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.     

Sweep Langmuir Probe and Triple Probe Diagnostics for Transient Plasma Produced by Hypervelocity Impact

Two techniques are applied to diagnose characteristic parameters of plasma created by hypervelocity impact,such as electron temperature and electron density.The first technique is a sweep Langmuir probe (SLP),which is a new apparatus based on a dual channel circuit that can compensate for stray capacitance and obtain a good synchronicity,so that electrostatic turbulence with a good temporal resolution can be acquired.The second technique is a triple Langmuir probe (TLP),which is an electrostatic triple Langmuir probe diagnostic system,in which no voltage and frequency sweep is required.This technique allows to measure electron temperature,electron density as a function of time.Moreover,the triple Langmuir probe diagnostic system allows the direct display of electron temperature and semidirect display of electron density by an appropriate display system,the system permits us to eliminate almost all data processing procedures.SLP and TLP were applied to obtain fluctuations of the characteristic parameters of plasma generated by hypervelocity impact.As an example of their application to time-dependent plasma measure-ment,the electron temperature and electron density of plasmas were acquired in hypervelocity impact experiments.Characteristic parameters of plasma generated by hypervelocity impact were compared by the two kinds of diagnostic techniques mentioned above.     

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Electron Beam Air Plasma Properties at Moderate Pressure简

Large size of air plasma at near atmospheric pressure has specific effects in aerospace applications. In this paper, a two dimensional multi-fluid model coupled with Monte Carlo （MC） model is established, and some experiments were carried out to investigate the characteristics of electron beam air plasma at pressure of 100-170 Torr. Based on the model, the properties of electron beam air plasma are acquired. The electron density is of the order of 1016 m-3 and the longitudinal size can exceed 1.2 m. The profiles of charged particles demonstrate that the oxygen molecule is very important for air plasma and its elementary processes play a key role in plasma equilibrium processes. The potential is almost negative and a very low potential belt is observed at the edge of plasma acting as a protection shell. A series of experiments were carried out in a low pressure vacuum facility and the beam plasma densities were diagnosed. The experimental results demonstrate that electron density increased with the electron beam energy, and the relatively low pressure was favorable for gaining high density plasma. Hence in order to achieve high density and large size plasma, it requires the researchers to choose proper discharge parameters.     

Electromagnetic Wave Attenuation in Atmospheric Pressure Plasma

When an electromagnetic （EM） wave propagates in an atmospheric pressure plasma （APP） layer, its attenuation depends on the APP parameters such as the layer width, the electron density and its profile and collision frequency between electrons and neutrals. This paper proposes that a combined parameter -the product of the line average electron density n and width d of the APP layer （i.e., the total number of electrons in a unit volume along the wave propagation path） can play a more explicit and decisive role in the wave attenuation than any of the above individual parameters does. The attenuation of the EM wave via the product of n and d with various collision frequencies between electrons and neutrals is presented.     

Diagnosis of Unmagnetized Plasma Electron Number Density and Electron-neutral Collision Frequency by Using Microwave

The plasma diagnostic method using the transmission attenuation of microwaves at double frequencies （PDMUTAMDF） indicates that the frequency and the electron-neutral collision frequency of the plasma can be deduced by utilizing the transmission attenuation of microwaves at two neighboring frequencies in a non-magnetized plasma. Then the electron density can be obtained from the plasma frequency. The PDMUTAMDF is a simple method to diagnose the plasma indirectly. In this paper, the interaction of electromagnetic waves and the plasma is analyzed. Then, based on the attenuation and the phase shift of a microwave in the plasma, the principle of the PDMUTAMDF is presented. With the diagnostic method, the spatially mean electron density and electron collision frequency of the plasma can be obtained. This method is suitable for the elementary diagnosis of the atmospheric-pressure plasma.     

The Interaction of the Collisional Plasma with Microwave

The generation of plasma which can absorb microwaves is currently a research topic of interest. This kind of plasma is often produced by the discharge or electron-beam impact of noble gases. In this paper an alternatice approach, combustion plasma, is studied. The plasma is produced by combusting solid grains prepared specially. Six groups of powders were made and used to generate the plasma. The transmissivity of the wave in plasma was measured by employing a microwave scalar network analyser system. In addition, the electron density and the collision frequency of the plasma were examined by microwave double-frequency diagnosis. The measurement results showed that the plasma could absorb microwaves remarkably with an average transmission attenuation being more than 18 dB in a frequency range of 2 GHz to 15 GHz. The diagnosis indicated that the electron density of the plasma varied from 10^17 m^-3 to 10^19 m^-3 and the collision frequency was about 5 × 10^10 s^-1.     

Effects of direct current discharge on the spatial distribution of cylindrical inductively-coupled plasma at different gas pressures

Stable operations of single direct current(DC) discharge, single radio frequency(RF) discharge and DC?+?RF hybrid discharge are achieved in a specially-designed DC enhanced inductivelycoupled plasma(DCE-ICP) source. Their plasma characteristics, such as electron density,electron temperature and the electron density spatial distribution profiles are investigated and compared experimentally at different gas pressures. It is found that under the condition of single RF discharge, the electron density distribution profiles show a ‘convex' shape and ‘saddle' shape at gas pressures of 3 m Torr and 150 m Torr respectively. This result can be attributed to the transition of electron kinetics from nonlocal to local kinetics with an increase in gas pressure.Moreover, in the operation of DC?+?RF hybrid discharge at different gas pressures, the DC discharge has different effects on plasma uniformity. The plasma uniformity can be improved by modulating DC power at a high pressure of 150 m Torr where local electron kinetics is dominant,whereas plasma uniformity deteriorates at a low pressure of 3 m Torr where nonlocal electron kinetics prevails. This phenomenon, as analyzed, is due to the obvious nonlinear enhancement effect of electron density at the chamber center, and the inherent radial distribution difference in the electron density with single RF discharge at different gas pressures.     

Effect of Internal Antenna Coil Power on the Plasma Parameters in13.56 MHz/60 MHz Dual-Frequency Sputtering

The plasma property of a hybrid ICP/sputtering discharge driven by 13.56 MHz/60 MHz power sources was investigated by Langmuir probe measurement. For the pure sputtering discharge, the low electron density and ion flux, the rise of floating potential and plasma potential with increasing power, as well as the bi-Maxwellian distribution of electron en- ergy distributions （EEDFs） were obtained. The assistance of ICP discharge led to the effective increases of electron density and ion flux, the suppression of rise of floating potential and plasma potential, as well as the change of EEDFs from bi-Maxwellian distribution into Maxwellian dis- tribution. The increase of electron density and ion flux, and the EEDFs evolution were related to the effective electron heating by the induced electric field.     

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.     

A New Atmospheric Pressure Microwave Plasma Source （APMPS）

An atmospheric pressure microwave plasma source （APMPS） that can generate a large volume of plasma at an atmospheric pressure has been developed at Tsinghua University. This paper presents the design of this APMPS, the theoretical consideration of microwave plasma ignition and the simulation results, including the distributions of the electric field and power density inside the cavity as well as the accuracy of the simulation results. In addition, a method of producing an atmospheric pressure microwave plasma and some relevant observations of the plasma are also provided. It is expected that this research would be useful for further developing atmospheric pressure microwave plasma sources and expanding the scope of their applications.     

Three Game Changing Discoveries: A Simpler Fusion Concept?

This paper encourages exploration of a broad range of magnetic fusion concepts in parallel with mainline tokamak development. Such exploration will certainly lead to increased understanding of fusion science and possibly to an attractive fusion energy concept. As an example, this paper describes three discoveries which greatly increase the attractiveness of the magnetic mirror plasma confinement concept. The mirror concept is thought to have three unattractive characteristics. The magnets are complex, the plasma is plagued with micro-instabilities and the electron temperature would never approach required keV levels. Persistent research on the gas dynamic trap device at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Russia and elsewhere have overcome these three deficiencies. Stable high energy density plasma can be confined with simple circular magnets, micro-instabilities can be tamed, and electron temperatures reaching a keV have been measured. These three accomplishments provide a basis to reconsider the mirror concept as a neutron source for medical applications, fusion materials development, nuclear fuel production, and fusion energy production.     

Modeling Errors in Microwave Plasma Diagnostics Employing the Reflection Coefficient

The use of the complex reflection coefficient, R, at microwave frequencies as a plasma diagnostic tool in the high electron density range (1012 electrons/cm3) has been reported by several authors. A common assumption is that at microwave frequencies the boundary between free space and a stationary plasma is best described as a step function in electron density. Actually, many practical boundaries consist of a finite-width region wherein the electron density has a finite gradient. The complex reflection coefficient is derived for the finite width boundary and comparisons are made with an assumed sharp boundary. It is shown that improper modeling of the plasma boundary can result in significant error in electron density measurements when R is used as a diagnostic tool.     

Programmable electron density patterns induced by the interaction of an array laser and underdense plasma

The spatially modulated electron distribution of plasma is the basis for obtaining programmable electron density patterns. It has an important influence on plasma technology applications. We propose an efficient scheme to realize controllable electron density patterns in underdense plasma based on the array laser–plasma interaction. Theoretical evidence for the realization of programmable electron density patterns and the corresponding electrostatic field is provided analytically, which is confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. Results show that the spatial distribution of electron density in the propagation and transverse directions of the laser can be highly modulated to obtain rich programmable electron density patterns by adjusting the array pattern code and pulse width of the array laser beam.     

Microwave Measurements of High Electron Densities Using the Complex Reflection Coefficient

The determination of electron densities in the high density range has become increasingly important in recent years and the use of the complex reflection coefficient at microwave frequencies as a plasma diagnostic tool has been reported by several authors. However, the sensitivity of the reflected phase to the electron density profile composing the boundary of the plasma reduces the effectiveness of the sharply bounded uniform slab as a plasma model. Since this model finds frequent use, the resultant errors should be considered. Indeed, even when the width of the electron-gradient boundary zone is very small, serious error in the determination of the plasma number density can occur when the reflection coefficient is used. This paper suggests a method by which electron-gradient-induced errors in number density calculations can be overcome. Briefly, it is shown that if measurements of the complex reflection coefficient can be made at several frequencies, the data can be extrapolated to find the electron density in a uniform plasma region regardless of the width of the boundary zone of the plasma or the associated plasma density profile. The region where ?P>? is emphasized.     

Interaction of hydrogen isotopes with metals: Deuterium trapped at lattice defects in palladium

From an interplay between theory based on the effective-medium scheme and experiments, an extremely simple picture has evolved which is capable of describing a vast number of experimental quantities related to interaction of hydrogen with metals, especially the trapping of hydrogen at defects. It is shown that the trap strengths are determined mainly by the interstitial electron density, and any open structures in the lattice leads to a trap, with the vacancies and voids being the strongest traps. It is also found theoretically and experimentally that up to six hydrogen atoms can be accomodated in a vacancy, and the change in trap strengths with occupancy has been determined. Recent results for the trapping of deuterium to defects in Pd are discussed.     

Application Study of Film Capacitor of DC Link Capacitor in EAST Vertical Stabilization Control Power Supply

A hydrogen cyanide laser interferometer is mostly used to measure the plasma electron density in many Tokamak devices. The real-time calculation system of the plasma electron density based on a field-programmable gate array is proposed in this work. An Altera EP4CE30F23C8 FPGA chip is selected as the master chip, and an AD9238 chip of 10 MSps is employed for analog-to-digital conversion. The FPGA-based adapted Fast Fourier Transform and the proposed processing algorithm are designed to obtain the plasma electron density. The calculated density is stored in the secure digital card and can also be transmitted to the plasma control system via Ethernet. The experimental results show that the proposed system can effectively obtain the plasma density. The maximum error range is from ? 1 to 1 degree and the time resolution is 0.025 ms which is better than that of the convention method 0.1 ms. Meanwhile, this system is highly flexible and reduces design costs to meet the demands of Tokamak devices.

     

Measurement of electron density and electron temperature of a cascaded arc plasma using laser Thomson scattering compared to an optical emission spectroscopic approach

As advanced linear plasma sources, cascaded arc plasma devices have been used to generate steady plasma with high electron density, high particle flux and low electron temperature. To measure electron density and electron temperature of the plasma device accurately, a laser Thomson scattering(LTS) system, which is generally recognized as the most precise plasma diagnostic method, has been established in our lab in Dalian University of Technology. The electron density has been measured successfully in the region of 4.5?×?10(19)m~(-3) to7.1?×?10~(20)m~(-3) and electron temperature in the region of 0.18 eV to 0.58 eV. For comparison,an optical emission spectroscopy(OES) system was established as well. The results showed that the electron excitation temperature(configuration temperature) measured by OES is significantly higher than the electron temperature(kinetic electron temperature) measured by LTS by up to 40% in the given discharge conditions. The results indicate that the cascaded arc plasma is recombining plasma and it is not in local thermodynamic equilibrium(LTE). This leads to significant error using OES when characterizing the electron temperature in a non-LTE plasma.     

Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Laser-Induced Plasma from a Slag Sample

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy(LIBS) has been demonstrated to be an effective method for slag analysis.In order to better clarify the nature of the plasma generated from a slag sample,an Nd:YAG pulse laser at 1064 nm wavelength was used to ablate the slag sample in air.The temporal and spatial evolutions of plasma parameters,including emission intensity,electronic density and plasma temperature,have been studied.It is shown that the electron density and plasma temperature drop off rapidly with the delay time as a result of plasma expansion and cooling.It has been found that the electron density of the whole plasma is close to that of the center regions in the plasma.The results of the spatial distributions on the two-dimensional plane have shown that there is a big region with lower electron density values caused by the recombination process in the center of the plasma.The maximum of the plasma temperature takes place at the regions close to the target,and the border of the plasma front-head has higher plasma temperatures than that of the center part.