A THETA-PINCH PLASMA GUN.
Abstract
A study is being made of a plasma gun that uses a theta-pinch to produce a dense, hot plasma before it is accelerated. Two single-turn coils (3.5 cm long, 3.0 cm inside diameter, and 1.5 cm apart) are energized simultaneously from separate, fast capacitors (325 Joules) to produce a second half-cycle pinch. An additional slow capacitor discharge (1250 Joules) through the rear or breech coil forces the plasma through the front or muzzle coil into a longitudinal magnetic field. The gun produces a single puff of plasma. When hydrogen is used, at 14 cm from the muzzle, the puff is 10 cm long, has a maximum transverse energy greater than 1.0 Joule/cm, a density greater than 10 to the 15th power particles/cc, and a velocity of 2 x 10 to the 7th power cm/sec. The energy output of the gun, operated in this manner, is up to four times greater than the energy obtained when only the rear coil having 80% of the stored energy is used as a conventional conical pinch gun. The output depends critically on the delay between the injection of gas and firing. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0652690
Entities
People
- R. Turner
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory