Simulation of Electron-Beam Generating Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

As electron-beam generating plasma is widely applied, the software tool EGS4 （Electron-Gamma Shower） was used to simulate the transmission and energy deposition of electron-beam in air. The simulation results indicated that the range of the electron-beam was inversely proportional to the gas pressure in a wide range of gas pressure, and the electron-beam of 200 keV could generate a plasma with a density 10^11 cm^-3 in air of latm. In addition, the energy distribution of the beam-electron and plasma density profile produced by the beam were achieved.     

Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves by Drift Vortex in Plasma

In a quasi-two-dimensional model, the scattering of incident ordinary electromag- netic waves by a dipole-electrostatic drift vortex is studied with first-order Born approximation. The distribution of the scattering cross-section and total cross-section are evaluated analytically in different approximate conditions, and the physical interpretations are discussed. When the wavelength of incident wave is much longer than the vortex radius （kia〈〈1）, it is found that the angle at which the scattering cross-section reaches its maxim depends significantly on the approximation of the parameters of the vortex used. It is also found that the total scattering cross-section has an affinitive relation with the parameters of the plasma, while it is irrelevant to the frequency of the incident wave in a wide range of parameters of the vortex. In a totally different range of parameters when incident wave is in the radar-frequency range （then kia 〈〈 1, the wavelength of incident wave is much shorter than the vortex radius）, the numerical procedure is conducted with computer in order to obtain the distribution and the total expression of the scattering crosssection. Then it is found that the total scattering cross-section in the low frequency range is much larger than that in high frequency range, so the scattering is more effective in the low frequency range than in high frequency range.     

Research on a Folded Blumlein Line Using Kapton Film as Dielectrics

In this project, a Blumlein line with a folded parallel-plates configuration using Kapton film as dielectrics was investigated. The characteristic parameters of this Blumlein line were analysed theoretically. The electric field distributions under different inner radii of the folded part were simulated. The output waveforms on the match load were also simulated by means of an equivalent electric circuit. According to the results of the theoretecal analysis and simulation, a Blumlein line with the folded parallel-plates configuration with an output voltage of 500 kV, a pulse duration of 100 ns, and a characteristic impedance of 4.773Ω was designed and manufactured. The experimental results properly demonstrated the wave transmitting process in the Blumlein line, and provided the voltage waveform of 500 kV and the current waveform of 50 kA with a pulse duration of 150 ns. Some engineering problems such as the edge electric breakdown and measuring precision by a resistance divider were revealed, which must be solved in future work to produce a more compact transmission line.     

Electromagnetic Calculation and Plasma Leakage Rate Analysis of the Magnetically Confined Plasma Rocket

An electromagnetic calculation and the parameters of the magnet system of the magnetically confined plasma rocket were established. By using ANSYS code, it was found that the leakage rate depends on the current intensity of the magnet and the change of the magnet position.     

The Oblique Incident Effects of Electromagnetic Wave in Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Layers

The propagating behaviours, i.e. phase shift, transmissivity, reflectivity and absorp- tivity, of an electromagnetic （EM） wave in a two-dimensional atmospheric pressure plasma layer are described by the numerical solutions of integral-differential Maxwell＇s equations through a generalized finite-difference-time-domain （FDTD） algorithm. These propagating behaviours are found to be strongly affected by five factors： two EM wave characteristics relevant to the oblique incident and three dimensionless factors. The two EM wave factors are the polarization mode （TM mode or TE mode） and its incident angle. The three dimensionless factors are： the ratio of the maximum electron density to the critical density no/nor, the ratio of the plasma layer width to the wave length d/λ, and the ratio of the collision frequency between electrons and neutrals to the incident wave frequency veo/f.     

Analysis and Performance of the Thomson Scattering Diagnostics on HT-7 Tokamak Based on I-EMCCD

A visible light imaging Thomson scattering （VIS-TVTS） diagnostic system has been developed for the measurement of plasma electron temperature on the HT-7 tokamak. The system contains a Nd：YAG laser （A = 532 nm, repetition rate 10 Hz, total pulse duration ≈ 10 ns, pulse energy 〉 1.0 J）, a grating spectrometer, an image intensifier （I.I.） lens coupled with an electron multiplying CCD （EMCCD） and a data acquisition and analysis system. In this paper, the measurement capability of the system is analyzed. In addition to the performance of the system, the capability of measuring plasma electron temperature has been proved. The profile of electron temperature is presented with a spatial resolution of about 0.96 cm （seven points） near the center of the plasma.     

Experimental Study on Electrical Breakdown for Devices with Micrometer Gaps

The understanding of electrical breakdown in atmospheric air across micrometer gaps is critically important for the insulation design of micro ＆ nano electronic devices. In this paper, planar aluminum electrodes with gaps ranging from 2μm to 40 #m were fabricated by microelectromechanical system technology. The influence factors including gap width and surface dielectric states were experimentally investigated using the home-built test and measurement system. Results showed that for SiO2 layers the current sustained at 2-3 nA during most of the pre-breakdown period, and then rose rapidly to 10-30 nA just before breakdown due to field electron emission, followed by the breakdown. The breakdown voltage curves demonstrated three stages： （1） a constantly decreasing region （the gap width d 〈5 μm）, where the field emission effect played an important role just near breakdown, supplying enough initial electrons for the breakdown process; （2） a plateau region with a near constant breakdown potential （5 μm〈 d 〈10 μm）; （3） a region for large gaps that adhered to Paschen＇s curve （d 〉10μm）. And the surface dielectric states including the surface resistivity and secondary electron yield were verified to be related to the propagation of discharge due to the interaction between initial electrons and dielectrics.     

Electron Heat Diffusivity Measurement by Perturbative Method on HT-7 Tokamak

Spatio-temporal evolutions of the sawteeth activities are measured simultaneously with a 16 channel high spatio-temporal resolution electron cyclotron emission （ECE） heterodyne radiometer on HT-7 and the evolutions of the sawteeth are found to be diffusive in character. By a perturbative analysis, the electron heat diffusivity Хe inferred by time-to-peak method and Fourier transform shows a good agreement. The value of electron heat diffusivity shows radial asymmetry between the low magnetic field side （LFS） and the high magnetic field side （HFS）. It is observed that with the increase in plasma density, the electron heat diffusivity decreases and the confinement of energy is improved. By comparing with Хe^pb inferred by static power balance analysis, the result indicate that Хe^hp is larger than Хe^pb by a factor ranging from 2 to 10.     

Experimental Study of the Recovery Times of Spark Gap Switch with Different Gases

A two-pulse method is used to determine the insulation recovery time of the gas spark gap switch with different types of gas applied in a high power accelerator with a water dielectric pulse forming line. At the breakdown voltage of 450 kV, with the vacuum diode voltage of about 200 kV, and a current of 30 kA, recovery characteristics of H2, N2, SF6 were studied. The recovery percentages of the gas breakdown voltage and vacuum diode voltage were determined. The results show that hydrogen has the best recovery characteristics. At a pulse interval of 8.8 ms, the recovery percentages of both the gas breakdown voltage and vacuum diode voltage for hydrogen exceed 95%. For SF6 and N2 with an interval of 25 ms and 50 ms respectively, a 90% voltage recovery was obtained. The experiments also proved that the repetitive rate of the high power accelerator with a pulse forming line is mainly restricted by the gas switch repetitive rate; the recovery percentages of the vacuum diode voltage are limited by the recovery percentages of the gas switch breakdown voltage. The hydrogen switch can be employed for a high repetitive rate-high power accelerator with a pulse forming line.     

Diagnosis of Electronic Excitation Temperature in Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas at Atmospheric Pressure

