Variation of plasma parameters in a modified mode of plasma production in a double plasma device

A modified mode of plasma production in a double plasma device is presented and plasma parameters are controlled in this configuration. Here plasma is produced by applying a discharge voltage between the hot filaments in the source (cathode) and the target magnetic cage (anode) of the device. In this configuration, the hot electron emitting filaments are present only in the source and the magnetic cage of this is kept at a negative bias such that due to the repulsion of the cage bias, the primary electrons can go to the grounded target and produce plasma there. The plasma parameters can be controlled by varying the voltages applied to the source magnetic cage and the separation grid of the device.     

Production of high-current large-area H- beams by abucket-type ion source equipped with a magnetic filter

A negative-ion-based neutral beam injection (NBI) system is planned for plasma heating of the Large Helical Device (LHD). We have developed a negative ion source, which is 1/3 the scale of the source for the NBI. A magnetic filter held was generated by external permanent magnets to lower the electron temperature in a large-area bucket plasma source (35 cm×62 cm) for efficient H^- production. We investigated the magnetic field configuration and found a low electron temperature high density plasma (<1 eV, 10¹²/cm³) could be achieved with an optimized configuration, The filter strength (B_max=70 G, line-integral flux=780 G cm at the center axis of the source) was proved to be enough to lower the electron temperature below 1 eV at high arc discharge power (100 kW) and low pressure (0.4 Pa). We injected cesium vapor into the plasma source to enhance H^- production efficiency and obtained a 16.2-A H^- beam current (31 mA/cm², 47 kV) using a large-area, four-grid electrostatic extraction system (25 cm×50 cm). This satisfied the development target (>15 A: 1/3 current of LHD ion source). Based on the results, we are designing a negative ion source for the LHD     

Maser based on cyclotron resonance in a decaying plasma

The features of generating electromagnetic radiation in a two-level cyclotron maser whose active medium is a decaying nonequilibrium plasma confined in a magnetic field with the mirror configuration have been examined. It has been shown that, even in the absence of a continuously acting source of nonequilibrium particles (inversion of the medium), the system can exhibit the regimes of the quasimonochromatic or pulse generation of radiation owing to a fast monotonic decrease in the instability threshold that is characteristic of the plasma decay. The theory is confirmed by the results of observations of the burst activity of the decaying pulsed-discharge plasma under the conditions of the electron cyclotron resonance in the direct axisymmetric magnetic trap.     

Experimental Investigations of Discharge Characteristics and Plasma Parameters of a Cylindrical Cathode Discharge in a Magnetic Field. II. Plasma Parameters

The experimental determination of the main plasma parameters (i.e. plasma potential, plasma density, electron temperature, intensity of plasma radiation) in the negative glow of a cylindrical cathode discharge in magnetic field is presented. The influence of electrode configuration, gas pressure, discharge current and magnetic field on plasma parameters and their radial distribution is analysed.     

微型电子回旋共振离子推力器离子源结构优化实验研究

微型电子回旋共振(ECR)离子推力器可满足微小航天器空间探测的推进需求. 为此, 本文开展直径20 mm的微型ECR离子源结构优化实验研究. 根据放电室内静磁场和ECR谐振区的分布特点, 研究不同微波耦合输入位置对离子源性能的影响, 结果表明环形天线处在高于ECR谐振强度的强磁场区域时, 微波与等离子体实现无损耦合, 电子共振加热效果显著, 引出离子束流较大. 根据放电室电磁截止特性, 结合微波电场计算, 研究放电容积对离子源性能的影响, 实验表明过长或过短的腔体长度会导致引出离子束流下降甚至等离子体熄灭. 经优化后离子源性能测试表明, 在入射微波功率2.1 W、氩气流量14.9 μg/s下, 可引出离子束流5.4 mA, 气体放电损耗和利用率分别为389 W/A和15%.     

Stationary structure of a high-frequency discharge maintained by a distributed electromagnetic source in the presence of an external magnetic field

The stationary structure of an axisymmetric high-frequency discharge maintained by a given source in an external dc magnetic field is investigated. The source is assumed to be a current wave that travels over the discharge tube surface in the direction of the external magnetic field. The source current has a single azimuthal component and its frequency belongs to the lower hybrid range. The main emphasis is placed on the special case where the electron heat conduction length across the external magnetic field exceeds considerably the tube radius. The dependences of discharge plasma parameters on the current amplitude and propagation constant along the tube have been found for this case. The results of numerical calculations of the distributions of the field and the power of the Joule loss in a discharge are presented.     

Penetration of a low-pressure reflex-discharge plasma into a hollow electrode

It is shown experimentally that the plasma of a hollow-cathode reflex discharge is characterized by a nonequilibrium electron velocity distribution. The parameters of the electron distribution, which is approximated by a superposition of two Maxwellian distributions with different temperatures, are estimated. The penetration of the discharge plasma into the hollow cathode at various cathode potentials and a gas pressure of ∼10^{\t− 2} Pa is studied. It is shown that the plasma parameters in the hollow electrode depend not only on the parameters of the reflex-discharge plasma, but also on the magnitude and configuration of the magnetic and electric fields in the plasma expansion region. It is shown that the plasma penetration can be accompanied by quasineutrality violation and the formation of space-charge double layers. Experiments confirm that the ion current from the nonequilibrium plasma exceeds the Bohm current.     

Sheath and plasma parameters in a magnetized plasma system

The variation of electron temperature and plasma density in a magnetized N₂ plasma is studied experimentally in presence of a grid placed at the middle of the system. Plasma leaks through the negatively biased grid from the source region into the diffused region. It is observed that the electron temperature increases with the magnetic field in the diffused region whereas it decreases in the source region of the system for a constant grid biasing voltage. Also, investigation is done to see the change of electron temperature with grid biasing voltage for a constant magnetic field. This is accompanied by the study of the variation of sheath structure across the grid for different magnetic field and grid biasing voltage as well. It reveals that with increasing magnetic field and negative grid biasing voltage, the sheath thickness expands.     

Instabilities Driven by an Intense Beam in a Plasma-Filled Dielectric-Lined Waveguide Immersed in a Finite Axial Magnetic Field

A linear analysis is described on stabilities driven by an intense relativistic electron beam in an infinitely long, plasma-filled, and dielectric-lined circular waveguide immersed in a finite strength axial magnetic field. A dispersion equation is derived from the cold fluid theory and solved numerically. Beam-plasma instabilities due to interaction between beam modes and the Trivelpiece-Gould modes appear as well as the Cherenkov and the cyclotron Cherenkov instabilities. Parametric researches are carried out varying magnetic field strength, plasma density, and dielectric constant. Effects of a finite magnetic field and plasma filling are discussed in connection with the possibilities of using this system as a microwave radiation source.     

Generation of homogeneous plasma in a low-pressure glow discharge

The possibility of producing homogeneous plasma in a low-pressure discharge with the use of a hollow anode or hollow cathode is analyzed. It is shown that, in contrast to the high-pressure discharge, where uniform ionization is needed to produce homogeneous plasma, in the low-pressure discharge, nearly uniform radial distribution of the plasma parameters can be achieved under nonuniform ionization conditions by increasing the ionization probability at the system periphery and reducing it near the system axis. It is shown that the magnetic field can facilitate generation of the homogeneous plasma instead of interfering with it.     

