Ion-kinetic-energy measurements and energy balance in a Z-pinch plasma at stagnation

The ion-kinetic energy throughout K emission in a stagnating plasma was determined from the Doppler contribution to the shapes of optically thin lines. X-ray spectroscopy with a remarkably high spectral resolution, together with simultaneous imaging along the pinch, was employed. Over the emission period, a drop of the ion-kinetic energy down to the electron thermal energy was seen. Axially resolved time-dependent electron-density measurements and absolute intensities of line and continuum allowed for investigating, for the first time, each segment of the pinch, the balance between the ion-kinetic energy at the stagnating plasma, and the total radiation emitted. Within the experimental uncertainties, the ion-kinetic energy is shown to account for the total radiation.     

Ion viscous heating in a magnetohydrodynamically unstable Z pinch at over 2 x 10(9) Kelvin

Pulsed power driven metallic wire-array Z pinches are the most powerful and efficient laboratory x-ray sources. Furthermore, under certain conditions the soft x-ray energy radiated in a 5 ns pulse at stagnation can exceed the estimated kinetic energy of the radial implosion phase by a factor of 3 to 4. A theoretical model is developed here to explain this, allowing the rapid conversion of magnetic energy to a very high ion temperature plasma through the generation of fine scale, fast-growing m = 0 interchange MHD instabilities at stagnation. These saturate nonlinearly and provide associated ion viscous heating. Next the ion energy is transferred by equipartition to the electrons and thus to soft x-ray radiation. Recent time-resolved iron spectra at Sandia confirm an ion temperature Ti of over 200 keV (2 x 10(9) degrees), as predicted by theory. These are believed to be record temperatures for a magnetically confined plasma.     

A Simple Model of Diffuse Vacuum arc Plasmas

The diffuse expanding plasma of low-current vacuum arcs is composed of and characterized by an almost thermal electron gas and an ion beam with high kinetic energy. It is described theoretically with a two-fluid hydrodynamic model. By application of thorough simplifications (such as isothermal conditions, constant composition, one-dimensional treatment) an analytical solution is found in the form of asymptotic power series of the plasma parameters. This solution is used to analyse the plasma ion acceleration, resulting in the statement that the three forces acting on ions (i.e. the electric field, the ion pressure gradient, the electron-ion friction) are of comparable importance, contributing to the total ion energy roughly 20%, 35%, and 45%, respectively (in case of Cu vapour arcs). As to the electric field and Ohm's law the solution reveals that the potential is falling towards the anode and that the diffusion current exceeds the opposite conduction current with the consequence of a negative resistance of the arc plasma. Finally, the approximations of the solution, limitations of the validity and possible extensions of the model are shortly discussed.     

杂质离子对等离子体边界参量的影响

采用一维流体模型研究了含有杂质离子的等离子体与器壁材料相互作用给边界等离子体参量带来的影响.通过数值模拟，研究了分别选用碳和钨作为器壁材料时，器壁温度不同情形下热发射产生的电子对等离子体器壁电势、电场强度、热发射电子流以及沉积器壁离子动能流的影响.研究结果发现，当面向等离子体材料表面温度升高时，器壁电势和热发射产生的电流将增加，器壁电场强度和离子沉积器壁动能流则会减小，并且钨作为器壁材料要比碳作为器壁材料对于等离子体边界参量影响更明显.此外，研究了钨作为器壁材料时，碳杂质离子（浓度和电荷数）对等离子体器壁参量的影响.     

铝丝阵Z箍缩辐射产生机理初步研究

利用一维非平衡辐射磁流体力学程序研究了铝丝阵内爆过程中的能量转化规律和辐射产生机理.细致讨论了Z箍缩过程中脉冲功率驱动器电磁能馈入等离子体,等离子体动能转化为内能以及通过一系列原子过程电子内能转化为X射线辐射的能量转化机理.结合离子布居信息深入分析了Z箍缩过程中的辐射产生机理.结果表明,在内爆压缩阶段,电离和激发过程占优,线辐射占据总辐射的绝大部分.在滞止时,离子大都处于裸核离化度,连续谱辐射达到峰值.在滞止附近,线辐射出现两个峰值.在膨胀过程中,光电复合过程优于三体复合,线辐射占总辐射的份额逐渐下降.     

Kinetic temperature and charge of a dust grain in weakly ionized gas-discharge plasmas

Analytical relations are given for estimating the energy of the stochastic motion of an individual dust grain heated by electrostatic ion oscillations in a weakly ionized gas-discharge plasma. Dust grain charging processes are analyzed, and an empirical approximation is obtained for the ion current to the grain surface. The processes are simulated under conditions similar to those of laboratory experiments on dusty plasmas. It is found that the kinetic temperature of a dust grain heated by electrostatic ion oscillations in a gas-discharge plasma can exceed the background gas temperature.     

Expansion Model of the Neutral Component in Vacuum Arc Spot Plasmas

Plasma generated by cathode spots in vacuum arcs expands towards the anode and the walls. In spite of a high degree of ionization (mostly), this plasma contains also a small but noticeable constituent of neutral atoms. Starting from the known analytical solution of a hydrodynamic model describing the plasma ions and electrons, the corresponding motion of neutrals is treated in a similar way. The results show: 1) The neutrals take part in the general plasma expansion; however, their final kinetic energy is lower (by about 50%) than the final energy of the ions. 2) The temperature of the neutrals also is lower than the ion temperature and decreases during expansion. 3) The acceleration of neutrals is caused partly by the pressure gradient, partly by interaction with the ions (friction); the forces diminish rapidly with increasing distance. Finally, the limitations of this approximate solution are discussed.     

Hot Ion Production in a Modified Penning Discharge

Ions with Maxwellian energy distributions and kinetic temperatures up to seven keV have been observed in a modified Penning discharge. Investigation of the plasma revealed two distinct spoke-like concentrations of charge, consisting respectively of ions and electrons, rotating with different velocities in the sheath between the plasma and the anode ring. Theoretical expressions are derived for the frequency of the ion and electron spoke rotation, for the ion kinetic temperature resulting from the ion spoke velocity, and for the ion heating efficiency. An extensive series of experimental measurements were made to check these theoretical expressions, and approximate agreement was obtained. It is shown that the ion kinetic temperature in the modified Penning discharge scales according to the relation Vi ~ Vani1/4/B1/2 where Va is the applied anode voltage, ni is the ion density in the sheath, and B is the magnetic field strength. The observed data demonstrate that the ion heating efficiency can be as high as several tens of percent.     

Z箍缩内爆过程中的能量转换机制研究

利用一维三温辐射磁流体力学程序对氖气和铝丝阵Z箍缩内爆过程中的能量转换过程进行了详细的数值研究，发现在内爆过程中离子和电子之间的碰撞能量交换是最主要的能量交换过程，其次是电子和光子之间的光电过程和轫致过程，而康普顿散射过程中的能量交换可以忽略不计；辐射出的x射线主要是在光电激发和光电复合过程中产生的，其次是在轫致辐射过程和康普顿散射过程中产生的.理论分析表明，辐射出的x射线能量可以超过，也可能小于其等离子体最大动能.数值模拟结果表明，在氖气Z箍缩中，辐射出的x射线能量没有超过其等离子体最大动能，而在铝丝阵列内爆中，辐射出的x射线能量超过了其等离子体最大动能，但小于磁压所做的功；在整个Z箍缩过程中欧姆加热能量是较小的. 关键词： Z箍缩 能量转换 x射线辐射     

Plasma expansions with a time-dependent electron temperature

The fundamental of ion acceleration from the laser-solid interactions is the theory for describing plasma expansions into a vacuum. In the time interval of tens of femtoseconds after the laser pulse reaches the target, the plasma reaches local-thermal equilibrium and then hydrodynamic equations are available. However, it cannot reach macro-thermal equilibrium and does not satisfy Boltzmann distribution. The plasma is non-quasi-neutral and a strong charge separation exists. In fact, the electron temperature is time-dependent and the changing law is governed by the energy transfer between electrons and ions. In this Letter, an analytical solution is obtained for plasma expansions into a vacuum to describe the ion acceleration with a time-dependent electron temperature. It is obtained that the dependence of the plasma density on the potential is different from Boltzmann distribution in the time-dependent case. The time-dependent electron temperature also induces the unsteady ablation rate of the ablation plane, which is defined as the interface between the plasma and the solid (or liquid or gas). The electric field is also obtained and discussed in detail. The particular solution is given to show the influence of the time-dependent electron temperature on the laser-ion acceleration in a particular case: the electron temperature is proportional to the square of time. From that, it is concluded that laser-ion acceleration is more efficient in the time-increasing electron-temperature case than that in the isothermal case. The time-dependence of electron temperature comes from the time-dependence of laser intensity and induces the different efficiency of the laser-ion acceleration. At the ablation plane, the electron density and velocity are also predicted and explained reasonably.     

An atomically controlled Si film formation process at low temperatures using atmospheric-pressure VHF plasma

To grow epitaxial Si films with atomic- and electronic-level perfection, a high-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process (>1000 °C) has been generally employed. To reduce the growth temperature below 600?°C but keeping a high deposition rate, other energy sources than thermal heating are required. Atmospheric pressure plasma CVD (AP-PCVD) is considered to be suitable for fabricating high-quality films at high deposition rates due both to the high radical density and to the low ion bombardment against the film surface, because the collision frequency among ions and neutral atoms is high. The present study focuses on the low-temperature growth of epitaxial Si, and experimentally demonstrates that AP-PCVD is capable of growing epitaxial Si films with high perfection applicable for semiconductor devices. It is found that the pre-growth cleaning of the Si surface by H(2) AP plasma is effective to grow high-purity Si films, and that the exposure of a film-growing surface to AP plasma during growth is important to form particle-free and defect-free Si films. From the experimental results and the first-principles molecular dynamics simulations of surface atomic reactions, it can be mentioned that both H atoms in the AP plasma and high-density He atoms having thermal kinetic energy contribute to the reduction of growth temperature by supplying considerable energy to the surface.     

毛细管放电复合X光激光机制的理论研究

 以毛细管放电泵浦产生的C等离子体中,复合机制产生类H-C离子3d_5/2-2p_3/2跃迁激光线为例,研究毛细管放电复合X光激光中的物理机制。提出在C气中掺入适量的惰气来抑制等离子体被压得过细以至密度过高;在设计实验方案时 ,应该使等离子体在电流峰值之后进入膨胀冷却阶段;还要适当降低毛细管中等离子体初始 密度以增大毛细管半径,使工艺上更容易实现。     

Nonlinear model for coherent electric field structures in the magnetosphere

A new pseudo-three-dimensional electron hole in a magnetized plasma is possible when the low-frequency ion dynamics is taken into account. The newly found nonlinear Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal stationary solution, whose parallel phase velocity ranges between almost zero and the electron thermal speed, has the form of a cylinder that is tilted relative to the magnetic field. These structures are interpreted as three-dimensional electron holes coupled with hydrodynamic vortices, and provide a possible theoretical explanation for the POLAR and FAST satellite observations of coherent structures characterized by bipolar spikes of the parallel electric field and large perpendicular ion kinetic energies.     

Z箍缩动态黑腔形成过程MULTI程序一维数值模拟

Z箍缩动态黑腔能够高效地将Z箍缩丝阵等离子体动能转换为黑腔辐射能,为驱动惯性约束靶丸聚变提供高品质的X射线辐射场.利用一维双温多群辐射磁流体力学程序MULTI-IFE,研究了"聚龙一号"装置驱动电流条件下的Z箍缩动态黑腔形成基本物理过程.数值模拟结果表明,在动态黑腔形成过程中,辐射热波的传播速度比冲击波的传播速度更快,比冲击波更早到达泡沫中心,使中心区域的泡沫在冲击波到达前就已具有较高的辐射温度.对于"聚龙一号"装置动态黑腔实验0180发次采用的负载参数,辐射热波和冲击波在泡沫中的传播速度分别约为36.1 cm/μs和17.6 cm/μs,黑腔辐射温度在黑腔形成初期约80 eV,在冲击波到达泡沫中心前可达100 eV以上,丝阵等离子体外表面发射的X射线能量集中在1000 eV以下.本文给出了程序采用的计算模型、美国"土星"装置丝阵内爆计算结果和"聚龙一号"装置动态黑腔实验0180发次模拟结果.     

Hydrodynamics of resonance oscillations of columns of inelastic particles

We study oscillations of a one-dimensional (1D) column of N slightly inelastic particles, produced by a piston vibrating at one end of a closed tube. It is found that for large enough vibrational amplitudes of the piston, the column oscillates periodically with the period equal to the vibrational period. The oscillation patterns are governed by the shock waves propagating across the column. The averaged kinetic energy per particle is shown to be proportional to the square of the vibrational frequency, omega. This energy also strongly depends on the vibrational amplitude. The maximal value of this kinetic energy achievable by these external vibrations is found to be of order omega(2)L(2), where L is the total volume (length) of the tube free of particles. The above results on the column resonance oscillations are also predicted by a 3D hydrodynamic model of an inelastic granular gas.     

Ion and photon emission from laser-generated titanium-plasma

Titanium-plasma was obtained by nanosecond pulsed laser ablation technique. A Nd:Yag laser was employed to irradiate titanium in vacuum. The ion emission from plasma was on-line monitored by an electrostatic ion energy analyzer which permitted to measure the ion kinetic energy and charge state. The visible photon emission was monitored by an optical spectrometer. The ion energy, charge state and angular distributions, the temperature and density of the non-equilibrium plasma were investigated. The temperature gradient of the plasma plume was evaluated and discussed.     

A multi-fluid stagnation-flow plasma model with self-consistenttreatment of the collisional sheath

A two-temperature, multifluid model of a plasma in stagnation flow against a cooled, electrically biased surface is presented. The model couples bulk fluid motion, species diffusion and convection, electron and bulk energy equations, and net finite-rate ionization with Poisson's equation for the electric field in a generalized formulation. Application of the model to argon flow reveals important interactions between thermal, hydrodynamic, chemical and electrical boundary layers, with implications for current-limiting regimes of arcjet operation. The response of a planar Langmuir probe in contact with a collisional, flowing plasma is examined. Determinations of current-voltage behavior compare well with simple theory, including dependence on incident plasma velocity. Departures from this theory arise from boundary-layer perturbations near the electrode surface, away from free-stream conditions. The computational model incorporates a finite-rate catalytic recombination of ions and electrons at the electrode surface together with a specified current     

Z箍缩等离子体磁重联现象

分析了磁重联对晕等离子体加速和能量平衡过程的影响。分析表明晕等离子体向轴心的加速过程分为两个阶段:第一阶段晕等离子体在磁压或热压(依赖于丝数)作用下向轴心运动;第二阶段晕等离子体由于磁重联过程被加速到阿尔芬速度,并到达轴心形成先驱等离子体。估算表明重联层的厚度与离子的惯性长度具有相同的数量级,电流片内电子运动和离子的运动是解耦合的。在内爆滞止阶段电荷分离产生强的径向电场,这个电场将磁能转化为等离子体轴向(z方向)动能,内爆动能和轴向动能共同转化为X射线辐射能,以此解释了X射线能量大于内爆动能这一观测结果。分析了磁重联电磁脉冲的性质,对于1 MA驱动条件,电磁脉冲的总能量可达kJ量级。     

Zero-Dimensional Model to Study the Effectiveness of Plasma Heating and Thermal Energy Confinement in Globus-M Tokamak in Ohmic Heating Modes

Experimental study of thermal energy confinement in magnetic confinement devices is one of the fundamental problems in plasma physics. The data processing technique covering kinetic and magnetic measurements performed for the Globus-M tokamak is described. A zero-dimensional code has been developed on the basis of this approach making it possible to calculate important discharge parameters during the experiment (between discharges): the electron and ion stored thermal energy content, plasma effective charge, and confinement time. Good agreement of the zero-dimensional calculations and ASTRA modeling indicates that this approach can be applied for routine data processing in Globus-M in view of the specifics of the device.