Emission spectroscopy diagnostics of rare gases in the PNX-U facility

Results are presented from measurements of the electron temperature and neutral atom density in a low-temperature microwave plasma by the method of emission spectroscopy. The measurements were conducted in the PNX-U facility—a magnetic confinement system with a “magnetic wall.” Multichord measurements of plasma radiation at a wavelength of 750.37 nm were performed with the help of an absolutely calibrated monochromator. The neutral atom density was calculated using the collisional-radiative model. The degree of plasma ionization near the axis of the facility was found to be close to unity. The electron temperature of the argon plasma was measured from the relative intensities of the spectral lines of neutral helium injected in small amounts into the plasma (the so-called helium thermometer method). At a low microwave heating power, the results of these measurements agree well with the results of probe measurements.     

A nanoparticle in plasma

Charge and energy fluxes onto a nanoparticle under conditions typical of laboratory plasmas are investigated theoretically. Here, by a nanoparticle is meant a grain the size of which is much smaller than both the electron Larmor radius and Debye length and the thermionic emission from which is not limited by the space charge. Under conditions at which thermionic emission plays an important role, the electric potential and temperature T _p of a nanoparticle are determined by solving a self-consistent set of equations describing the balance of energy and charge fluxes onto the nanoparticle. It is shown that, when the degree of plasma ionization exceeds a critical level, the potential of the nanoparticle and the energy flux onto it increase with increasing nanoparticle temperature, so that, starting from a certain temperature, the nanoparticle potential becomes positive. The critical degree of ionization starting from which the potential of a nanoparticle is always positive is determined as a function of the plasma density and electron temperature. The nanoparticle temperature T _p corresponding to the equilibrium state of a positively charged nanoparticle is found as a function of the electron density for different electron temperatures.     

Development of a self-consistent model of dust grain charging at elevated pressures using the method of moments

A model of dust grain charging is constructed using the method of moments. The dust grain charging process in a weakly ionized helium plasma produced by a 100-keV electron beam at atmospheric pressure is studied theoretically. In simulations, the beam current density was varied from 1 to 10⁶ μA/cm². It is shown that, in a He plasma, dust grains of radius 5 μm and larger perturb the electron temperature only slightly, although the reduced electric field near the grain reaches 8 Td, the beam current density being 10⁶ μA/cm². It is found that, at distances from the grain that are up to several tens or hundreds of times larger than its radius, the electron and ion densities are lower than their equilibrium values. Conditions are determined under which the charging process may be described by a model with constant electron transport coefficients. The dust grain charge is shown to be weakly affected by secondary electron emission. In a beam-produced helium plasma, the dust grain potential calculated in the drift-diffusion model is shown to be close to that calculated in the orbit motion limited model. It is found that, in the vicinity of a body perturbing the plasma, there may be no quasineutral plasma presheath with an ambipolar diffusion of charged particles. The conditions for the onset of this presheath in a beam-produced plasma are determined. __________ Translated from Fizika Plazmy, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2003, pp. 214–226. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2003 by Filippov, Dyatko, Pal’, Starostin.     

Ionization transition in low-density plasma

Ionization equilibrium in low-density low-temperature plasma is considered. It is demonstrated using hydrogen and cesium as examples that the Saha equation predicts an almost jump-like change in the electron density on isochors in a narrow temperature range. Thus, in contrast to a smooth rise in the degree of ionization with increasing temperature at high plasma densities, an increase in the temperature in low-density plasma should result in a sharp transition from a neutral state to a fully ionized plasma. This transition is accompanied by a jump-like increase in the electric conductivity. The relation of these effects to the recombination transition in the model of the early Universe is discussed. The possibility of observing such a transition experimentally and the problems concerning the time of plasma relaxation into an equilibrium state at long free path lengths of plasma particles are considered.     

