Characteristics of a dual‐radio‐frequency cylindrical inductively coupled plasma

The plasma parameters such as electron density, effective electron temperature, plasma potential, and uniformity are investigated in a new dual‐frequency cylindrical inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source operating at two frequencies (2 and 13.56 MHz) and two antennas (a two‐turn high‐frequency antenna and a six‐turn low‐frequency (LF) antenna). It is found that the electron density increases with 2 MHz power, whereas the electron temperature and plasma potential decrease with 2 MHz power at a fixed 13.56 MHz power. Moreover, the plasma uniformity can be improved by adjusting the LF power. These results indicate that a dual‐frequency synergistic discharge in a cylindrical ICP can produce a high‐density, low‐potential, low‐effective‐electron‐temperature, and uniform plasma.     

A theory of a receiving antenna in a moving isotropic plasma

We analyze the response of a dipole antenna to the noise-like and/or regular (quasimonochromatic) plasma oscillations and waves. The antenna is immersed in an isotropic plasma moving with velocity greater than the electron thermal velocity. In the case of a noise field, we calculate the squared spectral power density of the noise voltage at the input of a receiving antenna for frequencies close to the electron plasma frequency. It is shown that the main contribution to the noise is made by the radiation due to the excitation of waves at anomalous Doppler frequencies. In the case of an incident monochromatic wave, the mean square voltage at the antenna input is calculated as a function of the wave frequency and angle of arrival. It is shown that the effective antenna length can differ strongly from the geometrical length of the dipole. This fact results from the dispersion of longitudinal waves ensuring that many plane waves (a continuum, in the limiting case) contribute to the re-radiated field for a given direction of propagation of the radiation energy.     

Modeling of terahertz radiation emission from a free‐electron laser

In this article, we report the generation of terahertz (THz) radiation using the interaction of a laser‐modulated relativistic electron beam (REB) with a surface plasma wave. Two laser beams propagating through the modulator interact with the REB, leading to velocity modulation of the beam. This results in pre‐bunching of the REB. The pre‐bunched beam travels through the drift space, where the velocity modulation translates into density modulation. The density‐modulated beam, on interacting with the surface plasma pump wave, acquires an oscillatory velocity that couples with the modulated beam density to give rise to a nonlinear current density which acts as an antenna to give THz radiation. By optimizing the parameters of the beam and the wiggler, we obtain power of the order of 10⁻⁴ using the current scheme.     

闭式电感耦合等离子体特性对比实验研究和光谱分析

ICP反应室或ICP质谱仪不同,ICP在用于衰减微波时,其腔体采用全密封石英结构,同时缺少静电屏蔽、金属衬底和磁场约束等条件,研究其内部电子密度等参数的分布对于等离子体局部隐身技术具有重要意义。利用光谱分析法,对两种典型ICP源(螺旋型和盘香型)在密闭石英立方体腔内H模式下稳定放电的电子密度分布展开了对比试验研究。使用Ar离子谱中476.45 nm谱线相对光谱强度变化研究了不同型ICP源的E—H模式跳变和功率耦合效率,通过非H谱线(Ar)的Stark展宽法,诊断了两种源的天线垂直平面上的二维电子密度分布。实验发现ICP在H模下的电子密度分布受交变磁场产生的趋肤电流影响较大,趋肤深度随着放电功率的增大而减小,同时主等离子体区域体积缩小、电子密度增加,在天线的垂直面上,螺旋型源ICP电子密度呈中心轴对称型分布,盘香型源ICP呈双峰型分布。功率耦合效率受源天线形状及其容性耦合效应影响较大,光谱相对强度显示螺旋型源的功率耦合效率低于盘香型源。通过该实验方法,可以在石英立方腔体内得到最高电子密度范围为1.4×1017～2.5×1017 m-3的螺旋型ICP源和范围1.8×1017～3.0×1017 m-3的盘香型ICP源。     

Change of radiation pattern in a plasma monopole antenna

Abstract

In the present work, we have numerically solved the dispersion equation of the surface wave propagating on a uniform collisional plasma column. The electric field and surface current distributions have been computed in different situations. We have investigated the effect of plasma frequency variation on the spatial distribution of the surface current. Results show that varying the electron density of the plasma column enables the plasma column to work as a plasma monopole antenna with a fixed geometrical structure and excited frequency which is able to create different radiation patterns. Our numerical analysis also shows that a little change in the radius of the plasma column has a strong influence on the current distribution at the excited frequency in RF region. This effect can be ignored in the usual (metallic) antenna while it is very important in designing of the plasma monopole antenna.     

Electrical characteristics of helicon wave plasmas

The external electrical characteristics of helicon wave plasmas have been studied over a wide range of magnetic fields, radio frequency (RF) power, frequencies, and Ar gas pressures. External parameters, such as antenna voltage, current, and phase shifts, and internal parameters, such as electron density, are measured. The equivalent discharge resistance, reactance, and power transfer efficiency are calculated through these measurements. The characteristics of helicon mode is compared with inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and low mode. The power efficiency of the helicon mode is better than that of other modes. Consequently, electron density of helicon mode is much higher than that of other modes. This means the existence of a mechanism where electrons are very efficiently accelerated by the electric field of the antenna in the helicon mode. The power efficiency of helicon mode is higher at lower RF frequency and at optimum gas pressure than that of other modes     

Investigation of amplified spontaneous X-ray laser radiation using the equation for the transverse correlation function of the field

A physical model, based on the solution of the quasi-optics equation for the transverse correlation function (TCF) of the field amplitude, is developed for investigating the brightness, angular divergence, and spatial coherence of the amplified spontaneous emission in a laboratory X-ray laser. The model takes account of the spontaneous source of radiation, diffraction, regular refraction, regular amplification taking account of saturation, nonresonance absorption, scattering by small-scale fluctuations of the electron density and the gain, and scattering by random hose-like deviations of the extended plasma medium of the X-ray laser. It is established that the TCF method makes it possible to obtain the final result much more quickly than the basic Monte Carlo method for the parabolic equation for the field amplitude. As a result of the statistical linearization of the equation for the transverse correlation function in the presence of gain saturation, this method overestimates the absolute values of the average intensity of the amplified spontaneous radiation, but the maximum overestimation does not exceed 10%. It is found that fluctuations of the optical parameters of the medium of the X-ray laser degrade the quality of the amplified spontaneous radiation beam, and they are the analog of the nonresonance absorption from the standpoint of the effect on the brightness of the laser and therefore decrease the observed gain. For the characteristic conditions of an X-ray laser with a quasistationary generation scheme, the contribution of small-scale gain fluctuations and random hose-like deviations of the plasma filament of the laser to the scattering of the amplified spontaneous radiation is much smaller than the contribution of small-scale density fluctuations. Calculations of the amplified spontaneous radiation in an X-ray laser, which is produced by unilateral irradiation of a curved target and possesses an asymmetric plasma electron density profile in the gain zone, are performed. It is shown that in the gain saturation regime the coherence length and the coherent power of the amplified spontaneous radiation can be substantially increased, realizing in the gain zone a convex electron density profile instead of a typical concave profile. It is found that this improvement of the coherence occurs only under conditions such that the characteristic depth of the small-scale density fluctuations does not exceed several percent of the typical regular values of the density in the gain zone.     

Design and analysis of a folded Fresnel Zone Plate antenna

Based on the Kirchhoff-Huygens diffraction theory, a simple analytical method of a planar folded Fresnel zone-plate (FZP), that is the case when a planar reflector is placed behind the zone plates, has been developed. According to the numerical calculation results, the design procedure of the FZP antenna has been presented, and its focusing characteristics and gain-optimized conditions have been discussed. The variations of the focal field distribution with the antenna parameters such as zone numbers, focal length and antenna diameter and the radiation power patterns of the FZP have been simulated numerically. To take a good balance of both receiving and transmitting antennas, at 60GHz operating frequency, the focal length should be designed as a half of the antenna diameter and the zone number should be from 10 to 15. The results in this work show that the folded FZP has good focal characteristics and off-axis performance, and its antenna gain can be optimized by the suitable antenna parameter design. The possibility of applying the folded FZP as a low cost and high gain antenna without strict manufacturing requirement for millimeter-wave communications has been shown.     

Electron Acceleration by Beating of Two Intense Cross-Focused Hollow Gaussian Laser Beams in Plasma

This paper presents propagation of two cross-focused intense hollow Gaussian laser beams(HGBs) in collisionless plasma and its effect on the generation of electron plasma wave(EPW) and electron acceleration process,when relativistic and ponderomotive nonlinearities are simultaneously operative. Nonlinear differential equations have been set up for beamwidth of laser beams, power of generated EPW, and energy gain by electrons using WKB and paraxial approximations. Numerical simulations have been carried out to investigate the effect of typical laser-plasma parameters on the focusing of laser beams in plasmas and further its effect on power of excited EPW and acceleration of electrons. It is observed that focusing of two laser beams in plasma increases for higher order of hollow Gaussian beams,which significantly enhanced the power of generated EPW and energy gain. The amplitude of EPW and energy gain by electrons is found to enhance with an increase in the intensity of laser beams and plasma density. This study will be useful to plasma beat wave accelerator and in other applications requiring multiple laser beams.     

基于超材料吸波体的低雷达散射截面波导缝隙阵列天线

提出利用超材料吸波体减缩波导缝隙阵列天线带内雷达散射截面的设计方法. 设计具有超薄(厚度仅为0.01λ, λ为吸波体中心频率对应波长)、无表面损耗层和高吸波率的超材料吸波体, 将其加载到波导缝隙天线E面方向辐射缝隙间的金属表面上, 并与辐射缝隙保持一定的间距. 该加载方式没有破坏天线的口径馈电振幅分布, 并利用超材料吸波体对电磁波的强吸收特性降低了天线阵的结构模式项散射. 仿真和实验结果表明, 加载超材料吸波体后天线阵的反射系数、增益、波瓣宽度保持不变, 在x极化和y极化条件下, 波导缝隙阵列天线的带内雷达散射截面减缩量均在6 dB 以上, 且在-25°-+25°范围内天线雷达散射截面均有明显的减缩, 鼻锥方向减缩超过10 dB. 该研究成果对阵列天线雷达散射截面减缩具有重要的借鉴意义和工程应用价值.     

Theoretical Study of Two Dimensional Evolution of a Weak Gaussian Wave in a F Region Ionosphere Modified by a Strong Gaussian Wave

A high power electromagnetic Gaussian beam is assumed to be incident on the F region ionosphere, which causes modification in the plasma temperature and density. Subsequently the evolution of a second Gaussian em beam in such modified F region inosphere has been studied numerically. The numerical calculations are carried out in a two dimensional grid space which covers a region of 80 km horizontally and 100 km vertically. It is seen that the second wave propagating through the modified plasma gets focused in the axial regions and gets filamented near its peak intensity point. Consequently the plasma gets irregularly structured and the resulting fluctuations in plasma temperature and density give rise to a pressure gradient force. This force inturn causes the formation of more number of filamentary structures about the axis in wave intensity and also amplifies the initially formed ones.     

低压氩气电感耦合等离子体特性分析及光谱诊断

电感耦合等离子体具有电子密度高、放电面积大、工作气压宽、结构简单等特点,在等离子体隐身领域具有突出的潜在优势。相对于开放式等离子体,闭式等离子体更适应于飞行器表面空气流速高、气压变化大的特殊环境。研究着眼于飞行器关键部件的局部隐身应用,设计了一种镶嵌于不锈钢壁中的圆柱形石英腔体结构,利用电感耦合放电的方式在腔体中产生均匀的平板状等离子体。由于增加了接地金属,降低了腔体内的钳制电位,同之前的纯石英腔体相比,该结构显著改善了等离子体的均匀性。研究了该闭式腔体内氩气电感耦合等离子体（ICP）的放电特性和发射光谱,实验中放电功率达到150 W时,可以明显观察到ICP的E-H模式转换,此时发射光谱和电子密度都呈现阶跃式增长。氩气发射光谱强度随放电功率升高显著增加,但是不同谱线强度增加幅度并不一致,分析认为是受不同的跃迁概率和激发能的影响。根据等离子体的发射光谱,利用玻尔兹曼斜率法对电子激发温度进行诊断,得到电子激发温度在2 000 K以上,并且随功率升高而降低,因为功率增大使电子热运动增强,粒子间的碰撞加剧,碰撞导致的能量消耗也更大。电子激发温度沿腔体径向呈近似均匀分布,分布趋势受功率影响不大。针对利用发射光谱诊断电子密度误差较大、计算繁琐的问题,引入Voigt卷积函数,经过拟合滤除多余展宽项的影响,得到准确的Stark展宽半高宽。最终利用发射光谱Stark展宽法计算了电子密度,腔体中心处的峰值密度可以达到7.5×1017 m-3。随着放电功率增大,线圈中容性分量降低,耦合效率增大,电子密度随之增大,但空间分布趋势基本不受功率影响。     

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The electron densities in the atmospheric pressure helium plasma were calculated by means of electron drift velocity and the jet velocity respectively. The electron velocity and jet velocity can be calculated by means of helium plasma jet current measured by a dielectric probe and plasma discharge current signal measured by voltage probes. The results show that the estimated electron densities of the helium plasma jet calculated from electron drift velocity and the jet velocity are in the order of 10 ¹¹ cm ^-3 and they increase with applied voltage. There is a little fluctuation in the value of the electron density along the jet axis of the plasma. This result is the same as the measured electron density in atmospheric pressure helium non-thermal plasma jet by using a Rogowski coil and a Langmuir probe. This is in one order lower than the electron density measured by microwave antenna.     

利用介质阻挡探针法测量大气压氦等离子体射流电子密度

分别利用电子的漂移速度和等离子体的传播速度计算了大气压下氦等离子体射流的电子密度。     

Large area planar plasma sustained by surface microwave

In this paper, we show theoretically and experimentally that the large-area planar plasma with high density and good uniformity can be sustained by a surface microwave when the electron density is over-dense. From the experimental results we find that the nonuniformities in azimuthal plasma density and electron temperature have been greatly improved and in particular the nonuniformity is less than 10{\%} when the gas pressure is 30 Pa. By improving the antenna shape, enhancing the microwave power and choosing the appropriate gas pressure, the large area planar plasma with high density can be produced.     

