Mode-coupling assisted electron accelerations by a plasma wave

The acceleration of electrons by a plasma wave in the presence of density ripple in plasma has been investigated. Plasma density ripple can excite higher harmonics of different phase velocities of the fundamental plasma wave. The combined role of the different harmonics of the plasma wave contributes significantly in electrons energy gain during acceleration by the fundamental plasma wave. Our calculation shows that the plasma electrons gain considerable energy during the acceleration by the plasma waves in the presence of a density ripple in plasma. The initial electron energy and the ripple density play an important role for the acceleration of an electron.     

Plasma generation for the plasma cutting process

This study is an attempt to estimate the overall properties, viz. the thermal power and force, of an intense plasma jet produced by a plasma cutting torch, and to relate the properties of the plasma to the diameter of the nozzle of the plasma torch and the flow rate of plasma-forming gas. For cutting metallic plates using a thermal plasma, a narrow plasma jet is produced by means of a transferred electric are between an electrode in a plasma torch and the material to be cut. The power density and pressure exerted by the plasma jet on the material at the region of cut needs to be high so that a straight cut, without dress at the bottom of the plate, can be obtained. A simple theory to describe the behavior of the arc in a plasma cutting torch has been developed to predict the are radius, pressure, and arc voltage at the nozzle exit as a function of are current for a range of nozzle sizes and air flow rates. The results obtained are in good agreement with the measured values for an air plasma cutting torch nominally rated for 100-A operation. The relationships between the mass flow rate of plasma gas, plasma power, and arc force have been discussed in the light of design of plasma torches for plasma cutting     

Observation of magnetically induced transparency in a classical magnetized plasma

We report the first demonstration of magnetically induced transmission in an opaque magnetized plasma. Magnetically induced transmission in a plasma is a classical analog to the electromagnetically induced transparency in atomic systems. The transmission of radiation through an axially magnetized plasma is obtained by applying an additional one dimensional transverse spatial periodic magnetic field. The transverse-periodic magnetic field uncouples the right-hand electromagnetic wave from interacting with plasma electrons, rendering the plasma band-stop transparent. This provides means to control the extent of absorption of electromagnetic radiation in magnetized plasma.     

Surface properties of platinum thin films as a function of plasma treatment conditions

We examined the surface properties of platinum (Pt) thin films exposed to oxygen and argon plasma treatments and compared them to as-deposited Pt films. The surface wetting properties, refractive index and extinction coefficient of the Pt films were monitored as a function of time after different plasma treatments. Surfaces treated with an oxygen plasma were dramatically different from as-deposited Pt, whereas argon plasma treated surfaces were similar to as-deposited films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of platinum oxide on films treated with an oxygen plasma, while such oxide diminished after argon plasma treatment. Surface morphology studied with atomic force microscopy indicated a strong dependence of the surface roughness of the Pt films on the power and duration of the argon plasma used for the treatment. Based on these studies, an oxygen plasma treatment followed by a brief low-power argon plasma etch was developed for the purpose of regenerating clean and metallic Pt surfaces, and at the same time providing the smoothest possible surface morphology.     

激光驱动的毛细管等离子体尾波特性

基于激光等离子体尾波解析模型,分析了毛细管中激光与等离子体相互作用,数值计算了尾波中基本物理量。计算结果表明:毛细管等离子体尾波幅度与毛细管半径有关,在较小的毛细管中尾波幅度更大。在相同的激光与等离子体参数情况下,与无界等离子体尾波相比较,毛细管等离子体尾波中电子空泡纵向尺度、电场强度峰值、角向自生磁场强度峰值提高了60%,这些特征都表明毛细管等离子体尾波更有利于电子加速。     

小功率等离子体射流的流特性

采用焓探针对小功率(5kW)热喷涂等离子体射流的焓、温度和速度进行了测量和计算。研究了气体成分、流量、电弧电压和电流对等离子流体的焓、温度和速度分布的影响。结果表明,对于单一氩气等离子体,当使用新喷嘴时,增大氩气流量能够使喷嘴内部电弧弧根向出口方向移动,从而增加等离子体射流的焓、温度和速度。对于Ar-N2等离子体,增加气体中氮气的含量,会提高等离子电弧电压,在同样的输入功率下,改变等离子电流和电压对等离子体的焓、温度和速度影响较小。对于Ar-N2等离子体,增加氢气含量会明显地提高等离子射流的速度和热传递。     

Effects of electron‐absorbing boundaries on the plasma parameters of a hot‐filament discharge

In this paper we investigate theoretically and experimentally the plasma parameters in a double‐plasma device in the presence of an additional electron‐absorbing boundary. The latter is formed by an electrode of variable size immersed in the plasma. It is found that, depending on its size and bias potential, such an anode can considerably influence the plasma parameters. Good qualitative and fair quantitative agreement between theoretical predictions and laboratory measurements of the plasma parameters is found for various discharge conditions. In addition we discuss the consequences of our results with respect to the existence conditions of anode‐type double layers in double‐plasma devices.     

Time-dependent nested-well plasma trap

When arranged in a nested-well configuration, plasma traps of the Penning/Malmberg type become potentially suitable for confining neutral plasmas. The nested-well configuration allows confinement of overlapping electron and ion plasmas. With an ion plasma overlapped by an equal-charge-density electron plasma, the ion density can exceed the severe ion density limit which occurs within traditional single-well plasma traps. With a nested-well configuration which is time dependent, overlapping electron and singly charged-ion plasmas can be confined at the same temperature. Possible uses of thermal neutral plasmas confined within time-dependent nested-well plasma traps include basic plasma science studies and plasma processing applications     

Simulation of coulomb explosion of metals

Coulomb explosion of a metal exposed to an intense picosecond laser pulse is numerically simulated using a plasma layer as an example. It is shown that plasma electrons leave the plasma layer under the action of the ponderomotive force opposing the laser radiation field gradient, whereas plasma ions fly away in the field of the self-space charge.     

Effect of Longitudinal Magnetic Field on the Spread of Erosion Laser Plasma in Vacuum and Generation of Plasma Magnetic Fields

Dynamics of erosion laser plasma in vacuum and generation of magnetic field by moving plasma (in particular, in the presence of external static magnetic field oriented along the direction of plasma motion) are experimentally studied. Radial confinement of the spread of plasma, a decrease in the electrification of target upon plasma formation, and an increase in the induction of the plasma magnetic field by a factor of 10–15 are revealed at an induction of the external magnetic field of about 0.35 T. Dependences of the induction of the plasma magnetic field on the power density of the laser radiation are determined for the above regimes.     

Numerical Analysis of the Joule Heating Effect on Plasma Heat Transfer

The application of thermal plasmas particularly in the field of plasma chemistry and plasma material processing requires a basic understanding of the heat transfer process. This paper is concerned with an analysis of the heat transfer to a positively biased body exposed to a plasma flow. Because of the induced current flow due to the biasing potential, the plasma surrounding the biased body will experience an increase in temperature caused by Joule heating. The fraction ? of the dissipated heat which is transferred to the body is calculated for an atmospheric argon plasma flow at temperatures between 104 and 2 × 104K and Reynolds numbers of 40 and zero. The results indicate that ? increases with increasing plasma temperature for Re = 40 and decreases slightly with increasing plasma temperature for Re = 0. As the Re number increases at constant plasma temperature ? decreases.     

Resonant interaction of an electromagnetic wave with an inhomogeneous plasma slab

Resonant interaction at oblique incidence of an electromagnetic wave on an inhomogeneous plasma slab is studied. The time evolution of this interaction is solved numerically from two-fluid equations, adiabatic equation for electron pressure and from Maxwell equations. It is shown that the electromagnetic energy of an incident wave is transformed both into the heat energy and into the energy of plasma oscillations in the direction of density gradient. The distribution of the transformed energy between the heat energy and the energy of plasma oscillations is strongly dependent on the plasma temperature. The ratio of heat energy to the energy of plasma oscillations is growing with growing temperature. The plasma oscillations are generated by magnetic induction of the penetrating wave. In a cold plasma they are generated especially in the overdense region and their frequency is equal to local plasma frequency. The electric field in the direction of plasma gradient has a form of a wave packet whose envelope reaches a maximum at resonance. The characteristic wavelength in the wave packet decreases and the amplitude of the packet increases with the time.     

Enhanced plasma transport due to neutral depletion

The dynamics of plasma and neutral gas in pressure balance are solved self-consistently to reveal the impact of neutral depletion. Analytical relations that determine the electron temperature, the rate of ionization, and the plasma density are derived. Because of the inherent coupling of ionization and transport, an increase of the energy invested in ionization can nonlinearly enhance the transport process. We show that such an enhancement of the plasma transport due to neutral depletion can result in an unexpected decrease of the plasma density when power is increased, despite the increase of the flux of generated plasma.     

Parameters of the beam plasma formed by a forevacuum plasma source of a ribbon beam in zero-field transportation system

We have studied the generation of the beam plasma formed by a forevacuum plasma source of a ribbon electron beam in the conditions of its transportation without an accompanying magnetic field. The ignition conditions in the beam transportation region of the beam–plasma discharge producing a plasma formation of the plasma sheet type with a plasma concentration of ~10¹⁶ m^–3 and an electron temperature of 1–2.5 eV have been determined. The attained values of parameters and the sizes of the plasma formation make it possible to use it in technologies of the surface modification of planar extended articles.     

Plasmon Mechanism of Overdense Plasma Heating

This paper attempts to introduce an effective mechanism of plasma heating of an overdense plasma layer. This mechanism is directly related to the phenomena of anomalous transparency of an overdense plasma layer. High temperature is achieved due to the resonant excitation of the coupled surface waves on both sides of the plasma layer. The dissipative energy of the collisional effects appears as an effective heating source in this mechanism. The solutions of the heat equation under the resonant situations are obtained in the steady and unsteady states conditions. The main factors, affecting the considered plasma heating mechanism, are also discussed. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Observation of the decay instability of a beam plasma wave

The spontaneous decay of a beam plasma wave into an ion acoustic and an electron plasma wave has been observed during the interaction of a monoenergetic electron beam with a helium and a neon plasma.     

太赫兹波在飞行器等离子体鞘套中的传输特性

针对临近空间飞行器的黑障问题,根据模拟的RAM C-Ⅲ飞行器周围的流场分布结果,计算了等离子体电子密度和碰撞频率,并根据其分布建立了非均匀的等离子体模型。在此基础上,利用散射矩阵方法分析了太赫兹波在等离子体中的传输特性随着等离子体密度、等离子体厚度、等离子体碰撞频率的变化以及外加磁场对传输特性的影响。结果表明,太赫兹波的传输损耗随着等离子体电子密度和等离子体厚度的增加而增加,而碰撞频率的增加会使得透射率先减小后增加。在外加磁场的作用下,左旋太赫兹波的传输特性会得到改善;而对于右旋太赫兹波,磁场的施加会引入吸收峰,并且随着磁感应强度的增加向高频方向移动。     

Generation of Broadband High Harmonics through Linear Mode Conversion in Inhomogeneous Plasmas

The generation of high order harmonics from an inhomogeneous ovderdense plasma target irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse is studied by numerical simulation. During such interaction, ultrafast electron bunches are generated and excite electron plasma oscillations as they pass through the overdense target. These plasma oscillations will emit high-frequency electromagnetic emission by linear mode conversion. Instead of the integer harmonies generation, the emission appears with a broadband and even continuous spectrum corresponding to the electron plasma frequency range of the inhomogeneous plasma density.     

Oblique Electron Thermal Waves in a Magnetized Plasma

Propagations of an oblique electron thermal mode under the electron plasma frequency without boundary effects are investigated experimentally and theoretically in a magnetized plasma. The phase, ray, and group velocity surfaces of the electron thermal mode are obtained in a polar coordinate. The experimental observation of the electron mode radiated from a point source is found to be in fair accord with the theoretical wave fronts which are obtained from the ray velocity surface. Wave fronts and ray trajectories of an oblique electron thermal mode radiated from a point source are numerically obtained in an inhomogeneous magnetized plasma with a use of an electrostatic kinetic theory. The spatial numerical results are indicated mainly below the electron plasma and cyclotron frequencies. Reflections of the mode in the plasma density lower than the electron plasma frequency are made clear numerically.