Study of the parameters of hydrogen-titanium plasma in a pulsed reflective discharge

The parameters of a dense (10¹³–10¹⁴ cm⁻³) plasma produced by ionization of a H₂ + Ti mixture in a moderate-power (W ≤ 10 MW) pulsed reflective discharge are investigated. The dynamics of the plasma density, the elemental composition of the generated plasma, the radial distribution of the electron density, the rotation velocity and frequency of the plasma layer with n _p ≥ n _cr, the radial electric field, the coefficient of plasma particle separation, and the coefficient of plasma recombination in the stage of plasma decay are determined.     

Flow of a plasma of multielectron elements along a magnetic field

An analysis is made of a flow of Ar plasma imitating plasma flows in ion separation systems such as systems for processing spent nuclear fuel or ion cyclotron resonance isotope separation systems. It is found that the electron temperature is equalized along the flow by electron heat conduction. When the electron temperature is not too low (T _e ≥ E _ion/10, where E _ion is the ionization energy), multicharged ions are intensely produced along the entire flow. It is shown that this process is accompanied by the flow acceleration. Difficulties in describing a supersonic flow by hydrodynamic equations are pointed out.     

Measurements of the electron density and degree of plasma ionization in a plasma target based on a linear electric discharge in hydrogen

Laser interferometry methods were used to measure the density of free electrons and degree of plasma ionization in a hydrogen target intended for experiments on determining energy losses of heavy ion beams in an ionized matter. It is shown that the linear electron density can be varied in the range from 3.3 × 10¹⁷ to 1.3 × 10¹⁸ cm^?2 by varying the initial plasma parameters (the hydrogen pressure in the target and the discharge current). The error in measuring the linear electron density in the entire range of the varied plasma parameters was less than 1%. The maximum degree of plasma ionization achieved at the initial gas pressure of 1 mbar was 0.62 ± 0.05.     

Quantum nature of the damping of Langmuir oscillations and the boson peak in plasma

It is shown that the damping of Langmuir plasma oscillations is quantum in nature and that the damping rate, which is proportional to the fourth power of the electron charge, is caused by thermal electron fluctuations and depends nonanalytically on the Plank constant ℏ at ℏ → 0. At frequencies of ∼T/ℏ, the damping rate has a maximum, which can be identified with a boson peak.     

Glow Pause in a Helium Plasma at Room and Liquid Nitrogen Temperatures on Applying a Nanosecond Voltage Pulse to a Glow Discharge

The features of the relaxation of a quasi-steady glow discharge after extra excitation by a nanosecond high-voltage pulse are studied experimentally. It is shown that the plasma relaxation is characterized by the existence of a time interval with a low emission intensity—a glow pause. A kinetic model of the helium plasma relaxation is developed. It is shown that the nanosecond discharge that creates extra ionization and metastable atoms enables one to keep the electron temperature at a quasi-steady level within the range 0.05–0.5 eV for several hundred microseconds during the glow pause. The effect of the helium temperature on the glow pause features is investigated.     

Langmuir probe study of an inductively coupled magnetic-pole-enhanced helium plasma

This study reports the effects of RF power and filling gas pressure variation on the plasma parameters, including the electron number density n _e , electron temperature T _e , plasma potential V _p , skin depth δ, and electron energy probability functions (EEPFs) in a low-pressure inductively coupled helium plasma source with magnetic pole enhancement. An RF compensated Langmuir probe is used to measure these plasma parameters. It is observed that the electron number density increases with both the RF power and the filling gas pressure. Conversely, the electron temperature decreases with increasing RF power and gas pressure. It is also noted that, at low RF powers and gas pressures, the EEPFs are non-Maxwellian, while at RF powers of ≥50 W, they evolve into a Maxwellian distribution. The dependences of the skin depth and plasma potential on the RF power are also studied and show a decreasing trend.     

Thermal fluctuations of DNA enclosed by glycerol–water glassy matrices: an elastic neutron scattering investigation

Through elastic neutron scattering measurements, we investigated the thermal fluctuations of DNA enclosed by glycerol–water glassy matrices, at different levels of hydration, over the wide temperature range from 20 to 300 K. For all the samples, the extracted hydrogen mean square displacements (MSD) show a purely vibrational harmonic trend at very low temperatures, and a first onset of anharmonic dynamics above ∼100 K. