Wave and transport studies utilizing dense plasma filaments generated with a lanthanum hexaboride cathode
- Department of Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1000 Veteran Ave., Suite 15-70, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)
A portable lanthanum hexaboride (LaB{sub 6}) cathode has been developed for use in the LArge Plasma Device (LAPD) at UCLA. The LaB{sub 6} cathode can be used as a tool for many different studies in experimental plasma physics. To date, the cathode has been used as a source of a plasma with a hot dense core for transport studies and diagnostics development, as a source of gradient driven modes, as a source of shear Alfven waves, and as a source of interacting current channels in reconnection experiments. The LaB{sub 6} cathode is capable of higher discharge current densities than the main barium oxide coated LAPD cathode and is therefore able to produce plasmas of higher densities and higher electron temperatures. The 8.25 cm diameter cathode can be introduced into the LAPD at different axial locations without the need to break vacuum. The cathode can be scaled up or down for use as a portable secondary plasma source in other machines.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047144
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2011 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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