Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities of a pinch resonant streamer microwave discharge

A pulsed freely localized resonant streamer microwave discharge in air and high-pressure hydrogen in the field of a linearly polarized standing electromagnetic wave in a two-mirror open cavity is investigated. The observed characteristic features of the discharge are treated as consequences of the sausage and wriggle instabilities of the plasma channel with a longitudinal microwave current contracted by its magnetic self-field.     

Range of existence of self-sustained, subcritical microwave streamer discharges

Data are presented from a study of subcritical microwave streamer discharges in air in an electromagnetic beam. It is shown that, depending on the degree of subcriticality, this kind of discharge can have two forms: a self-sustained discharge and a discharge that is attached to the initiating trigger. The range of subcriticality for the initial field is determined as a function of air pressure within which the self-sustained developed discharge form exists. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 19–24 (November 1999)     

缩比间隙中辉光放电相似性的初步研究

为了研究缩比实验在气体放电中的有效性, 对缩比间隙中的低气压氩气放电进行了数值模拟. 根据气体放电相似性的猜想, 如果间隙气压p和间隙距离d的乘积为常量, 即p₁d₁=p₂d₂, 并且约化电场E/p 在两个间隙中的空间分布相同, 那么这两个放电间隙的放电特性存在相似性. 数值模拟中设置三个缩比间隙: 气隙A的长度为30 mm, 气压为1 Torr (1 Torr=133.322 Pa); 气隙B的长度为15 mm, 气压为2 Torr; 气隙C的长度为10 mm, 气压为3 Torr. 仿真结果表明, 三个间隙均为辉光放电, 并存在明显的阴极位降区. 间隙A, B, C 的阴极位降区的厚度d_C分别为2.71, 1.35和0.87 mm, 相对应的pd值几乎相同, 即pd_C≈2.70 Torr·mm. 这与氩气辉光放电Paschen曲线最低点(pd≈2.86 Torr·mm)相近. 缩比间隙的放电参数的特性(如工作电压、电场、电流密度、电子密度和离子密度的沿“空间”px的分布)的数值计算结果与放电相似性猜想所预计的结果一致. 所以, 可以认为放电相似性猜想适用于低气压氩气缩比间隙的辉光放电. 关键词： 放电相似性 辉光放电 缩比间隙     

Effect of the gas dynamic structure of a flow on the parameters of a self-sustained discharge. I

A study is made of self-sustained glow discharges in transverse gas flows and jets. The distributions of the discharge current and voltage over the elements of a sectioned cathode array are measured along with the temperature of the cathode array. The limiting current and discharge voltage corresponding to the transition from a uniformly burning discharge to a contracted state are measured. Two-dimensional and one-dimensional systems of equations for the gas dynamics and vibrational kinetics are used for a numerical analysis of the experimental data, and the results are used to determine the character of the distribution of E/N in the discharge, where E is the electric field and N is the molecular density. The heat balance of the cathode array is calculated. A model is proposed for self-consistently calculating the parameters of the gas flow, the distribution of the current over the cathode array, and the discharge voltage, as well as the values of the ballast resistances. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 42–48 (November 1999)     

Propagation of a high-pressure microwave discharge in prebreakdown fields: Formation of plasma structures

A 3D model is developed, which describes the propagation of an initiated high-pressure microwave discharge in a linearly polarized wave beam. The equations for the electric field amplitude are solved self-consistently with the set of equations of plasmochemical kinetics. Plasma structures of the experimentally observed “snake” and “chain” types are obtained using this model. The calculation results enable one to determine the conditions of formation of one or another spatial structure, as well as the parameters of the plasmoids being formed. The results of calculation of the discharge propagation toward the radiation source are compared with the available experimental data.     

Filling of a Plane Slit Volume with a Glow Discharge in a Transverse Magnetic Field and Its Effect on the Discharge Contraction

We consider a dc glow discharge in a plane slit volume with electrodes in the slit plane in a magnetic field transverse to the current, which has been studied experimentally. As in the experiment, the discharge is artificially confined at one of the dielectric boundaries of the volume and propagates to the opposite dielectric boundary until it is stabilized. It is shown using a 2D calculation of the nonstationary process that the discharge in a magnetic field occupies a noticeably larger volume (with a lower current density at the electrodes) than in zero magnetic field. The effect of the magnetic field is also manifested in that it hampers the contraction of the discharge, substantially elevating the threshold current of the diffuse discharge. The discharge contraction is calculated in the approximation of a homogeneous positive column along the current right to the attainment of the stationary state. In calculations with a magnetic field, hysteresis appears in transitions from the diffuse to the contracted state and back.     

基于原子的微波场测量

本文分别综述了基于热原子、冷原子体系的微波场测量的研究进展,以及基于纠缠原子的高灵敏微波电场测量的最新结果。文中详细介绍了基于原子的微波场测量与实验进展,内容主要包括:热原子样品中,利用里德堡原子的电磁感应透明效应和Autler-Townes效应,实现微波电场的场强测量和微波电场空间分布特征的亚波长空间高分辨率成像。冷原子样品中,介绍了相邻里德堡态与微波的相干耦合强度受微波功率的影响,以及通过铷原子基态超精细能级与微波相干耦合振荡,实现基于原子的新型微波功率标准的研究。此外,利用冷原子探针实现微米级空间分辨率的二维微波场场强分布测量。最后我们对采用原子的量子纠缠态提高微波场强探测灵敏度的技术方案进行了讨论,量子纠缠的引入将有望使微波探测的灵敏度突破标准量子极限,获得优于传统雷达探测灵敏度的测量结果。     

A New Method for Measuring Breakdown and Maintenance Fields in Microwave Discharges

A new experimental approach for comparative measurements of breakdown and maintenance electric fields in microwave discharges is described. The method is based on the analysis of the RF pulses transmitted to a matched load, in absence and in presence of the discharge, by the applicator employed for coupling the RF power to the gas under investigation. Results on breakdown and maintenance field in microwave discharges in nitrogen, at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, for flow and non-flow conditions, in the pressure range 0.5 to 6 torr, are reported.     

Modulation instability in pulsed surface-wave sustained discharges

Experimental results showing development of modulation instability and tendency to soliton formation in pulsed gas discharges sustained by surface waves are presented. The measurements are performed in argon discharges at gas pressure 13-1.3·10³ Pa sustained by pulsed microwave power at 2.45 GHz, The changes along the discharge length of the shape of the pulses of the total light emission, which is an indication for the plasma density, and of the wave electric field creating the discharge, are registrated. The cases when the modulation instability arises from the level of fluctuations in the plasma and when it is forced by the applied signal producing the discharge are demonstrated. The obtained results are discussed in terms of weak nonlinearity superimposed on the mechanism of strong ionization nonlinearity responsible for the discharge creation itself. A separation of a solitary-like wave front the leading edge of the pulse is also reported as an experimental result     

Domains of existence of various types of microwave discharge in quasi-optical electromagnetic beams

High-and medium-pressure discharges excited by quasi-optical microwave beams in air are classified using experimental data. Diffuse, streamer, overcritical, undercritical, and deeply undercritical discharges are distinguished. The domains of existence of each type of discharge are determined as functions of the air pressure and field strength for two particular electromagnetic wavelengths.     

Ion emission from arc discharge plasmas

Results are presented from studies of the ion-emission properties of the anode plasmas of low-pressure contracted arc discharges and vacuum arcs. It is shown that creating a longitudinal magnetic field in the anode region of a discharge changes the plasma parameters significantly and facilitates a large increase in the ion current. Space charge limited ion current in a vacuum arc leads to a reduction in the noise level of the total ion current and of its components with charges of up to +3, while creating Penning discharge conditions ensures that ions of different gases can be generated in this discharge system at fractions as high as 90%, depending on the type of plasma forming gas.Institute of High-Current Electronics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vuzov, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 24–33, March, 1994.     

气流对微秒脉冲滑动放电特性的影响

脉冲电源驱动的滑动放电能够在大气压下产生高能量、高功率密度的低温等离子体. 为了研究微秒脉冲电源在针-针电极结构中产生滑动放电的特征, 本文采用电压幅值为0–30 kV, 脉冲宽度约8 μs, 脉冲重复频率为1–3000 Hz的微秒脉冲电源, 通过测量电压、电流波形和拍摄放电图像, 研究了微秒脉冲滑动放电的电特性. 实验结果表明, 随着施加电压的增加微秒脉冲滑动放电存在三种典型的放电模式: 电晕放电、弥散放电和类滑动放电. 不同放电模式的电压、电流波形和放电图像之间差异显著. 脉冲重复频率对微秒脉冲滑动放电特性有影响, 表现为当气体流量较小(2 L/min)时, 类滑动放电的放电通道随着脉冲重复频率的增大逐渐集中, 而当气体流量较大(16 L/min)时, 类滑动放电的放电通道随着脉冲重复频率的增大逐渐分散. 不同气流下重复频率对滑动放电特性的影响与放电中粒子的记忆效应和气流的状态有关.     

