skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: The dependence of potential well formation on the magnetic field strength and electron injection current in a polywell device

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4894475· OSTI ID:22303633
; ;  [1]
  1. School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

A capacitive probe has been used to measure the plasma potential in a polywell device in order to observe the dependence of potential well formation on magnetic field strength, electron injection current, and polywell voltage bias. The effectiveness of the capacitive probe in a high energy electron plasma was determined by measuring the plasma potential of a planar diode with an axial magnetic field. The capacitive probe was translated along the axis of one of the field coils of the polywell, and the spatial profile of the potential well was measured. The confinement time of electrons in the polywell was estimated with a simple analytical model which used the experimentally observed potential well depths, as well as a simulation of the electron trajectories using particle orbit theory.

OSTI ID:
22303633
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 9; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English