Frolova V P, Nikolaev A G, Oks E M, Vodopyanov A V, Yushkov A Yu, Yushkov G Yu
Institute of High Current Electronics, SB RAS, Tomsk 634055, Russia.
Institute of Applied Physics RAS, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2020 Feb 1;91(2):023302. doi: 10.1063/1.5143503.
Supersonic plasma flows with densities of 10-10 cm find application in various fields of physics and technology such as surface modification, simulation of plasma impact in fusion facilities, and laboratory studies of space phenomena. The work outlined here describes a pulsed vacuum arc source of supersonic dense metal plasma flow. The design, working principle, features of the power supply circuit, and main parameters of the plasma source in relation to the parameter of the vacuum arc pulse are discussed. Flows of ionized aluminum, copper, tantalum, and molybdenum were investigated. At a vacuum arc current amplitude of 25 kA, the source generated a plasma with a density of 3 × 10 cm. The ion velocity in the plasma flow and the ion charge state composition were measured. For an aluminum cathode, we have carried out measurements of the macroparticle fraction and the erosion rate. This supersonic metal ion plasma flow source is primarily designed for studying the flow interaction with an inhomogeneous magnetic field, with simultaneous application of electron cyclotron resonance irradiation from high-power pulsed gyrotrons, but may also find other applications.
密度为10⁻¹⁰厘米⁻³的超音速等离子体流在物理和技术的各个领域都有应用，如表面改性、聚变设施中等离子体冲击模拟以及空间现象的实验室研究。这里概述的工作描述了一种超音速高密度金属等离子体流的脉冲真空电弧源。讨论了该等离子体源的设计、工作原理、电源电路特点以及与真空电弧脉冲参数相关的主要参数。研究了电离铝、铜、钽和钼的等离子体流。在真空电弧电流幅值为25千安时，该源产生了密度为3×10¹⁹厘米⁻³的等离子体。测量了等离子体流中的离子速度和离子电荷态组成。对于铝阴极，我们测量了大颗粒分数和侵蚀速率。这种超音速金属离子等离子体流源主要设计用于研究流与非均匀磁场的相互作用，同时应用高功率脉冲回旋管的电子回旋共振辐照，但也可能有其他应用。
