Robert D. Horton

Design and operation of a passively switched repetitive compact toroid plasma accelerator

The design and operation ofa spheromak-like compact toroid (SCT) plasma accelerator is described. As an example application, some principles are presented for using the device as a plasma injector to fuel a tokamak plasma. The device forms and accelerates an SCT plasma. The SCT is a self-contained structure of plasma with embedded poloidal and toroidal magnetic fields and their associated currents that provide plasma confinement and structural integrity. The SCT is formed in a magnetized coaxial plasma gun and then accelerated within coaxial electrodes. The typical mass of an SCTfor tokamak fueling is from several tens to several hundreds of micrograms and is accelerated up to a velocity of ∼2 × 10 5 m/s. Larger-mass SCTs can be produced, and higher velocities are possible. This is important for other applications such as space propulsion, X-ray generation, fast-opening plasma switches, and low-temperature high-density plasma simulators. The novel features of the device are as follows: (a) it can be operated in a repetitive mode, (b) the high-energy capacitor bank to form the SCT is switched by initiating breakdown with fast gas injection, (c) the required delay between formation and acceleration is achieved passively with saturable inductors that switch the high-energy accelerator capacitor bank, and (d) a drift section has been added within the toroidal field region to study cross-field propagation prior to tokamak penetration. With the device installed on the Davis Diverted Tokamak (DDT), measurements are taken to study tokamak fueling. Typical rep-rated parameters are as follows: the SCT poloidal magnetic field at the outer electrode = 0.4 T, the stored formation bank energy = 1600 J, and the stored accelerator bank energy = 3600 J. The lower bound on SCT kinetic energy leaving the accelerator = 40 J (inferred from electron line density measurements). Typical SCT velocity is 15 to 20 cm/μs. The maximum rep-rate achieved so far with the device is 0.2 Hz and is currently limited by vacuum pumping capacity. Reliable operation has been demonstrated for 1000 consecutive shots. Higher-energy single shots have also been taken to study SCT propagation through an open guide tube and to study penetration of the SCT into the DDT tokamak vessel with both tokamak plasma discharges and vacuum toroidal magnetic field only.

Plasma density gradient measurement using laser deflection

For a given chord through a plasma, changes in the line integrated index of refraction as a result of a transverse density gradient can be observed by measuring the angle of deflection of a laser beam. In contrast to laser interferometers, this method of density profile measurement places modest requirements on laser quality and alignment procedures, allowing measurements to be conducted with short coherence length commercial laser diodes and segmented photodiode detectors. A prototype implementation of this scheme has been constructed and tested on the compact toroid injection experiment (CTIX). At densities comparable to magnetic fusion plasmas, laser deflections in the nanoradian range were measured. By assuming a particular density profile, a sensitivity of ∼1012cm−3∕nrad was obtained. This produced estimates of CTIX peak density in reasonable agreement with conventional interferometry data. The final goal of this diagnostic is a simple, reliable, array deployable density profile diagnostic.

Interaction of a spheromak-like compact toroid with a high beta spherical tokamak plasma

Recent experiments using accelerated spheromak-like compact toroids (SCTs) to fuel tokamak plasmas have quantified the penetration mechanism in the low beta regime; i.e. external magnetic field pressure dominates plasma thermal pressure. However, fusion reactor designs require high beta plasma and, more importantly, the proper plasma pressure profile. Here, the effect of the plasma pressure profile on SCT penetration, specifically, the effect of diamagnetism, is addressed. It is estimated that magnetic field pressure dominates penetration even up to 50% local beta. The combination of the diamagnetic effect on the toroidal magnetic field and the strong poloidal field at the outer major radius of a spherical tokamak will result in a diamagnetic well in the total magnetic field. Therefore, the spherical tokamak is a good candidate to test the potential trapping of an SCT in a high beta diamagnetic well. The diamagnetic effects of a high beta spherical tokamak discharge (low aspect ratio) are computed. To test the penetration of an SCT into such a diamagnetic well, experiments have been conducted of SCT injection into a vacuum field structure which simulates the diamagnetic field effect of a high beta tokamak. The diamagnetic field gradient length is substantially shorter than that of the toroidal field of the tokamak, and the results show that it can still improve the penetration of the SCT. Finally, analytic results have been used to estimate the effect of plasma pressure on penetration, and the effect of plasma pressure was found to be small in comparison with the magnetic field pressure. The penetration condition for a vacuum field only is reported. To study the diamagnetic effect in a high beta plasma, additional experiments need to be carried out on a high beta spherical tokamak.

Experimental research of a multipass transverse excitation atmospheric-pressure CO2 laser

Abstract. We have designed and constructed a transverse excitation atmospheric-pressure CO2 laser using a multipass configuration. We compare the measured results of both laser output power and energy from various modes of operation. We have measured the maximum laser output energy to be 19 J and the peak output power to be greater than 100 MW.

Simulated and experimental compression of a compact toroid

We present simulation results and experimental data for the compression of a compact toroid by a conducting nozzle without a center electrode. In both simulation and experiment, the plasma flow is obstructed by even modest magnetic fields. A simple mechanism for this obstruction is suggested by our simulations. The configuration of the plasmoid’s magnetic field plays a significant role in its compression. We analyze two types of plasma configurations under compression and demonstrate that the results from the simulations match those from the experiments, and that the mechanism predicts the different behaviors observed in the two cases.

Poloidal field amplification in a coaxial compact toroid accelerator

The Compact Toroid Injection Experiment (CTIX) produces spheromak-like compact toroids (SCTs) without external power switching, initiating a discharge by pulsed gas injection into a formation region containing a seed magnetic field generated by a solenoidal coil. After formation, the plasma is driven by an inductively delayed capacitor bank into an acceleration region, where surface axial and toroidal magnetic fields are measured at several axial positions. Due to strong eddy-current effects, formation-region magnetic field cannot be simply computed; instead, it is measured using the response of axial and radial test coils in the formation region to short solenoid test current pulses. A temporal and spatial reconstruction method is developed allowing formation-region field to be computed from the test-coil data for any CTIX discharge of identical solenoid geometry. By varying the peak value and timing of solenoidal current, curves of peak accelerator-region field as a function of initial formation-region field are developed. Curves of peak accelerator-region axial magnetic field are thereby found to be highly nonlinear functions of formation-region field, showing a threshold value for the formation-region field of approximately 5 G, above which acceleration-region field saturates at values between 2 and 12 kG. The direction of acceleration-region axial field reverses sign when the direction of solenoid current is reversed. Saturated accelerator-region axial field is a function of axial position and accelerator voltage, and is typically comparable to toroidal field at the same location. The ratio of accelerator-region to formation-region axial field commonly exceeds 1000 near the onset of saturation. This large amplification is of practical advantage for delayed plasma breakdown on CTIX, allowing a modest seed field to produce high poloidal fields, which are necessary for intense SCT acceleration. The results may also provide a useful benchmark for numerical simulation of the conversion of abundant toroidal field into poloidal field in a plasma with comparatively low dissipation.

Visible spectrometer at the Compact Toroid Injection Experiment and the Alcator C-Mod tokamak for Doppler width and shift measurements

A novel Doppler spectrometer is currently being used for ion or neutral velocity and temperature measurements on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The spectrometer has an f∕# of ∼3.1 and is appropriate for visible light (3500–6700A). The linewidth from a line emitting calibration source has been measured to be as small as 0.4A. The ultimate time resolution is line brightness light limited and on the order of milliseconds. A new photon efficient charge coupled device detector is being used at C-Mod. Time resolution is achieved by moving the camera during a plasma discharge in a perpendicular direction through the dispersion plane of the spectrometer, causing a vertical streaking across the camera face. Initial results from C-Mod as well as previous measurements from the Compact Toroid Injection Experiment are presented.

Observation of pinching in the compact toroid injection experiment: Implications for a plasma opening switch

A compact toroid inductively stores the energy released by a capacitor bank as it is being accelerated. This energy can be stored for a period of more than ten microseconds and then transferred to a load on a much shorter time scale. This article presents framing camera images of the radial compression of plasma trailing behind a compact toroid as the compact toroid leaves its inner electrode. This compression illustrates the basic principles of a compact toroid plasma opening switch which could be used to drive fast z pinches.

High-speed analog fiber-optic link for electromagnetic interference suppression in infrared power measurement.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a common problem in a high-power pulsed infrared laser measurement. In order to eliminate susceptibility to radiated EMI, we developed, tested and implemented an infrared power measurement system using a high-speed analog fiber-optic link. Key components are commercially available parts designed for high-speed digital data transmission, but can be operated in analog mode. We successfully utilized the system for time-resolved measurements of high-power transversely-excited atmospheric-pressure CO(2) lasers in amplifier and oscillator configurations. This paper presents experimental setup, testing results, and the details of the laser power measurements results.

Method of reconstructing a moving pulse

We present a method of analyzing a set of N time signals fi(t) that consist of local measurements of the same physical observable taken at N sequential locations Zi along the length of an experimental device. The result is an algorithm for reconstructing an approximation F(z,t) of the field f(z,t) in the inaccessible regions between the points of measurement. We also explore the conditions needed for this approximation to hold, and test the algorithm under a variety of conditions. We apply this method to analyze the magnetic field measurements taken on the Compact Toroid Injection eXperiment (CTIX) plasma accelerator; providing a direct means of visualizing experimental data, quantifying global properties, and benchmarking simulation.