algorithm lends itself to straightforward parallelization, and when combined with ab initio molecular dynamics it promises to offer a powerful tool for the study of chemical reactions.     

闪电放电通道的辐射演化特性

用无狭缝红外光谱仪获得了山东地区云对地闪电回击过程的近红外光谱,并与可见光波长范围的闪电回击光谱进行了对比分析.根据近红外光谱的结构特征,讨论了闪电通道等离子体的光谱辐射顺序以及不同波段连续光谱的主要辐射机制,研究得出：可见光谱主要是闪电回击初期和发展阶段的辐射|近红外光谱主要是闪电发展后期的辐射|可见波段的连续光谱主要来自韧致辐射的贡献,而红外部分的连续光谱主要来自复合辐射的贡献.由分析结果推断：闪电通道等离子体的复合过程是闪电产生O3、NOX的主要途径,复合过程中的氧吸附作用和去吸附过程是近红外光谱中氧原子谱线增多的重要原因,也是OI 777.4 nm相对强度比较大的主要原因.     

Particle dynamics during adiabatic expansion of a plasma bunch

The renormalization-group approach is used to obtain an exact solution to the self-consistent Vlasov kinetic equations for plasma particles in the quasi-neutral approximation. This solution describes the one-dimensional adiabatic expansion of a plasma bunch into a vacuum for arbitrary initial particle velocity distributions. Ion acceleration is studied for two-temperature Maxwellian and super-Gaussian initial electron distributions, which predetermine distinctly different ion spectra. The solution found is used to describe the acceleration of ions of two types. The relative acceleration efficiency of light and heavy ions as a function of atomic weights and number densities is analyzed. The solutions obtained are of practical importance in describing ion acceleration during the interaction of an ultrashort laser pulse with nanoplasma, for example, cluster plasma or plasma produced when thin foils are irradiated by a laser.     

Analytic solutions to the Vlasov equations for expanding plasmas

The renormalization-group approach is applied to derive an exact solution to the self-consistent Vlasov kinetic equations for plasma particles in the quasineutral approximation. The solutions obtained describe three-dimensional adiabatic expansion of a plasma bunch with arbitrary initial velocity distributions of the electrons and ions. The solution found is illustrated by the examples on ion acceleration in a plasma with hot electrons and in a plasma with light impurity ions.     

Deflection of sputtered ions by surface charges

The trajectories of ions sputtered from an insulating surface carrying a surface charge have been computed. The results show that yields measured in particular directions can be in serious error as the trajectories of low energy sputtered ions depend critically on surface charge and point of origin of the ion. The distorted yield curves for 1.2 eV ions and 10 eV ions leaving a surface with a ten volt surface potential are calculated.     

Calculation of the charge composition of an ion beam from an E-Mevva source

The charge composition of an ion beam from an E-Mevva source is calculated within a model of sequential electron ionization of ions in a vacuum arc plasma. The effect of the plasma initial parameters on the charge composition of the ion beam is studied. Possible charge compositions for more than 30 elements omitted from this article are estimated. Also, the charge composition of the ions is calculated for the ultimate current density of the electron beam.     

On the vibrationally averaged structure and vibrational expectation values

Analytical expressions for population transfer and spin polarization are deduced for a two-level system in which the levels converge linearly or exponentially from a finite separation. The asymptotic populations and polarizations are discussed for rapid and slow approach trajectories and, in the exponential case, a simple closed form exact to second order in the perturbation for all rates of approach is discussed.