An example method includes directing gas, via one or more first valves, from within an inner electrode to an acceleration region between the inner electrode and an outer electrode that substantially surrounds the inner electrode, directing gas, via two or more second valves, from outside the outer electrode to the acceleration region, and applying, via a power supply, a voltage between the inner electrode and the outer electrode, thereby converting at least a portion of the directed gas into a plasma saving a substantially annular cross section, the plasma flowing axially within the acceleration region toward a first end of the inner electrode and a first end of the outer electrode and, thereafter, establishing a Z-pinch plasma that flows between the first end of the outer electrode and the first end of the inner electrode. Related plasma confinement systems and methods are also disclosed herein.
Shumlak, Uri, et al. "Z-pinch plasma confinement system having intermediate electrode and methods for use." US 11,581,100, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Feb. 2023.
Shumlak, Uri, Nelson, Brian A., & Golingo, Raymond (2023). Z-pinch plasma confinement system having intermediate electrode and methods for use (U.S. Patent No.
Shumlak, Uri, Nelson, Brian A., and Golingo, Raymond, "Z-pinch plasma confinement system having intermediate electrode and methods for use," US 11,581,100, issued February 13, 2023.
@misc{osti_1987124,
author = {Shumlak, Uri and Nelson, Brian A. and Golingo, Raymond},
title = {Z-pinch plasma confinement system having intermediate electrode and methods for use},
annote = {An example method includes directing gas, via one or more first valves, from within an inner electrode to an acceleration region between the inner electrode and an outer electrode that substantially surrounds the inner electrode, directing gas, via two or more second valves, from outside the outer electrode to the acceleration region, and applying, via a power supply, a voltage between the inner electrode and the outer electrode, thereby converting at least a portion of the directed gas into a plasma saving a substantially annular cross section, the plasma flowing axially within the acceleration region toward a first end of the inner electrode and a first end of the outer electrode and, thereafter, establishing a Z-pinch plasma that flows between the first end of the outer electrode and the first end of the inner electrode. Related plasma confinement systems and methods are also disclosed herein.},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1987124},
place = {United States},
year = {2023},
month = {02},
note = {US Patent
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol. 223, Issue 1154, p. 348-360https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1954.0120