Experiments on Plasma Turbulence Created by Supersonic Plasma Flows with Shear
Abstract
The turbulence created by streaming ions through a stationary plasma has been studied. The velocity of the streaming ions was selected via a biasing voltage. In situ probes were used to measure the local and time-varying plasma parameters, ion distribution functions, and the turbulence itself. Density fluctuations were recorded in time and space, Fourier transformed into frequency space and cross-correlated in space. The fluctuations were identified as ion sound modes and their growth rate was shown to depend on the beam energy. The interaction of density fluctuations with electromagnetic waves was investigated. Strong scattering of electromagnetic signals was observed when the wave was guided by a transmission line through a turbulent plasma. The effect was enhanced by forming a transmission line resonator and applying frequencies on the slope of the resonance curve. This suggests a method to eliminate the modulation of a high frequency signal by plasma turbulence. In addition a new method of generating plasma flows with shear has been devised. It is based on creating electron MHD flows with pulsed magnetic fields. Shear flow ion acoustic turbulence has been observed. The work also inspired new methods for eliminating the blackout problem.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA601481
Entities
People
- J. M. Urrutia
- R. L. Stenzel
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles