Spontaneous multi-keV electron generation in a low-RF-power axisymmetric mirror machine
- Princeton Satellite Systems, Plainsboro, NJ (United States)
- Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
X-ray emission reflects the existence of multikilo-electron-volt electrons in low-temperature, low-power, capacitively coupled RF-heated magnetic-mirror plasmas that also contain a warm (300 eV) minority electron population. Though these warm electrons are initially passing particles, we imply that collisionless scattering—μ nonconservation in the static vacuum field—is responsible for a minority of them to persist in the mirror cell for thousands of transits during which time a fraction is energized to a characteristic temperature of 3 keV, with some electrons reaching energies above 30 keV. A heuristic model of the heating by a Fermi-accelerationlike mechanism is shown, with μ nonconservation in the static vacuum field as an essential feature.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-09CH11466
- OSTI ID:
- 1543453
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1525335
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 6; ISSN 1070-664X
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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