Dynamical evolution of cross phase of edge fluctuations and transport bifurcation

The dynamical evolution of edge turbulence during a transport bifurcation is explored using a flux-driven nonlinear fluid model with a geometry relevant to the plasma edge region. The simulations show that the self-generated mean shear flows can dramatically modify the phase angle between turbulent fluctuations. The changes in phase differences and amplitudes of edge fluctuations give rise to the modifications of turbulent edge transport. The statistical properties of flux and fluctuations are also investigated before and after edge shear flow generation.     

Modification of exposure conditions by the magnetic field configuration in helicon antenna-excited helium plasma

Modification of exposure conditions downstream in the diffusion chamber has been performed in helicon antenna-excited helium plasma by adjusting the magnetic field(intensity and geometry).In the inductively coupled mode(H mode), a reduction in ion and heat fluxes is found with increasing magnetic field intensity, which is further explained by the more highly magnetized ions off-axis around the last magnetic field lines(LMFL). However, in helicon wave mode(W mode), the increase in magnetic field intensity can dramatically increase the ion and heat fluxes.Moreover, the effect of LMFL geometry on exposure conditions is investigated. In H mode with contracting LMFL, off-axis peaks of both plasma density and electron temperature profiles shift radially inwards, bringing about a beam with better radial uniformity and higher ion and heat fluxes. In W mode, although higher ion and heat fluxes can be achieved with suppressed plasma cross-field diffusion under converging LMFL, the poor radial uniformity and a small beam diameter will limit the size of samples suitable for plasma irradiation experiments.     

Nonlinear Generation of Zonal Fields by the Beta-Induced Alfven Eigenmode in Tokamak

The zonal fields effect on the beta-induced Alfven eigenmode(BAE)destabilized by the energetic particles in toroidal plasmas is studied through the gyrokinetic particle simulations.It is found that the localized zonal fields with a negative value around the mode rational surface are generated by the nonlinear BAE.In the weakly driven case,the zonal fields with a strong geodesic acoustic mode(GAM)component have weak effects on the nonlinear BAE evolution.In the strongly driven case,the zonal fields are dominated by a more significant zero frequency component and have stronger effects on the nonlinear BAE evolution.     

Design and characteristics of a triple-cathode cascade plasma torch for spheroidization of metallic powders

Arc plasma torch is an effective tool for spheroidization of metallic powders. However, as most conventional plasma torches were not specifically designed for plasma spheroidization, they may exhibit the disadvantages of the radial injection of powders, large fluctuations in the arc voltage, large gas flow rate, and disequilibrium between multiple plasma jets during the spheroidization process. Therefore, this paper presents a triple-cathode cascade plasma torch (TCCPT) for plasma spheroidization. Its structural design, including three cathodes, a common anode, and three sets of inter-electrodes, are detailed to ensure that powders can be inserted into the plasma jet by axial injection, the arc voltage fluctuations are easily maintained at a low level, and the plasma torches can work at a relatively small gas flow rate. Experimental results showed that the proposed TCCPT exhibits the following characteristics: (1) a relatively small arc voltage fluctuation within 5.3%; (2) a relatively high arc voltage of 75 V and low gas flow rate range of 10–30 SLM; (3) easy to be maintained at the equilibrium state with the equilibrium index of the three plasma jets within 3.5 V. Furthermore, plasma spheroidization experiments of SUS304 stainless steel powers were carried out using the proposed TCCPT. Results verified that the proposed TCCPT is applicable and effective for the spheroidization of metallic powders with wide size distribution.     

Scaling Factor of the Operating Parameters of Z-pinch Liners

Imploding plasma liners in the Z-pinch scheme have been demonstrated to be capable of producing high power radiation in the soft X-ray waveband owing to the conversion of the kinetic energy of imploding liner into thermal energy which in turn is converted into X-ray energy. To obtain largest X-ray power for a certain pulsed-power driving- source, the liner should gain a kinetic energy as great as possible, which imposes an optimal scaling upon the operating parameters of liner in terms of getting largest kinetic energy. This work exposes, by means of numerical calculations based on zero-dimensional quasi-plasma-shell model, the large variation of the scaling factor, which connects the parameters of the initial liner and the driving current, with different driving current waveforms. Also solved in the work is the optimal scaling factor in the sense of producing maximum kinetic energy. Calculations show that maximum kinetic energy is obtained at the current maximum or a little time later. These results ar     

Nonlinear Generation of Zonal Fields by the Beta-Induced Alfvén Eigenmode in Tokamak

The zonal fields effect on the beta-induced Alfvén eigenmode (BAE) destabilized by the energetic particles in toroidal plasmas is studied through the gyrokinetic particle simulations. It is found that the localized zonal fields with a negative value around the mode rational surface are generated by the nonlinear BAE. In the weakly driven case, the zonal fields with a strong geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) component have weak effects on the nonlinear BAE evolution. In the strongly driven case, the zonal fields are dominated by a more significant zero frequency component and have stronger effects on the nonlinear BAE evolution.     

Mechanisms of Streamer Propagation Affected by Driven Voltage Polarity in a Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet

A two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model is used to investigate the effects of DC-voltage polarity in plasma initiation and propagation of helium plasma jet.The simulation results indicate that the difference in initial breakdown for the positive jet and negative jet leads to a difference in the electron density of about 4 orders of magnitude,even with the same initial electric field,which also influences the subsequent propagation.In the propagation process of negative jets,the ionization process exists in a longer gas channel behind the streamer head.In addition,the drift process to the infinite grounded electrode driven by the electric field results in higher energy consumption in the ionization process.However,in the positive jet,the ionization process mainly exists in the streamer head.Therefore,the differences in the initial breakdown and propagation process make the electric field intensity and the ionization weaker in the streamer head of the negative jet,which explains the weaker and shorter appearance of the negative jet compared to the positive jet.Our model can adequately reproduce the experimental results,viz.a bullet-like propagation in the positive jet and a continuous plasma plume in the negative jet.Furthermore,it also indicates that the streamer velocity shows the same variations as the electron drift velocity for both positive and negative jets.     

A Physics Exploratory Experiment on Plasma Liner Formation

Momentum flux for imploding a target plasma in magnetized target fusion (MTF) may be delivered by an array of plasma guns launching plasma jets that would merge to form an imploding plasma shell (liner). In this paper, we examine what would be a worthwhile experiment to explore the dynamics of merging plasma jets to form a plasma liner as a first step in establishing an experimental database for plasma-jets-driven magnetized target fusion (PJETS-MTF). Using past experience in fusion energy research as a model, we envisage a four-phase program to advance the art of PJETS-MTF to fusion breakeven (Q 1). The experiment (PLX) described in this paper serves as Phase 1 of this four-phase program. The logic underlying the selection of the experimental parameters is presented. The experiment consists of using 12 plasma guns arranged in a circle, launching plasma jets toward the center of a vacuum chamber. The velocity of the plasma jets chosen is 200 km/s, and each jet is to carry a mass of 0.2 mg to 0.4 mg. A candidate plasma accelerator for launching these jets consists of a coaxial plasma gun of the Marshall type.     

The Electrostatic Cylindrical Sheath in a Plasma

The electrostatic sheath with a cylindrical geometry in an ion-electron plasma is investigated. Assuming a Boltzmann response to electrons and cold ions with bulk flow, it is shown that the radius of the cylindrical geometry do not affect the sheath potential significantly. We also found that the sheath potential profile is steeper in the cylindrical sheath compared to the slab sheath. The distinct feature of the cylindrical sheath is that the ion density distribution is not monotonous. The sheath region can be divided into three regions, two ascendant regions and one descendant region.     

Present Status of the EAST Diagnostics

A present status of the diagnostics in EAST is presented. As a very important step of the EAST project, tens of diagnostics were employed for operation and protection, plasma control and physics analysis to accommodate requirement for the study on plasma performance in EAST with upgraded RF power up to 4 MW (both LHCD and ICRF) in the forthcoming years. Recently, new diagnostics are set up to provide several profiles of key plasma parameters for the further evaluation and better understanding of the plasma performance and physics in EAST, including a 25-channel Thomson scattering system for density and electron temperature, a metal bolometry for radiated power, an X-ray crystal spectroscopy for both ion and electron temperatures and plasma rotation velocity, etc. It is expected that these diagnostics would play an important role in data analysis and interpretation combined with integrated modeling.     

Uniformity of Plasma Density and Film Thickness of Coatings Deposited Inside a Cylindrical Tribe by Radio Frequency Sputtering

Plasma surface modification of the inner wall of a slender tube is quite difficult to achieve using conventional means. In the work described here, an inner coaxial radio frequency （RF） copper electrode is utilized to produce the plasma and also acts as the sputtered target to deposit copper films in a tube. The influence of RF power, gas pressure, and bias voltage on the distribution of plasma density and the uniformity of film thickness is investigated. The experimental results show that the plasma density is higher at the two ends and lower in the middle of the tube. A higher RF power and pressure as well as larger tube bias lead to a higher plasma density. Changes in the discharge parameter only affect the plasma density uniformity slightly. The variation in the film thickness is consistent with that of the plasma density along the tube axis for different RF power and pressure. Although the plasma density increases with higher tube biases, there is an optimal bias to obtain the highest deposition rate. It can be attributed to the reduction in self-sputtering of the copper electrode and re-sputtering effects of the deposited film at higher tube biases.     

Design and characteristics investigation of a miniature low-temperature plasma spark discharge device

Atmospheric pressure low-temperature plasma is a promising tool in biomedicine applications including blood coagulation, bacterial inactivation, sterilization, and cancer treatment, due to its high chemical activity and limited thermal damage. It is of great importance to develop portable plasma sources that are safe to human touch and suitable for outdoor and household operation. In this work, a portable and rechargeable low-temperature plasma spark discharge device (130 mm × 80 mm × 35 mm, 300 g) was designed. The discharge frequency and plume length were optimized by the selection of resistance, capacitance, electrode gap, and ground electrode aperture. Results show that the spark plasma plume is generated with a length of 12 mm and a frequency of 10 Hz at a capacitance of 0.33 μF, resistance of 1 MΩ, electrode gap of 2 mm, and ground electrode aperture of 1.5 mm. Biological tests indicate that the plasma produced by this device contains abundant reactive species, which can be applied in plasma biomedicine, including daily sterilization and wound healing.     

Decomposition of Glycerine by Water Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure

High concentration of aqueous glycerine was decomposed using a direct current (DC) plasma torch at atmospheric pressure. The torch can generate the plasma with water as the plasma-supporting gas in the absence of any additional gas supply system and cooling devices. The results indicated that 5 mol% glycerine was completely decomposed by water plasmas at arc powers of 0.55～1.05 kW. The major products in the effluent gas were H 2 (68.9%～71.1%), CO 2 (18.9%～23.0%), and CO (0.2%～0.6%). However, trace levels of formic acid (HCOOH) and formaldehyde (HCHO) were observed in the liquid effluent. The results indicated that the water plasma waste treatment process is capable of being an alternative green technology for organic waste decomposition.     

Time Evolution of Artificial Plasma Cloud in Atmospheric Environment

By analyzing the time evolution of artificial plasma cloud in the high altitude of atmospheric environment, we found that there are two zones, an exponential attenuation zone and a linearly attenuating zone, existing in the spatial distribution of electron density of the artificial plasma clouds. The plasma generator‘s particle flux density only contributes to the exponential attenuation zone, and has no effect on the linear attenuation zone. The average electron density in the linear attenuation zone is about 10^-5 of neutral particle density, and can diffuse over a wide rarea, The conclusion will supply some valuable references to the research of electromagnetic wave and artificial plasma interaction, the plasma invisibleness research of missile and special aerocraft,and the design of artificial plasma source.     

Effects of Fast-Ion Injection on a Magnetized Sheath near a Floating Wall

A fully kinetic particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo model is employed to self-consistently study the effects of fast-ion injection on sheath potential and electric field profile in collisional magnetized plasma with a floating absorbing wall. The influences of the fast-ion injection velocity and density, the magnetic field and angle θ0 formed by the magnetic field and the x-axis on the sheath potential and electric field are discussed in detail. Numerical results show that increasing fast-ion injection density or decreasing injection velocity can enhance the potential drop and electric field in the sheath. Also, increasing the magnetic field strength can weaken the loss of charged particles to the wall and thus decrease the potential and electric field in the sheath. The time evolution of ion flux and velocity distribution on the wall is found to be significantly affected by the magnetic field.     

Generalization of Solovev's approach to finding equilibrium solutions for axisymmetric plasmas with flow

Solovev's approach of finding equilibrium solutions was found to be extremely useful for generating a library of linear-superposable equilibria for the purpose of shaping studies.This set of solutions was subsequently expanded to include the vacuum solutions of Zheng,Wootton and Solano,resulting in a set of functions [SOLOVEV_ZWS] that were usually used for all toroidally symmetric plasmas,commonly recognized as being able to accommodate any desired plasma shapes (complete-shaping capability).The possibility of extending the Solovev approach to toroidal equilibria with a general plasma flow is examined theoretically.We found that the only meaningful extension is to plasmas with a pure toroidal rotation and with a constant Mach number.We also show that the simplification ansatz made to the current profiles,which was the basis of the Solovev approach,should be applied more systematically to include an internal boundary condition at the magnetic axis;resulting in a modified and more useful set [SOLOVEV_ZWSm].Explicit expressions of functions in this set are given for equilibria with a quasi-constant current density profile,with a toroidal flow at a constant Mach number and with specific heat capacity 1.The properties of [SOLOVEV_ZWSm] are studied analytically.Numerical examples of achievable equilibria are demonstrated.Although the shaping capability of the set [SOLOVE_ZWSm] is quite extensive,it nevertheless still does not have complete shaping capability,particularly for plasmas with negative curvature points on the plasmaboundary such as the doublets or indented bean shaped tokamaks.     

Effects of the Hot Electron Interchange Instability on Plasma Confined in a Dipolar Magnetic Field

The Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) explores confinement and stability of plasma created within the dipole field of a strong superconducting magnet. During initial experiments, long-pulse, quasi-steady state discharges that last more than 10 s and have peak beta of more than 20% are studied. The plasma is created by multi-frequency electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) at 2.45 and 6.4 GHz. A population of energetic electrons, with mean energies above 50 keV, dominates the plasma pressure. Creation of high pressure, high beta plasma is possible only when intense hot electron interchange (HEI) instabilities are stabilized by sufficient neutral gas fueling. The instabilities resonate with the magnetic drift motion of the energetic electrons and can cause rapid radial transport. Measurements of the electrostatic and magnetic fluctuations of the HEI instability are described along with observations of the instability’s spectral characteristics. Fluctuations of the outer poloidal field induced by the HEI show a rapid evolution of the perturbed pressure profile.      

Effects of Low Energy and High Flux Helium／Hydrogen Plasma Irradiation on Tungsten as Plasma Facing Material

The High-Z material tungsten (W) has been considered as a plasma facing material in the divertor region of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). In ITER, the divertor is expected to operate under high particle fluxes (> 1023 m-2s-1) from the plasma as well as from intrinsic impurities with a very low energy (< 200 eV). During the past dacade, the effects of plasma irradiation on tungsten have been studied extensively as functions of the ion energy, fluence and surface temperature in the burning plasma conditions. In this paper, recent results concerning blister and bubble formations on the tungsten surface under low energy (< 100 eV) and high flux (> 1021 m-2s-1) He/H plasma irradiation are reviewed to gain a better understanding of the performance of tungsten as a plasma facing material under the burning plasma conditions.     

Polymer Surface Treatment by Atmospheric Pressure Low Temperature Surface Discharge Plasma： Its Characteristics and Comparison with Low Pressure Oxygen Plasma Treatment

The polymer treatment with a low-temperature plasma jet generated on the atmospheric pressure surface discharge （SD） plasma is performed. The change of the surface property over time, in comparison with low pressure oxygen （O2） plasma treatment, is examined. As one compares the treatment by atmospheric pressure plasma to that by the low pressure O2 plasma of PS （polystyrene） the treatment effects were almost in complete agreement. However, when the atmospheric pressure plasma was used for PP（polypropylene）, it produced remarkable hydrophilic effects.     

Iterative Calculation of Plasma Density from a Cylindrical Probe Characteristic

A novel method is proposed for treating cylindrical probe characteristics to obtain plasma density. The method consists of exponential extrapolation of the transitional part of the I -V curve to the floating potential for the ion saturation current, other than the existing theories which use the ion branch, and an iterative sheath thickness correction procedure for improved accuracy. The method was tested by treating Langmuir probe I-V characteristics obtained from inductively coupled Ar discharges at various pressures, and comparing the present results with those deduced by existing theories. It was shown that the plasma densities obtained by the present method are in good agreement with those calculated by the Allen-Boyd-Reynolds (ABR) theory, suggesting the effectiveness of the proposed method. Without need of manual setting and adjustment of fitting parameters, the method may be suitable for automatic and real time processing of probe characteristics.