Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1827285 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment | 2009 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
Plasmas are a source of unbound electrons for charge neutralizing intense heavy ion beams to focus them to a small spot size and compress their axial length. The plasma source should operate at low neutral pressures and without strong externally applied fields. To produce long plasma columns, sources based upon ferroelectric ceramics with large dielectric coefficients have been developed. The source utilizes the ferroelectric ceramic BaTiO3 to form metal plasma. The drift tube inner surface of the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment (NDCX) is covered with ceramic material. High voltage (â¼8Â kV) is applied between the drift tube and the front surface of the ceramics. A BaTiO3 source comprised of five 20-cm-long sources has been tested and characterized, producing relatively uniform plasma in the 5Ã1010Â cmâ3 density range. The source was integrated into the NDCX device for charge neutralization and beam compression experiments, and yielded current compression ratios â¼120. Present research is developing multi-meter-long and higher density sources to support beam compression experiments for high-energy-density physics applications.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Instrumentation
Authors
Philip C. Efthimion, Erik P. Gilson, Larry Grisham, Ronald C. Davidson, Larry B. Grant Logan, Peter A. Seidl, William Waldron,