Ion-beam focusing in a double-plasma device

The authors studied the propagation of a low-energy charge-neutralized ion beam injected into the target region of a long double-plasma device. A magnetic field of up to ~180 G may be applied along the axis of the device. As a result of charge exchange collisions, the ion beam is attenuated as it propagates into the target region. However, under certain conditions of magnetic field strength and neutral gas pressure, the authors have observed a `reemergence' of the beam on axis far downstream in the target. This reemergence of the ion beam is attributed to a focusing of the ions by a self-consistently produced radial ambipolar electric field. The effect may be expected to occur in other types of plasma devices as well, whenever a sufficiently large radially inward electric field is present     

Electron heat transport in the magnetic filter of a volume plasma-based source of H−/D− ions

A time-independent one-dimensional model of the electron energy balance in the region of the magnetic filter of a volume plasma-based ion source is justified. The local electron energy balance equation and the steady density profiles of the plasma components are used to determine the transverse (with respect to the mag-netic field) electron temperature profile, which is found to agree well with the experimental profile. The temperature profile obtained analytically is then used to refine the particle balance in a plasma with two ion species and, accordingly, to find the optimum conditions for the formation of an H⁻/D⁻ beam and for extracting the beam from the source.     

2 cm电子回旋共振离子推力器离子源中磁场对等离子体特性与壁面电流影响的数值模拟

电子回旋共振离子推力器(electron cyclotron resonance ion thruster,ECRIT)离子源内等离子体分布会影响束流引出,而磁场结构决定的ECR区与天线的相对位置共同影响了等离子体分布.在鞘层作用下,等离子体中的离子或电子被加速对壁面产生溅射,形成壁面离子或电子电流,造成壁面磨损和等离子体损失,因此研究壁面电流与等离子体特征十分重要.为此本文建立2 cm ECRIT的粒子PIC/MCC(particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision)仿真模型,数值模拟研究磁场结构对离子源内等离子体与壁面电流特性的影响.计算表明,当ECR区位于天线上游时,等离子体集中在天线上游和内外磁环间,栅极前离子密度最低,故离子源引出束流、磁环端面电流和天线壁面电流较低.ECR区位于天线下游时,天线和栅极上游附近的等离子体密度较高,故离子源引出束流、天线壁面电流和磁环端面电流较高.腔体壁面等离子体分布与电流受磁场影响最小.     

Heavy Ion Beam Probe Plasma Diagnostic System for the Deep Magnetic Well Lite Device

A heavy ion beam probe plasma diagnostic system has been developed for the Laser Initiated Target Experiment (LITE) at UTRC. This is the first application of ion beam probing to a plasma confined by a strongly three dimensional magnetic field. The deep magnetic well, minimum-B field produced by the "baseball" magnet coil results in complex trajectories and severe defocusing of both the injected primary beam and detected secondary beam. Spatial resolution can be maintained by aperturing the entrance slit to the detector or installing compensating ion optics. The system is capable of space and time resolved measurements of plasma density and space potential near the central region of the mirror-confined plasma.     

Acceleration of dust grains by means of the high energy ion beam

The acceleration of charged dust grains by a high energy ion beam is investigated by obtaining the dispersion relation. The Cherenkov and cyclotron acceleration mechanisms of dust grains are compared with each other. The role of dusty plasma parameters and the magnetic field strength in the acceleration process are discussed. In addition, the stimulated waves by an ion beam in a fully magnetized dust–ion plasma are studied. It is shown that these waves are unstable at different angles with respect to the external magnetic field. It is also indicated that the growth rates increase by either increasing the ion and dust densities or decreasing the magnetic field strength. Finally, the results of our research show that the high energy ion beam can accelerate charged dust grains.     

圆柱形阳极层霍尔等离子体加速器的质点网格方法模拟

对圆柱形阳极层霍尔加速器内的放电等离子体运用二维质点网格方法（particle in cell）进行数值模拟,用蒙特卡罗碰撞方法处理带电粒子与中性粒子之间的碰撞. 得到了放电通道内离子与电子的分布以及离子流的运动,并且对出口外侧的能量分布进行了统计. 结果发现圆柱形阳极层等离子体加速器的磁场对电子有明显的约束作用,电子集中于阳极附近很小的区域内. 由于电磁场的特殊分布,离子流呈现出双峰式的分布. 离子能量范围从放电电压的20%到接近放电电压,平均能量在放电电压的40%—50%之间. 关键词： 质点网格方法 蒙特卡罗碰撞 数值模拟 阳极层霍尔等离子体加速器     

Growth of electron energies with ion beam injection in a double plasma device

This paper reports about the observed energy growth of both high and low energetic electron species in the target plasma region with the increase in plasma potential in the source region of a double plasma device. This situation can be correlated to the injection of an ion beam from source to target plasma region. Plasma is solely produced in the source region and a low-density diffuse plasma is generated in the target region by local ionization between the neutral gas and the high energetic electrons coming from the source region. The growth of electron energy is accompanied by a decrease in diffuse plasma density. It is observed that although energy of high energetic group increases with the injected beam energy, the diffuse plasma density falls due to their decreasing population.     

Temperature and density measurements in a non-axisymmetric,continuously operating fusion experiment using a heavy ion beam probe

Two-dimensional electron temperature and density data have been obtained in the midplane of the non-axisymmetric magnetic confinement device ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT) through the use of a heavy ion beam probe. This beam probe differs from others operated on toroidal or open magnetic geometries in its combination of complete computer control with the steady-state nature of EBT which allows, under normal operating conditions, for extensive calibration of the system in situ, minimizing both alignment and acquisition errors, along with the use of synchronous detection to dramatically improve the quality of the detected signal over what is typically possible in fast pulse devices. These techniques are important and applicable to long pulse devices where the beam probe may be an ideal diagnostic to measure, for example, parameters of the edge plasma. While the EBT beam probe was implemented to obtain profiles of plasma space potential, we have found that it can also be used effectively to measure the temperature and density profiles in the midplane between magnetic field coils. The data obtained support the contention that the formation of a hollow temperature profile in the T-Mode sufficiently inverts the plasma pressure such that stability of the core plasma would be expected even without diamagnetic effects from the hot electron rings which have previously been considered essential     

Rensselaer heavy ion beam probe diagnostic methods and techniques

The operating principles, measurement capabilities, hardware, and data analysis techniques of heavy ion beam probe diagnostics as used by the Rensselaer Plasma Dynamics Lab are reviewed. The topics that are addressed include; trajectory calculations of the ion beams; how the diagnostic measures plasma density, electron temperature, electric potential, and magnetic vector potential; the energy analyzer used to detect the beam, other hardware used in the experiments, and the basic techniques used in fluctuation studies and related diagnostic issues     

强流重离子束在轴对称电场中的温度和能量展宽

本文研究带电粒子束在轴对称电场(包含束空间电荷平均场)中的温度和能量展宽,所得结果表明,在漂移区内,此种能量展宽与束电流成正比,与束的宏观流动速度成反比,因此,对于强流重离子束而言,此种能量展宽在总的能量展宽中将起重要的作用,若束能为20keV,束流为20mA,在漂移区中,¹H离子束的能量展宽为26.5eV,而相同条件下的¹²¹Sb离子束则为291.5eV,而且随束流增加线性上升,本文对束温度的研究结果表明,在漂移区中,束空间电荷效应使束温度增加。 关键词：     

Spatially resolved measurements of ion heating during impulsive reconnection in the Madison Symmetric Torus

The impurity ion temperature evolution has been measured during three types of impulsive reconnection events in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed field pinch. During an edge reconnection event, the drop in stored magnetic energy is small and ion heating is observed to be limited to the outer half of the plasma. Conversely, during a global reconnection event the drop in stored magnetic energy is large, and significant heating is observed at all radii. For both kinds of events, the drop in magnetic energy is sufficient to explain the increase in ion thermal energy. However, not all types of reconnection lead to ion heating. During a core reconnection event, both the stored magnetic energy and impurity ion temperature remain constant. The results suggest that a drop in magnetic energy is required for ions to be heated during reconnection, and that when this occurs heating is localized near the reconnection layer.     

磁场调控型离子源的设计与实验

磁场调控型离子源在离子源等离子体扩散空间中引入轴向强脉冲磁场,磁场起两方面的作用,一是形成潘宁放电效应,使原子、气体分子碰撞电离效率增加;二是在脉冲强磁场的作用下,强轴向磁场将质量较轻的离子约束在轴线上,对质量较重的金属离子约束能力较弱,导致其在等离子体膨胀引出通道中碰壁损失,能够提升引出轻离子的比例。开展了磁场调控的离子源放电结构、强脉冲螺线管磁场以及引出束流光学结构的设计;测量分析了引出离子流强和离子打靶束斑形貌。研究结果表明,强轴向磁场通过等离子体对混合离子成分的筛选作用,可有效提高引出离子流强中的轻离子成分比例。     

Simulating a low-temperature Maxwellian plasma using SH-HtscEBIT

This paper reports an experimental realization of a low-temperature quasi-Maxwell–Boltzmann plasma in an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) by employing a special energy sweep technique. A Maxwellian C IV plasma with electron temperatures in the range 10–40?eV is simulated in the Shanghai high-temperature superconducting EBIT (SH-HtscEBIT), which requires stable performance of the EBIT under the extreme condition of ultralow electron beam energy. The C IV spectra are obtained by an extreme ultraviolet spectrometer in the wavelength region 290–400?Å. The measured spectral line intensity ratios are compared with the results of calculations using a collisional-radiative model. The mean difference between the experimental and theoretical results in the simulated temperature region is about 14%.     

Energetic electron and ion beam generation in plasma openingswitches

In this paper, we present measurements of ion and electron flows in a nanosecond plasma opening switch (NPOS) and a microsecond plasma opening switch (MPOS), performed using charge collectors. In both experiments, an electron flow toward the anode, followed by an ion flow, were observed to propagate downstream toward the load side of the plasma during the plasma opening switch (POS) conduction. In the MPOS, ion acceleration was observed to propagate axially through the entire plasma. These results are in satisfactory agreement with the predictions of the electron magnetohydrodynamics (EHMD) theory and the results of fluid and particle-in-cell (PIC) code simulations. At the beginning of the POS opening, a high-current density (≈2 kA/cm²) short-duration (10-30 ns) axial ion flow downstream toward the load was observed in both experiments, with an electron beam in front of it. These ions are accelerated at the load side of the plasma and are accompanied by comoving electrons. In the NPOS, the ion energy reaches 1.35 MeV, whereas in the MPOS, the ion energy does not exceed 100 keV. We suggest that in the NPOS the dominant mechanism for the axial ion acceleration is collective acceleration by the space charge of the electron beam, while in the MPOS, axial ion acceleration is probably governed by the Hall field in the current carrying plasma     

Beam Probe Space-Potential Measurement in a Minimum-B Field

A measurement of plasma space potential in a minimum-B magnetic field has been made with a particle beam probe. The diagnostic technique is an extension of conventional heavy ion beam probing in that, among other features, the probing beam is neutral rather than ionized cesium and the parallel-plate electrostatic energy analyzer is fully characterized in a new manner which permits its use in complex magnetic confinement geometries.     

Magnetic control of particle injection in plasma based accelerators

The use of an external transverse magnetic field to trigger and to control electron self-injection in laser- and particle-beam driven wakefield accelerators is examined analytically and through full-scale particle-in-cell simulations. A magnetic field can relax the injection threshold and can be used to control main output beam features such as charge, energy, and transverse dynamics in the ion channel associated with the plasma blowout. It is shown that this mechanism could be studied using state-of-the-art magnetic fields in next generation plasma accelerator experiments.     

Interaction between plasma and electromagnetic field in ion source of 10 cm ECR ion thruster

Through diagnosing the plasma density and calculating the intensity of microwave electric field, four 10 cm electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources with different magnetic field structures are studied to reveal the inside interaction between the plasma, magnetic field and microwave electric field. From the diagnosing result it can be found that the plasma density distribution is controlled by the plasma generation and electron loss volumes associated with the magnetic field and microwave power level. Based on the cold plasma hypothesis and diagnosing result, the microwave electric field intensity distribution in the plasma is calculated. The result shows that the plasma will significantly change the distribution of the microwave electric field intensity to form a bow shape. From the boundary region of the shape to the center, the electric field intensity varies from higher to lower and the diagnosed density inversely changes. If the bow and its inside lower electric field intensity region are close to the screen grid, the performance of ion beam extracting will be better. The study can provide useful information for the creating of 10 cm ECR ion source and understanding its mechanism.     

A 6 MeV heavy ion beam probe for the Large Helical Device

A 6 MeV heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) is being designed for potential measurements on the Large Helical Device (LHD). This article describes a method to control the 3-D probing beam trajectories in the helical magnetic field, an estimate of beam attenuation and energy reduction arising from the long paths in the plasma, and a cylindrical analyzer as a candidate for the energy analyzer     

Diode Feedback Effects in Intense Relativistic Electron Beam Oscillators

The general operation of intense relativistic electron beam oscillators is described. These oscillators employ the well-known reflex triode phenomenon to plug the ends of a magnetically confined beam drift region by setting up efficient electron reflexing between the real cathode of an accelerator and a downstream virtual cathode. For a variety of magnetic traps and experimental conditions, it is shown that the inherent electron beam feedback from the drift region can be effectively utilized to reduce the electronion diode impedance and thereby permit good matching and energy transfer between the diode and a sub-ohm particle accelerator. A theoretical model is presented to interpret the observed phenomena.     

High Performance, Low Energy Ion Source

An ion accelerator system using one or two fine mesh tungsten grids has been used in a magnetic multipole containment ion source to produce a continuous positive ion beam variable over a wide range of beam currents and accelerator voltages. The ion source plasma is low noise and uniform to ± 1% density variation over 9 cm diameter. Beams up to 4 cm × 4 cm have been extracted which have low divergence (±1%), uniform current density (±2%), small ion energy speed, beam ion energy variable from 200V to several thousand volts, and current densities variable from ?A per cm2 to tens of milliamperes per cm2, limited only by acceleration grid power loading or sputtering.