Vacuum arc plasma beam transport through a toroidal duct

On the basis of self-consistent two fluid hydrodynamic model taking into account electromagnetic and pressure forces, electron-ion collisions, magnetic force line curvature and radial dependence of centrifugal force the analytical solution of the problem of vacuum arc plasma beam transport in a quarter-torus magnetic filter is obtained. From comparison with experimental data it is shown that the solution obtained describes well the main properties of plasma beam behavior in the filter, e.g., (1) the relative value of the ion current along the torus decreases exponentially, (2) the deflection of the plasma beam from the center of the torus correlates with the centrifugal drift of the plasma beam, and (3) experiment and theory agree well on the weak correlation between magnetic field strength and filter efficiency.