Wave-particle interactions in rotating mirrors
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)
Wave-particle interactions in ExB rotating plasmas feature an unusual effect: particles are diffused by waves in both potential energy and kinetic energy. This wave-particle interaction generalizes the alpha channeling effect, in which radio frequency waves are used to remove alpha particles collisionlessly at low energy. In rotating plasmas, the alpha particles may be removed at low energy through the loss cone, and the energy lost may be transferred to the radial electric field. This eliminates the need for electrodes in the mirror throat, which have presented serious technical issues in past rotating plasma devices. A particularly simple way to achieve this effect is to use a high azimuthal mode number perturbation on the magnetic field. Rotation can also be sustained by waves in plasmas without a kinetic energy source. This type of wave has been considered for plasma centrifuges used for isotope separation. Energy may also be transferred from the electric field to particles or waves, which may be useful for ion heating and energy generation.
- OSTI ID:
- 21537854
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3567417; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALPHA PARTICLES
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
MIRRORS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PLASMA CENTRIFUGES
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
ROTATING PLASMA
CENTRIFUGES
CHARGED PARTICLES
CONCENTRATORS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
PLASMA
RADIATIONS
SEPARATION PROCESSES