Title :
Vircator operation with plasma assistance
Author :
Onishchenko, I.N. ; Balakirev, V.A. ; Magda, I.I. ; Pushkarev, S.S.
Author_Institution :
Nat. Sci. Centre, Kharkov Inst. of Phys. & Technol., Ukraine
Abstract :
Summary form only given, as follows. The experiments were carried out in the AGAT accelerator, which is a microsecond diode with a magnetic insulation to study the influence of plasma on the processes of virtual cathode (VC) formation, HF-generation, and plasma ions acceleration. The accelerator produced an annular electron beam with the following parameters: E=280 keV, I=3.5 kA, t=1 ms, and the beam energy 350 J. The beam was injected into a drift chamber 4.9 cm in diameter which was filled by a gas at a pressure of 2/spl times/10/sup -5/-4/spl times/10/sup -4/ torr and placed in an external magnetic field of 4-4.5 T. It was observed that a relaxing VC with low frequency modulation of 20 MHz was formed. Due to the beam escaping to the chamber walls plasma was produced near the anode and serves as ion source. The current of the accelerated ions reached 200 A at an energy for nitrogen ions of 300 keV. Simulation confirmed the low frequency modulation of the HF-oscillations at plasma presence.
Keywords :
accelerator RF systems; beam handling techniques; collective accelerators; electron accelerators; electron beams; ion sources; particle beam diagnostics; plasma diodes; plasma oscillations; plasma pressure; plasma production; plasma transport processes; plasma-beam interactions; vircators; 0.02 to 0.04 mtorr; 1 ms; 20 MHz; 200 A; 280 keV; 3.5 kA; 300 keV; 350 J; 4 to 4.5 T; 4.9 cm; AGAT accelerator; HF-generation; HF-oscillations; N; accelerated ions; accelerator; annular electron beam; anode; beam energy; beam escape; chamber walls; ion source; low frequency modulation; magnetic insulation; microsecond diode; plasma assistance; plasma ions acceleration; plasma presence; plasma production; vircator operation; virtual cathode formation; Acceleration; Accelerator magnets; Frequency modulation; Ion accelerators; Particle beam injection; Particle beams; Plasma accelerators; Plasma simulation; Plasma sources; Virtual colonoscopy;
Conference_Titel :
Pulsed Power Plasma Science, 2001. IEEE Conference Record - Abstracts
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7141-0
DOI :
10.1109/PPPS.2001.960758