高功率椭圆形柱面介质透镜天线阵的设计

设计了一种椭圆形柱面透镜天线阵列。为改善天线的辐射性能,考虑到高功率应用中的高压击穿问题,提出在横截面为椭圆形组合矩形的天线罩内填充变压器油的方法,并将三元刀型天线阵列密封其内,形成介质透镜天线阵。利用椭圆的几何聚焦能力和介质的缩波效应,提高天线阵列的主瓣增益,并增加天线阵列的电尺寸。通过调整天线阵列的单元间距,相较于不加透镜的阵列结构,该结构的轴向远场电压峰峰值增加41%,远场辐射波束宽度变窄,前后比也得到改善,且增益提高了4.96 dB,功率容量提高338倍,达9.63 GW。     

A novel antenna for sub-atmospheric radio-frequency discharge

A novel antenna that can generate plasma efficiently for pressure up to thousands of Pascal with 1 kW–13.56 MHz radio-frequency power supply is reported. It consists of two isolated solenoids so that involves both capacitively coupling and inductively coupling effects, together with magnetic mirror effect which confines the formed plasma axially to a certain extent. Experiments show that the novel discharge has directional preference depending on the applied voltage, a character of dielectric barrier discharge, and can run steadily for tens of hours without severe thermal load. Simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics reveal consistent variations of electron temperature and electron density with base pressure, input power, separation distance of isolated solenoids, and the number of turns of each solenoid. This ionization method is of great interest for plasma processing and propulsion in sub-atmospheric environment.     

等离子体天线色散关系和辐射场数值计算

研究了电磁波沿轴向对称柱形等离子体天线传播的特性、色散关系及辐射方向图、增益等天线参数.通过对腔体材料介电系数、内外半径、等离子体密度、碰撞频率等参数的分析，结果表明要减小波沿等离子体天线传播的衰减，应当增加等离子体密度，减小碰撞频率，增加等离子体半径，减小腔体厚度，采用介电系数较小的材料.计算了在不同参数条件下，等离子体天线的辐射方向图、增益的变化，这些结果对于等离子体天线的设计很有参考价值. 关键词： 等离子体天线 色散关系 增益 辐射方向图     

Characteristics of electron cyclotron resonance plasma formed by lower hybrid current drive grill antenna

A 3.7 GHz system, which is meant for LHCD experiments on ADITYA tokamak, is used for producing ECR discharge. The ECR discharge is produced by setting the appropriate resonance magnetic field of 0.13 T, with hydrogen at a fill pressure of about 5 × 10⁻⁵ Torr. The RF power, up to 10 kW (of which ∼50% is reflected back), with a typical pulse length of 50 ms, is injected into the vacuum chamber of the ADITYA tokamak by a LHCD grill antenna and is used for plasma formation. The average coupled RF power density (the RF power/a typical volume of the plasma) is estimated to be ∼5 kW/m³. When the ECR appears inside the tokamak chamber for the given pumping frequency (f = 3.7 GHz) a plasma with a density (n _e) ∼ 4 × 10¹⁶ m⁻³ and electron temperature ∼8 eV is produced. The density and temperature during the RF pulse are measured by sets of Langmuir probes, located toroidally, on either side of the antenna. H_α signals are also monitored to detect ionization. An estimate of density and temperature based on simple theoretical calculation agrees well with our experimental measurements. The plasma produced by the above mechanism is further used to characterize the ECR-assisted low voltage Ohmic start-up discharges. During this part of the experiments, Ohmic plasma is formed using capacitor banks. The plasma loop voltage is gradually decreased, till the discharge ceases to form. The same is repeated in the presence of ECR-formed plasma (RF pre-ionization), formed 10 ms prior to the loop voltage. We have observed that (with LHCD-induced) ECR-assisted Ohmic start-up discharges is reliably and repeatedly obtained with reduced loop voltage requirement and breakdown time decreases substantially. The current ramp-up rates also decrease with reduced loop voltage operation. These studies established that ECR plasma formed with LHCD system exhibits similar characteristics as reported earlier by dedicated ECR systems. This experiment also addresses the issue of whether ECR plasma formed with grill antenna exhibits similar behavior as that formed by single waveguide ECR antenna. Our experimental observations suggest that the characteristics of (LHCD system-induced) ECR-assisted Ohmic start-up discharges show similar properties, reported earlier with normal ECR-assisted Ohmic start-up discharges and hence LHCD system may be used as ECR system at reduced toroidal magnetic field for other applications like wall conditioning.