Experimental and computational investigations of ion dynamics in the Kansas State University Dense Plasma Focus (KSU-DPF)

Summary form only given. Kansas State University Dense Plasma Focus KSU-DPF is a 12.5 µF, 20kV, 2.5 kJ DPF machine that was commissioned at the Plasma Radiation Physics Laboratory, Kansas State University (KSU)1 early 2010. The machine was designed as a compact, nanosecond, multi-radiation source for applications in nuclear science and engineering. During the Deuterium-Deuterium D-D discharge (17 kV, 140 kA and 5 mbar) the plasma sheath is supersonically accelerated down the axial space between the electrodes (axial run-down phase). At the end of the discharge, the anomalous resistance produced during the plasma instability phase causes electric field development in the order of million volts per cm. The voltage drop causes charge separation and acceleration of the plasma ions downstream. A set of in house built magnetic and ion probes were used to study the sheath dynamics during the axial run-down phase and the accelerated ion beams respectively. Lee model was used analyze the experimental results.