Window breakdown caused by high-power microwaves

Physical mechanisms leading to microwave breakdown on windows are investigated for power levels on the order of 100 MW at 2.85 GHz. The test stand uses a 3-MW magnetron coupled to an S-band traveling wave resonator. Various configurations of dielectric windows are investigated. In a standard pillbox geometry with a pressure of less than 10^-6 Pa, surface discharges on an alumina window and multipactor-like discharges starting at the waveguide edges occur simultaneously. To clarify physical mechanisms, window breakdown with purely tangential electrical microwave fields is investigated for special geometries. Diagnostics include the measurement of incident/reflected power, measurement of local microwave fields, discharge luminosity, and X-ray emission. All quantities are recorded with 0.21-ns resolution. In addition, a framing camera with gating times of 5 ns is used. The breakdown processes for the case with a purely tangential electric field is similar to DC flashover across insulators, and similar methods to increase the flashover field are expected to be applicable     

Numerical investigation of subcritical microwave discharges in a high-pressure gas

Subcritical microwave streamer discharges are investigated using a two-dimensional model that describes gas-dynamic processes in the ideal gas approximation and a self-consistent electromagnetic field in the wave approximation and takes into account the minimum required number of kinetic processes (such as ionization, attachment, recombination, diffusion, and electric conduction). The initial conditions imitate the initiation of a discharge from a small cavity with a reduced gas density and an arbitrarily small degree of gas ionization. The possibility of describing streamer discharges without reference to ionizing hard radiation is confirmed.     

Modeling of low-pressure microwave discharges in Ar, He, andO2: similarity laws for the maintenance field and mean powertransfer

A kinetic study of low-pressure microwave discharges in Ar, He, and O₂ is carried out using electron-transport parameters and rate coefficients derived from solutions to the Boltzmann equation, together with the continuity and transport equations for the charged particles, taking into account stepwise-ionization processes. The Boltzmann equation is solved over a wide range of the applied frequency, ω/2π, but assuming that the angular frequency ω>τ _e^-1, with τ_e, denoting the characteristic time for electron-energy relaxation by collisions. The formulation provides discharge characteristics for the maintenance field and for mean absorbed power per electron in the three gases, which are shown to agree satisfactorily with experimental data obtained from surface-wave discharges. It is shown that such an agreement would not always be obtained without consideration of the role played by stepwise-ionization processes in sustaining the discharge     

Gaseous discharge plasmas produced by high-energyelectron-irradiated insulators for spacecraft

High-energy electron irradiation of insulators in vacuum causes both internal regions and surfaces of insulators to achieve high (negative) static voltage relative to nearby “ground”. Occasional spontaneous discharges inject pulses of partially ionized gas composed of the insulating material and surface gas-adatoms into the adjacent vacuum. The gas is capable of partially discharging the high surface potentials by carrying current across the vacuum to “ground”. The current-time waveforms were measured as a function of the spatial arrangement of the sample, test chamber electrodes, and static electric fields in order to investigate effects inside spacecraft boxes and cavities. It was found that plane-parallel electric fields are less able to sustain large discharge currents than are divergent electric fields. Also, physical confinement of the pulse of gas within the region of the electric field greatly increases the conductance of the gaseous discharge. Thus, the spatial arrangement of the sample, test chamber electrodes, and static electric field has a strong impact on the level of ESD-pulse threat to sensitive electronics posed by spontaneous discharges of irradiated insulators in spacecraft     

Study of the microscopic characteristics of a repetitive microsecond barrier discharge

Results are presented from investigations of the electric, optical, and spatial characteristics of a microsecond barrier discharge in atmospheric-pressure air in a uniform electric field. The currents in individual microscopic channels were measured by using sectioned electrodes. It is found that the first series of microscopic discharges is characterized by a relatively low current density (lower than 280 A/cm²). In the subsequent series, the microscopic discharges have a pronounced channel structure with a high current density. The prints of the channels on the metal anode have the form of microscopic craters 4 μm in diameter and 0.5 μm in depth.     

Study and selection of plasma density optimal spatial distribution for magnetoplasma separation technologies

It is demonstrated that the spatial density characteristics of a plasma used in magnetoplasma separators considerably influence their operation. The forms of distribution profiles n _p = f(r) for plasma-beam and reflective discharges are found experimentally. Comparison between three ways of generating a separation plasma (plasma-beam discharge, helicon-based rf discharge, and reflective discharge) shows that the plasma density spatial distributions obtained in plasma-beam and reflective discharges are optimal in terms of maximal capacity of a separator.