QUARTERLY STATUS REPORT OF THE LASL CONTROLLED THERMONUCLEAR RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR PERIODD ENDING NOVERMBER 20 1960
6 6 ; < ( ing experiment, measurements were made of the energy of the ions escaping through the ring cusp of the picket-fence magnet. Ion energies from 50 ev to 3 kev were observed, the 50 ev particles lasting approximately 20 mu sec and the 3 kev particles disappearing approximately 3 mu sec after plasma injection. Indications are that these particles are not from the trapped high- beta region in the central volume of the magnet but are rather single particles which are directed from the gun along magnetic field lines out of the ring cusp. The design of a large caulked picket-fence machine (vacuum vessel. 150-cm diameter and 300-cm long) was completed. The search for a contained beam of injected 7.0-kev protons in the skew-trapping experiment was continued for the symmetric magnet configuration. When the beam is injected approximately 2.5 cm off axis and inclined 5 deg to the plane of the axis, a detector located in the ring cusp exhibits a persistent tail approximately l00- mu sec long after the beam has been pulsed off. It is not known whether this signal represents an ion beam contained for these times or whether it is due to (a) perturbations in the injector from stray magnetic fields or (b) residual electrons in the containment volume striking the detector. The first phase of the diagnostic program on the behavior of the plasma in a coaxial gun was completed. A qualitative picture of the gun's performance was obtained. Measurements on the yield of d-d neutrons from Perhapsatron S-5 Zeus show dependences on the B/sub z/ stabilizing magnetic field, applied voltage, and gas pressure similar to those observed earlier with the smaller machines. Impu rity radiation (3500 to 8000 A) consisting of a strong continuum with broadened line spectra (predominantly silicon and oxygen) is observed with an onset time near peak gas current ( approximately 30 mu sec after initiation of the gas discharge). The electron density in the microwave scattering experiment was increased by a factor of 50 to a value of about 10/sup 10/ electrons/cm/sup 3/ by the addition of small quantities of krypton and mercury. The radiation pattern produced by the primary power S-band honu was examined and it is estimated that the intensity of the primary beam inside the bottle is approximately 1/40 watt/cm/ sup 2/. Kerr cell photographs were taken of the discharge in the orthogonal pinch experiment. The photographs showed weak diffuse regions of light which had some boundary irregularities during the second half-cycle. X-ray photographs made with a pinhole camera through a thin ( approximately 225 mu g/cm/sup 2/) aluminum-Zapon window gave images which indicate a region of hot electrons (0.1 < T/sub e/ < 0.5 kev) of diameter 1.2 to 2.0 cm. The striking conclusion was reached that the energy loss in Ixion, leading to the voltage-limiting effect, which arises from current drawn across the device, resides predominantly in hard ultraviolet radiation from impurity ions, much as in the case of the toroidal pinch Perhapsatron S-4. A major portion of the Ixion plasma is fully ionized; hence, ionneutral and electron-neutral collisions need not be invoked to account for the voltage limiting process. There is now reason to believe that the ion energy may be raised to the kev region if a clean system is constructed. A new plasma accelerator-the E X B gun-is being constructed in place of the old Ixion. Construction of Scylla III was completed. After delays occasioned by electrical and mechanical difficulties, the machine was fired. using second half-cycle operation. The neutron yield increased by an order of magnitude. Work on a preionizer is proceeding. X rays from Scylla I were successfully diffracted with the beryl crystal soft x-ray spectrometer. Previously unobserved Lyman and helium-like singlet and triplet series lines were observed in the spectra of O VIII, Ne IX, and Ne X when these elements were introduced into the gas of the discharge. Installation of the first half of the Zeus capacitor bank was essentially completed, and preparations are underway for testing the newly installed sections. Work is proceeding on
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos Scientific Lab., N. Mex.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-006936
- OSTI ID:
- 4120739
- Report Number(s):
- LAMS-2488
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-61
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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QUARTERLY STATUS REPORT OF THE LASL CONTROLLED THERMONUCLEAR RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR PERIOD ENDING MAY 20, 1961
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