A. G. Shalashov

Observation of pulsed fast electron precipitations and the cyclotron generation mechanism of burst activity in a decaying ECR discharge plasma

We have detected and investigated quasi-periodic series of pulsed energetic electron precipitations in the decaying plasma of a pulsed ECR discharge in a mirror axisymmetric magnetic trap. The observed particle ejections from the trap are interpreted as the result of resonant interaction between energetic electrons and a slow extraordinary wave propagating in the rarefied plasma across the external magnetic field. We have been able to explain the generation mechanism of the sequences of pulsed precipitations at the nonlinear instability growth phase in terms of a cyclotron maser model in which the instability threshold is exceeded through a reduction in electromagnetic energy losses characteristic of the plasma decay.

Maser based on cyclotron resonance in a decaying plasma

The features of generating electromagnetic radiation in a two-level cyclotron maser whose active medium is a decaying nonequilibrium plasma confined in a magnetic field with the mirror configuration have been examined. It has been shown that, even in the absence of a continuously acting source of nonequilibrium particles (inversion of the medium), the system can exhibit the regimes of the quasimonochromatic or pulse generation of radiation owing to a fast monotonic decrease in the instability threshold that is characteristic of the plasma decay. The theory is confirmed by the results of observations of the burst activity of the decaying pulsed-discharge plasma under the conditions of the electron cyclotron resonance in the direct axisymmetric magnetic trap.

Interpretation of complex patterns observed in the electron-cyclotron instability of a mirror confined plasma produced by an ECR discharge

A specific nonlinear regime of electron-cyclotron instability is discussed aimed at explaining the complex temporal patterns of stimulated electromagnetic radiation from a mirror trap with a non-equilibrium plasma typical of an ECR discharge. This regime is characterized by self-modulation of a plasma cyclotron maser due to coherent interference of two counter-propagating unstable waves with degenerate frequencies resulting in the spatial modulation of the amplification coefficient. The proposed simple theoretical model allows one to reproduce the multi-scale time behavior of quasiperiodic pulses of electromagnetic radiation and related precipitation of energetic electrons detected in a laboratory setup based on a magnetic mirror trap with a plasma sustained by mm-wave gyrotron radiation.

Cyclotron-resonance maser with adiabatic magnetic pumping in a low-density plasma

The conditions under which the magnetic adiabatic compression of a plasma in a direct magnetic trap is accompanied by the accumulation of high energy in the hot anisotropic electron component are found. The basic instabilities resulting in the emission of the accumulated energy in the form of a pulse of stimulated electromagnetic radiation are analyzed. The possibility of creating terahertz radiation sources with the use of the magnetic compression of the plasma is discussed.

Kinetic instabilities in a mirror-confined plasma sustained by high-power microwave radiation

This paper summarizes the studies of plasma kinetic instabilities in the electron cyclotron frequency range carried out over the last decade at the Institute of Applied Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences. We investigate the nonequilibrium plasma created and sustained by high-power microwave radiation of a gyrotron under the electron cyclotron resonance condition. Resonant plasma heating results in the formation of at least two electron components, one of which, more dense and cold, determines the dispersion properties of the high-frequency waves, and the second, a small group of energetic electrons with a highly anisotropic velocity distribution, is responsible for the excitation of unstable waves. Dynamic spectra and the intensity of stimulated electromagnetic emission are studied with high temporal resolution. Interpretation of observed data is based on the cyclotron maser paradigm, in this context, a laboratory modeling of non-stationary wave-particle interaction processes have much in common with similar processes occurring in the magnetosphere of the Earth, planets, and in solar coronal loops.

Impact of poloidal curvature on linear mode conversion of quasi-optical wave beams in tokamak plasmas

A theory of ordinary and extraordinary wave coupling in the electron cyclotron frequency range in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas of a toroidal magnetic trap is reconsidered. Reduced wave equations are studied taking into account the poloidal curvature of the magnetic flux surfaces in a tokamak geometry. Based on these equations, the wave field distributions in the vicinity of the coupling region are found in a semi-analytical form. Non-one-dimensional effects of the flux surface curvature on the mode-conversion efficiency in tokamak plasmas are identified and analyzed.

Quasi-optical simulation of the electron cyclotron plasma heating in a mirror magnetic trap

The resonance microwave plasma heating in a large-scale open magnetic trap is simulated taking into account all the basic wave effects during the propagation of short-wavelength wave beams (diffraction, dispersion, and aberration) within the framework of the consistent quasi-optical approximation of Maxwell’s equations. The quasi-optical method is generalized to the case of inhomogeneous media with absorption dispersion, a new form of the quasi-optical equation is obtained, the efficient method for numerical integration is found, and simulation results are verified on the GDT facility (Novosibirsk).

Quasi-optical theory of microwave plasma heating in open magnetic trap

Microwave heating of a high-temperature plasma confined in a large-scale open magnetic trap, including all important wave effects like diffraction, absorption, dispersion and wave beam aberrations, is described for the first time within the first-principle technique based on consistent Maxwells equations. With this purpose, the quasi-optical approach is generalized over weakly inhomogeneous gyrotrotropic media with resonant absorption and spatial dispersion, and a new form of the integral quasi-optical equation is proposed. An effective numerical technique for this equations solution is developed and realized in a new code QOOT, which is verified with the simulations of realistic electron cyclotron heating scenarios at the Gas Dynamic Trap at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Novosibirsk, Russia).

Theory of a stationary microwave discharge with multiply charged ions in an expanding gas jet

The formation of a jet of a nonequilibrium multiply charged ion plasma is studied in the inhomogeneous gas jet. It is shown that the geometrical divergence of the jet restricts the maximum ion charge state and results in the spatial localization of the discharge. Stationary solutions corresponding to such regimes are constructed. The model proposed can be used to optimize modern experiments on generation of hard UV radiation due to the line emission of multiply ionized atoms in a gas jet heated by high-power millimeter and submillimeter radiation.

Simple Approach to Electromagnetic Scattering by Small Radially Inhomogeneous Spheres

In this paper, we use the invariant embedding technique to solve the problem of plane electromagnetic (EM) wave scattering by a nonuniform object with spherically symmetric distributions of dielectric and magnetic susceptibilities. Assuming that the size of the object is smaller or comparable with the vacuum wavelength, we consider a simple and effective approach to restore the EM fields inside the object and the scattering and absorption cross sections. The method is based on exact solutions of Maxwells equations and provides no limitations on the wavelengths inside the object. Therefore, it can be used to study complex cases, including those related to local amplification and absorption of waves in inhomogeneous resonant media.