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Experimental investigation of reconnection in magnetized plasmas relies on accurate characterization of the evolving magnetic fields. In experimental configurations where the plasma dynamics are reproducible, magnetic data can be collected in multiple discharges and combined to provide spatially resolved profiles of the plasma dynamics. However, in experiments on spontaneous magnetic reconnection recently undertaken at the Versatile Toroidal Facility at MIT, the reconnection process is not reproducible and all information on the plasma must be collected in a single discharge. This paper describes a newly developed magnetic flux array which directly measures the toroidal component of the magnetic vector potential, A[lowercase_phi_synonym]. From the measured A[lowercase_phi_synonym], the magnetic field geometry, current density, and reconnection rate are readily obtained, facilitating studies of the three-dimensional dynamics of spontaneous magnetic reconnection. The novel design of the probe array allows for accurate characterization of profiles of A[lowercase_phi_synonym] at multiple toroidal angles using a relatively small number of signal channels and with minimal disturbance of the plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High voltage pulses of very short duration and fast rise time are required for generating uniform and diffuse plasma under various operating conditions. Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) has been generated by high voltage pulses of short duration and fast rise time to produce diffuse plasma in the discharge gap. The high voltage pulse power generators have been chosen according to the requirement for the DBD applications. In this paper, a compact solid-state unipolar pulse generator has been constructed for characterization of DBD plasma. This pulsar is designed to provide repetitive pulses of 315 ns pulse width, pulse amplitude up to 5 kV, and frequency variation up to 10 kHz. The amplitude of the output pulse depends on the dc input voltage. The output frequency has been varied by changing the trigger pulse frequency. The pulsar is capable of generating pulses of positive or negative polarity by changing the polarity of pulse transformer’s secondary. Uniform and stable homogeneous dielectric barrier discharge plasma has been produced successfully in a xenon DBD tube at 400-mbar pressure using the developed high voltage pulse generator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study it is found that the cusp magnetic field configuration of an anode bucket influences the primary electron behavior. An electron orbit code (ELEORBIT code) showed that an azimuthal line cusp (cusp lines run azimuthally with respect to the beam extraction direction) provides a longer primary electron confinement time than an axial line cusp configuration. Experimentally higher plasma densities were obtained under the same arc power when the azimuthal cusp chamber was used. The newly designed azimuthal cusp bucket has been investigated in an effort to increase the plasma density in its plasma generator per arc power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A radially movable probe has been developed for studies of filamentary transport in ASDEX Upgrade during edge localized modes (ELMs) by means of Langmuir tips and magnetic pickup coils. The probe is permanently installed at the low field side in the ASDEX Upgrade vacuum vessel and is not subject to limitations in probe size, as, for example, probes on a shared manipulator are. The probe is moved by a magnetic drive, which allows for easy installation in the vessel, and has moderate machine requirements, as it will only require an electric feedthrough and an external power supply. The drive gives a linear motion with a radial range of 5 cm within 50 ms, where range and velocity can be largely scaled according to experimental requirements. The probe has been installed in the outer midplane of the ASDEX Upgrade vessel, where ELM filaments are expected to have their maximum amplitude. Filaments are coherent substructures within an ELM, carrying a fraction of the ELM released energy towards the wall. The new probe allows to measure the structure of these filaments, in particular, parameters such as filament rotation (by time delay measurements) and size (by peak width analysis). Activating the drive moves the probe from a safe position behind the limiter to a position in front of the limiters, i.e., exposes the Langmuir pins to the scrape-off layer plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the experiment and technology leading to a target plasma for the magnetized target fusion research effort, an approach to fusion wherein a plasma with embedded magnetic fields is formed and subsequently adiabatically compressed to fusion conditions. The target plasmas under consideration, field-reversed configurations (FRCs), have the required closed-field-line topology and are translatable and compressible. Our goal is to form high-density (10[sup 17] cm[sup -3]) FRCs on the field-reversed experiment-liner (FRX-L) device, inside a 36 cm long, 6.2 cm radius theta coil, with 5 T peak magnetic field and an azimuthal electric field as high as 1 kV/cm. FRCs have been formed with an equilibrium density n[sub e]≈(1 to 2)×10[sup 16] cm[sup -3], T[sub e]+T[sub i]≈250 eV, and excluded flux ≈2 to 3 mWb. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the interpretation of correlation reflectometry data a fast two-dimensional full wave code in which realistic plasma geometries are used has been developed. Results of this code are compared with experiments from which turbulence correlation lengths and fluctuation levels are extracted with statistical optics methods. It is shown that in general the measured reflectometer correlation length is not equal to the turbulence correlation length. The code is also used to study the possibility of O-X correlation reflectometry in FIRE for the determination of the local magnetic field strength. It was found that this is only possible at very low fluctuation levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental platform for the studying of high-intensity laser plasma interactions in strong magnetic fields has been developed based on the 1 MA Zebra pulsed power generator coupled with the 50-TW Leopard laser. The Zebra generator produces 100-300 T longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields with different types of loads. The Leopard laser creates plasma at an intensity of 1019 W/cm2 in the magnetic field of coil loads. Focusing and targeting systems are integrated in the vacuum chamber of the pulsed power generator and protected from the plasma debris and strong mechanical shock. The first experiments with plasma at laser intensity >2 × 1018 W/cm2 demonstrated collimation of the laser produced plasma in the axial magnetic field strength >100 T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circuit design, assembly, and operating tests of a high-frequency and high-voltage (HV) pulsed dc generator (PDG) for capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharge inside a vacuum chamber are reported. For capacitive loads, it is challenging to obtain sharp rectangular pulses with fast rising and falling edges, requiring intense current for quick charging and discharging. The requirement of intense current generally limits the pulse operation frequency. In this study, we present a new type of PDG consisting of a pair of half-resonant converters and a constant current-controller circuit connected with HV solid-state power switches that can deliver almost rectangular high voltage pulses with fast rising and falling edges for CCP discharge. A prototype of the PDG is assembled to modulate from a high-voltage direct current (HVdc) input into a pulsed HVdc output, while following an input pulse signal and a set current level. The pulse rise time and fall time are less than 500 ns and 800 ns, respectively, and the minimum pulse width is 1 µs. The maximum voltage for a negative pulse is 1000 V, and the maximum repetition frequency is 500 kHz. During the pulse on time, the plasma discharge current is controlled steadily at the set value. The half-resonant converters in the PDG perform recovery of the remaining energy from the capacitive load at every termination of pulse discharge. The PDG performed with a high energy efficiency of 85% from the HVdc input to the pulsed dc output at a repetition rate of 1 kHz and with stable plasma operation in various discharge conditions. The results suggest that the developed PDG can be considered to be more efficient for plasma processing by CCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]