RESEARCH IN HIGH TEMPERATURE PLASMA.

Abstract

The fabrication of the AMC coils ended with the completion of the coils in October 1967. Final construction of the AMC machine is almost complete. In the test stand, currents up to 160 mA have been passed through a single acceleration stage following the ion source. Calculations on the ion energy spread to be obtained from the multimomentum injection give the full width at half maximum to be 140%. Interpretation of the ESCON I plasma has been delayed because the secondary emission signals were found to be due in part to photons or neutral atoms emitted by metal surfaces under positive ion bombardment. A major discovery has been made in theoretical work on slowing-down reactions; due to nuclear scattering collisions if the electron temperature is sufficiently high, a multiplying fusion chain reaction is possible. Exact particle orbit calculations show that, even with the low field operation of the AMC machine, all trapped particles will be adiabatic for the standard field configuration. Good progress has been made in understanding the arc starvation instability. One- and two-dimensional computer experiments have been successfully run to simulate arc starvation processes and beam behavior in an ion source. Experimentally, violent arc starvation has been induced magnetically in a simple discharge in a glass tube; voltage pulses greater than 50 kV and x-ray bursts are produced. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1968
Accession Number
AD0831270

Entities

People

  • A. A. Ware
  • J. S. Luce

Organizations

  • Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chain Reactions
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Construction
  • Electromagnetic Scattering
  • Emission
  • High Temperature
  • Ion Bombardment
  • Ion Sources
  • Ions
  • Nuclear Scattering
  • Nutrition Disorders
  • Scattering
  • Secondary Emission
  • Test Stands
  • Two Dimensional
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster