An Alfven wave maser in the laboratory
- Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)
A frequency selective Alfven wave resonator results from the application of a locally nonuniform magnetic field to a plasma source region between the cathode and anode in a large laboratory device. When a threshold in the plasma discharge current is exceeded, selective amplification produces a highly coherent ({delta}{omega}/{omega}<5x10{sup -3}), large amplitude shear Alfven wave that propagates out of the resonator, through a semitransparent mesh anode, into the adjacent plasma column where the magnetic field is uniform. This phenomenon is similar to that encountered in the operation of masers/lasers at microwave and optical frequencies. The current threshold for maser action is found to depend upon the confinement magnetic field strength B{sub 0}. Its scaling is consistent with the condition for matching the drift speed of the bulk plasma electrons with the phase velocity of the mode in the resonator. The largest spontaneously amplified signals are obtained at low B{sub 0} and large plasma currents. The magnetic fluctuations {delta}B associated with the Alfven maser can be as large as {delta}B/B{sub 0}{approx_equal}1.5% and are observed to affect the plasma current. Steady-state behavior leading to coherent signals lasting until the discharge is terminated can be achieved when the growth conditions are well-above threshold. The maser is observed to evolve in time from an initial m=0 mode to an m=1 mode structure in the transition to the late steady state. The laboratory phenomenon reported is analogous to the Alfven wave maser proposed to exist in naturally occurring, near-earth plasmas.
- OSTI ID:
- 20657987
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 12, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1823413; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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