A THETA-PINCH GUN USED TO STUDY HIGH-BETA PLASMA INJECTION INTO MAGNETIC FIELDS.
Abstract
A small theta-pinch gun has been developed for high-beta injection studies. The gun uses two independently energized coils to create a single doughnut-shaped plasma puff with an average density (in a 2-kG field) of 1-2 x 10 to the 15th power/cc, ion temperature of 35 ev, and directed energy of 200 ev. The transmission of the plasma along Bz, Ioffe, and linear octopole guide fields and its interaction with a magnetic barrier have been studied with a variety of diagnostics, including a specially developed fast far-infrared interferometer. The results indicate that the theta-pinch gun output, limited by flute instabilities during compression and entry into the guide fields, is significantly greater than that of a more conventional, but comparable conical gun; that the Bz field is a more satisfactory guide field than either the Ioffe or linear octopole field; and that a magnetic barrier can convert a significant amount of directed energy into transverse energy. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0686715
Entities
People
- R. Turner
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory