S. Korepanov

Fast ion relaxation and confinement in the gas dynamic trap

Studies of the relaxation and connement of hot anisotropic ions are considered to be the key elements of the gas dynamic trap (GDT) experimental research programme. The method of connement study described consists essentially in the comparison of measured ion parameters with those predicted by computer simulations. To realize this approach a set of diagnostics for the measurements of local and global parameters of the fast ions has been developed. In particular, this set includes diagnostics to measure the local energy and the angular distribution functions. For numerical studies of the fast ion dynamics a Monte Carlo code based on the theory of two body Coulomb collisions has been elaborated. Comparison of the experimental data with the results of the simulation clearly demonstrates that the fast ion characteristic relaxation times in the warm target plasma are close to those determined by binary Coulomb collisions. Signicant anomalous energy losses or scattering of fast ions have not been observed as yet. The measurements provide a maximum density of the fast ions with mean energy of about 8 keV up to 10 13 cm 3 , in good agreement with computer simulations. The increase of the neutral beam power and improved vacuum conditions of GDT made possible the access to plasma of as high as 30%.

A new high performance field reversed configuration operating regime in the C-2 devicea)

Large field reversed configurations (FRCs) are produced in the C-2 device by combining dynamic formation and merging processes. The good confinement of these FRCs must be further improved to achieve sustainment with neutral beam (NB) injection and pellet fuelling. A plasma gun is installed at one end of the C-2 device to attempt electric field control of the FRC edge layer. The gun inward radial electric field counters the usual FRC spin-up and mitigates the n = 2 rotational instability without applying quadrupole magnetic fields. Better plasma centering is also obtained, presumably from line-tying to the gun electrodes. The combined effects of the plasma gun and of neutral beam injection lead to the high performance FRC operating regime, with FRC lifetimes up to 3 ms and with FRC confinement times improved by factors 2 to 4.

Low energy, high power hydrogen neutral beam for plasma heating

A high power, relatively low energy neutral beam injector was developed to upgrade of the neutral beam system of the gas dynamic trap device and C2-U experiment. The ion source of the injector produces a proton beam with the particle energy of 15 keV, current of up to 175 A, and pulse duration of a few milliseconds. The plasma emitter of the ion source is produced by superimposing highly ionized plasma jets from an array of four arc-discharge plasma generators. A multipole magnetic field produced with permanent magnets at the periphery of the plasma box is used to increase the efficiency and improve the uniformity of the plasma emitter. Multi-slit grids with 48% transparency are fabricated from bronze plates, which are spherically shaped to provide geometrical beam focusing. The focal length of the Ion Optical System (IOS) is 3.5 m and the initial beam diameter is 34 cm. The IOS geometry and grid potentials were optimized numerically to ensure accurate beam formation. The measured angular divergences of the beam are ±0.01 rad parallel to the slits and ±0.03 rad in the transverse direction.

A photodiode-based neutral particle bolometer for characterizing charge-exchanged fast-ion behavior

A neutral particle bolometer (NPB) has been designed and implemented on Tri Alpha Energys C-2 device in order to spatially and temporally resolve the charge-exchange losses of fast-ion populations originating from neutral beam injection into field-reversed configuration plasmas. This instrument employs a silicon photodiode as the detection device with an integrated tungsten filter coating to reduce sensitivity to light radiation. Here we discuss the technical aspects and calibration of the NPB, and report typical NPB measurement results of wall recycling effects on fast-ion losses.

Precise formation of geometrically focused ion beams

Geometrically focused intense neutral beams for plasma diagnostic consist of many elementary beams formed by a multiaperture ion-optical system and aimed at the focal point. In real conditions, some of the elementary beams may have increased angular divergence and/or deviate from the intended direction, thus diminishing the neutral beam density at the focus. Several improvements to the geometrical focusing are considered in the article including flattening of the plasma profile across the emission surface, using of quasi-Pierce electrodes at the beam periphery, and minimizing the deviation of the electrodes from the spherical form. Application of these measures to the neutral beam Russian diagnostic injector developed in Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics allows an increase of neutral beam current density in the focus by ∼50%.

Transport studies in high-performance field reversed configuration plasmas

A significant improvement of field reversed configuration (FRC) lifetime and plasma confinement times in the C-2 plasma, called High Performance FRC regime, has been observed with neutral beam injection (NBI), improved edge stability, and better wall conditioning [Binderbauer et al., Phys. Plasmas 22, 056110 (2015)]. A Quasi-1D (Q1D) fluid transport code has been developed and employed to carry out transport analysis of such C-2 plasma conditions. The Q1D code is coupled to a Monte-Carlo code to incorporate the effect of fast ions, due to NBI, on the background FRC plasma. Numerically, the Q1D transport behavior with enhanced transport coefficients (but with otherwise classical parametric dependencies) such as 5 times classical resistive diffusion, classical thermal ion conductivity, 20 times classical electron thermal conductivity, and classical fast ion behavior fit with the experimentally measured time evolution of the excluded flux radius, line-integrated density, and electron/ion temperature. The num...

A mass resolved, high resolution neutral particle analyzer for C-2U

C-2U is a high-confinement, advanced beam driven field-reversed configuration plasma experiment which sustains the configuration for >5 ms, in excess of typical MHD and fast particle instability times, as well as fast particle slowing down times. Fast particle dynamics are critical to C-2U performance and several diagnostics have been deployed to characterize the fast particle population, including neutron and proton detectors. To increase our understanding of fast particle behavior and supplement existing diagnostics, an E ∥ B neutral particle analyzer was installed, which simultaneously measures H0 and D0 flux with large dynamic range and high energy resolution. Here we report the commissioning of the E ∥ B analyzer, confirm the instrument has energy resolution ΔE/E≲0.1 and a dynamic range Emax/Emin∼30, and present measurements of initial testing on C-2U.

Modulated active charge exchange fast ion diagnostic for the C-2 field-reversed configuration experiment.

A diagnostic technique for measuring the fast-ion energy distribution in a field-reversed configuration plasma was developed and tested on the C-2 experiment. A deuterium neutral beam modulated at 22 kHz is injected into the plasma, producing a localized charge-exchange target for the confined fast protons. The escaping fast neutrals are detected by a neutral particle analyzer. The target beam transverse size (∼15 cm) defines the spatial resolution of the method. The equivalent current density of the target beam is ≤0.15 A/cm(2), which corresponds to a neutral density (∼6 × 10(9) cm(-3)) that highly exceeds the background neutral density in the core of C-2. The deuterium fast-ions due to the target beam (E ∼27 keV), are not confined in C-2 and thus make a negligible contribution to the measured signals.

High power hydrogen neutral beam injector with focusing for plasma heating

High power neutral beam injector has been developed with particle energy of 25 keV, a current of 60 A, and several milliseconds pulse duration. Six of these injectors are planned to be used for the upgrade of the neutral beam system of a gas dynamic trap device. The injector ion source is based on an arc-discharge plasma box. The plasma emitter is produced by a 1 kA arc discharge in hydrogen. A multipole magnetic field produced with permanent magnets at the periphery of the plasma box is used to increase its efficiency and improve homogeneity of the plasma emitter. The ion beam is extracted by a four-electrode ion optical system (IOS). Initial beam diameter is 200 mm. The grids of the IOS have a curvature for geometrical focusing of the beam. The optimal IOS geometry and grid potentials were calculated to provide precise beam formation. The measured angular divergence of the beam is 0.02 rad, which corresponds to the measured width of the beam profile at a focal point of 2.5 cm.

Absolute calibration of neutron detectors on the C-2U advanced beam-driven FRC

In the C-2U fusion energy experiment, high power neutral beam injection creates a large fast ion population that sustains a field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma. The diagnosis of the fast ion pressure in these high-performance plasmas is therefore critical, and the measurement of the flux of neutrons from the deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion reaction is well suited to the task. Here we describe the absolute, in situ calibration of scintillation neutron detectors via two independent methods: firing deuterium beams into a high density gas target and calibration with a 2 × 107 n/s AmBe source. The practical issues of each method are discussed and the resulting calibration factors are shown to be in good agreement. Finally, the calibration factor is applied to C-2U experimental data where the measured neutron rate is found to exceed the classical expectation.