Particle-in-cell simulation for different magnetic mirror effects on the plasma distribution in a cusped field thruster

Magnetic mirror used as an efficient tool to confine plasma has been widely adopted in many different areas especially in recent cusped field thrusters. In order to check the influence of magnetic mirror effect on the plasma distribution in a cusped field thruster, three different radii of the discharge channel(6 mm, 4 mm, and 2 mm) in a cusped field thruster are investigated by using Particle-in-Cell Plus Monte Carlo(PIC-MCC) simulated method, under the condition of a fixed axial length of the discharge channel and the same operating parameters. It is found that magnetic cusps inside the small radius discharge channel cannot confine electrons very well. Thus, the electric field is hard to establish. With the reduction of the discharge channel's diameter, more electrons will escape from cusps to the centerline area near the anode due to a lower magnetic mirror ratio. Meanwhile, the leak width of the cusped magnetic field will increase at the cusp. By increasing the magnetic field strength in a small radius model of a cusped field thruster, the negative effect caused by the weak magnetic mirror effect can be partially compensated. Therefore, according to engineering design, the increase of magnetic field strength can contribute to obtaining a good performance, when the radial distance between the magnets and the inner surface of the discharge channel is relatively big.     

Occurrence of a gap in the spectrum of magnetoplasma excitations of a two-dimensional electron disk subjected to a strong in-plane magnetic field

The effect of a parallel magnetic field on the dispersion of bulk and edge magnetoplasmons in a disk-shaped two-dimensional electron system is investigated. It is found that the anisotropy of the electron effective mass that appears in a parallel magnetic field lifts the degeneracy of plasma oscillations in the disk. This is accompanied by the occurrence of a gap in the spectrum of magnetoplasmons, and the magnetic dispersion of these excitations changes from a linear to a parabolic one. The width of the gap is determined by the difference between the frequencies of plasma oscillations along the field and transverse to the field and grows quadratically with the in-plane field strength.     

Spectroscopic study of a brush cathode plasma in a magnetic field

The brush cathode helium discharge in the magnetic field has been operated stably at discharge currents larger than those without magnetic field. The diameter of the plasma column has been determined by the configuration of the magnetic field. The measurements of the spectral intensities of the recombination continuum followed by the 2³S-n³P series reveals that the electron density is 1·8 × 10¹³ cm^-3 and the electron temperature is 0·17 eV at a discharge current of 500 mA and a pressure of 0·9 torr for a magnetic flux density of 1·3 kG. The principal quantum number for line merging is 20.     

Effect of electron magnetic trapping in a plasma immersion ion implantation system

In this work we describe a two-dimensional computer simulation of magnetic field enhanced plasma immersion implantation system. Negative bias voltage of 10.0 kV is applied to a cylindrical target located on the axis of a grounded vacuum chamber filled with uniform nitrogen plasma. A pair of external coils creates a static magnetic field with main vector component along the axial direction. Thus, a system of crossed E×B field is generated inside the vessel forcing plasma electrons to rotate in azimuthal direction. In addition, the axial variation of the magnetic field intensity produces magnetic mirror effect that enables axial particle confinement. It is found that high-density plasma regions are formed around the target due to intense background gas ionization by the trapped electrons. Effect of the magnetic field on the sheath dynamics and the implantation current density of the PIII system is investigated. By changing the magnetic field axial profile (varying coils separation) an enhancement of about 30% of the retained dose can be achieved. The results of the simulation show that the magnetic mirror configuration brings additional benefits to the PIII process, permitting more precise control of the implanted dose.     

Spectroscopic measurement of the magnetic field in a high density plasma

It is demonstrated that a magnetic field determination is possible by spectroscopic measurements for a dense plasma at an electron density of 10¹⁸ cm^-3 produced in a z-pinch discharge. For this purpose, polarization effects on the H_α-line are analysed. The emission line itself cannot be used for the investigation because, at these high densities, its half-width is of the order of 100 Å. It is found, however, that the field strength can be deduced from the absorption line properties.     

Self-Focusing and Channeling of Wave Beams in a Nonuniform Magnetic Field under Conditions of Ionization Nonlinearity

We study experimentally the effect of ionization self-channeling of waves at the whistler frequencies in a nonuniform magnetic field. It is shown that the formed plasma nonuniformity localizes the radiation from a short high-frequency source inside a discharge channel stretched along an external magnetic field. We found a possibility to control the parameters of the formed plasma-wave channel as well as the dispersion characteristics and structure of wave fields in wide limits by varying the magnetic field in a specified spatial region. We propose a method for the formation of a plasma resonator and test this method in the laboratory experiment. The spatial plasma and field distributions in this resonator are similar to those along a geomagnetic field tube of the magnetospheric resonator. We reveal the plasma instability in such a resonator in the vicinity of the frequency of electron bounce oscillations between magnetic mirrors.     

Ionization formation of plasma inhomogeneity by the near-zone field of a magnetic-type source in a magnetized plasma

An investigations is made of the steady-state structure of a plasma inhomogeneity arising as a result of high-frequency heating and additional ionization of a background magnetized plasma by the near-zone field of a magnetic-type source (ring electric current). It is assumed that the source axis is parallel to an external magnetic field; the source frequency belongs in the low hybrid band. The main attention is focused on the particular case (important for possible applications) when the characteristic longitudinal and transverse scales of density distribution considerably exceed the corresponding scales of distribution of the electron temperature and of the source field. Simplified equations for the near-zone field of the source, the electron temperature, and the plasma density are written for this particular case. Based on the numerical solution of these equations, steady-state distributions of plasma parameters in the formed plasma inhomogeneity are found. It is demonstrated that a plasma inhomogeneity proves to be markedly extended along the external magnetic field. It is found that, for the values of the source current that are attainable under the conditions of active ionospheric and model laboratory experiments, the maximum plasma density in a nonuniform plasma may appreciably exceed the background value.     

磁场引起的潘宁离子源阻抗变化研究

以11 MV回旋加速器潘宁离子源作为研究对象,通过调节磁场强度研究了磁场对工作在弧放电模式下的潘宁离子源的影响规律,深入分析了该放电模式下的放电自持机制、磁场引起的阻抗变化规律、异常发光现象。实验在6 mL/min氢气流量下,保持离子源弧流不变,调节磁场强度,记录磁场强度对弧压的影响。实验结果表明:二次电子发射机制与热电子发射机制在潘宁源自持放电过程中发挥了同样重要的作用;在强磁场情况下离子源阻抗受到磁场变化影响不大,在磁场小于0.15 T时磁场的作用才变得明显;当磁场减弱至等离子体进入阻抗增长区后,存在一段等离子体剧烈放电、光强突然增加的区域。在实验的基础上,得到了设计潘宁源的启发,并分析了磁场对等离子体电导率影响的微观物理机制,这些有助于研制或使用工作在弧放电模式下的潘宁离子源。     

筒内高功率脉冲磁控放电的电磁控制与优化

高功率脉冲磁控溅射(Hi PIMS)技术被提出以来就受到广泛关注,其较高的溅射材料离化率结合适当的电磁控制,可产生高致密度、高结合力和高综合性能的涂层,但其沉积速率低、放电不稳定、溅射材料离化率差异较大.我们设计了一种筒形溅射源,通过对结构的设计优化,利用类空心阴极放电效应,使问题得到解决.然而其靶面切向磁场不均匀,电子逃逸严重,进而造成等离子体密度偏低,且放电不均匀.本文通过对其放电和等离子体分布进行仿真,提出电场阻挡和磁铁补偿两种方案,研究了不同电场控制条件下的放电行为和等离子体分布.结果表明:增加电子阻挡屏极可以生成势阱,从而有效抑制电子从边缘的逸出;优化后的磁铁补偿可以显著提高靶面横向磁场的均匀性及靶面利用率.两种方案同时作用时,Hi PIMS放电刻蚀环面积更大、且更加均匀.     

The Influences of the Magnetic Field Strength on the Magnetic Confinement of Primary Electrons in an Ion Source

This paper deals with the simulation of trajectories of energetic electrons under the influence of a multi-cusp magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet assembly in a ring cusp geometry which is designed for supporting a plasma based ion source. The primary electrons are assumed as being emitted from a cathode located coaxially with the cylindrical discharge chamber. The volume of the region occupied by the electron trajectories and the magnetic trapping time were evaluated and plots are presented showing the effects of the surface magnetic field strength of the magnets on the volume and the mean confinement time of primary electrons in the ion source.