The electronic excitation temperature of a surface dielectric barrier discharge （DBD） at atmospheric pressure has been experimentally investigated by optical emission spectroscopic measurements combined with numerical simulation. Experiments have been carried out to deter- mine the spatial distribution of electric field by using FEM software and the electronic excitation temperature in discharge by calculating ratio of two relative intensities of atomic spectral lines. In this work, we choose seven Ar atomic emission lines at 415.86 nm [（3s^23p^5）5p →（3s^23p^5）4s] and 706.7 nm, 714.7 nm, 738.4 nm, 751.5 nm, 794.8 nm and 800.6 nm [（3s^23p^5）4p → （3s^23p^5）4s] to estimate the excitation temperature under a Boltzmann approximation. The average electron energy is evaluated in each discharge by using line ratio of 337.1 nm （N2（C^3Пu →B3Пg）） to 391.4 nm （N2^＋（B2 ∑u^＋→ ∑g^＋））. Furthermore, variations of the electronic excitation tempera- ture are presented versus dielectric thickness and dielectric materials. The discharge is stable and uniform along the axial direction, and the electronic excitation temperature at the edge of the copper electrode is the largest. The corresponding average electron energy is in the range of 1.6- 5.1 eV and the electric field is in 1.7-3.2 MV/m, when the distance from copper electrode varies from 0 cm to 6 cm. Moreover, the electronic excitation temperature with a higher permittivity leads to a higher dissipated electrical power.     

Determination of Electron Collision Cross Sections Set for Tetramethysilane

A swarm analysis technique based on the solution of the Boltzmann equation is used to derive low energy electron collision cross sections for tetramethylsilane （TMS）. The calculated swarm parameters with this first available cross sections set is consistent with measured values of the swarm parameters. Calculations of transport parameters in mixtures of TMS with argon are also presented.     

Simulations of Stimulated Raman Scattering in Low-Density Plasmas

Stimulated Raman particle-in-cell （PIC） simulations scattering （SRS） in a low-density The backward stimulated Raman plasma slab is investigated by scattering （B-SRS） dominates initially and erodes the head of the pump wave, while the forward stimulated Raman scattering （F-SRS） subsequently develops and is located at the rear part of the slab. Two-stage electron acceleration may be more efficient due to the coexistence of these two instabilities. The B-SRS plasma wave with low phase velocities can accelerate the background electrons which may be further boosted to higher energies by the F-SRS plasma wave with high phase velocities. The simulations show that the peaks of the main components in both the frequency and wave number spectra occur at the positions estimated from the phase-matching conditions.     

HCN Laser Interferometer on the EAST Superconducting Tokamak

A single-channel far-infrared （FIR） laser interferometer was developed to measure the line averaged electron density on the EAST tokamak. The structure of the single-channel FIR laser interferometer is described in detail. The evolution of density sawtooth oscillation was measured by means the FIR laser interferometer, and was identified by electron cyclotron emission （ECE） signals and soft X-ray intensity. The discharges with and without sawtooth were compared with each other in the Hugill diagram.     

Multipulse Nd：YAG Laser Thomson Scattering Diagnostics on HT-7 Tokamak

A multipulse Nd：YAG （Neodym-yttrium aluminium garnet） laser Thomson scattering diagnostic system developed was recently applied on HT-7 tokamak to obtain more accurate electron temperatures. A CAMAC-based real-time computer system for laser control, data acquisition, analysis and calibration was investigated in detail. Furthermore, the reliability and accuracy of this diagnostic system were demonstrated by comparing the results with those of a soft-X ray diagnostic system.     

Three-Dimensional PIC-MC Modeling for Relativistic Electron Beam Transport Through Dense Plasma

We have developed a three dimensional （3D） PIC （particle-in-cell）-MC （Monte Carlo） code in order to simulate an electron beam transported into the dense matter based on our previous two dimensional code. The relativistic motion of fast electrons is treated by the particle-in-cell method under the influence of both a self-generated transverse magnetic field and an axial electric field, as well as collisions. The electric field generated by return current is expressed by Ohm＇s law and the magnetic field is calculated from Faraday＇s law. The slowing down of monoenergy electrons in DT plasma is calculated and discussed.     

The Single Particle Theory of Backward-Wave Amplifications Based on Electron Cyclotron Maser witha Rectilinear Beam简

The theory of slow backward-wave amplifications is developed based on electron cyclotron maser （ECM） mechanism employing an initially rectilinear beam, A nonlinear evolution equation is derived to describe the electron energy. Numerical calculations show that the saturated interaction efficiency in this system may exceed 20~, and the saturated interaction length spans 3-6 centimeters. The distinctive interaction mechanism is promising for the design of compact backward microwave amplification devices, Numerical studies are also presented for the slow-wave ECM efficiency with inclusion of Gaussian beam electron velocity spread. It is shown that the velocity spread reduces the interaction e~ciency.     

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.