Multiple pulse magnetized electron beam injection in deuterium gas.

Results of experiments on injection of a sequence of several electron beam pulses (80–90 keV, 20–75 A, ∼30 μs) into 1019–1021 m−3 deuterium plasma are presented. The first beam pulse was injected into deuterium gas, the following pulses propagated through residual plasma that survived the inter-pulse periods. A typical pulse duration was of the order of 106 ω p − 1 that is much longer than most of the interaction-related processes. However, we noticed significant differences in plasma processes between the first pulse and the rest ones. A suggested physical factor behind those differences is longitudinal plasma current that develops during the first beam pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]