Hot ion buildup and lifetime in LITE. Final report

Technical Report · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6357994· OSTI ID:6357994

An experimental investigation of hot ion buildup and lifetime in a small scale mirror device (LITE) is described. Hot ions were produced by 27 kV neutral beam injection into laser produced LiH plasmas and H plasmas produced by a washer gun. Hot H ion (12 kV) densities of approx. = 10/sup 12/ cm/sup -3/ were produced with the LiH target plasmas and densities an order of magnitude lower were produced with the washer gun target plasmas. Hot ion dominant plasmas were not achieved in LITE. The experimental measurements and subsequent analysis using numerical models of the plasma buildup indicate that in small, unshielded mirror plasmas, careful control must be maintained over the transient background gas density in the vicinity of the plasma surface. The hot ion lifetime in LITE was set by the transient cold neutral background resulting from the washer gun of reflux from the target plasma striking the adjacent surfaces.

• Research Organization: United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6357994
• Report Number(s): COO-2277-12; UTRC-R-78-954265-29
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700101* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Confinement
Heating
& Production
700106 -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Plasma Production-- (-1987)
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
BEAM INJECTION
CONFINEMENT
CONFINEMENT TIME
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ION DENSITY
ION TEMPERATURE
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
LITHIUM HYDRIDES
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
NEUTRAL ATOM BEAM INJECTION
NONMETALS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PLASMA
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PLASMA DENSITY
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES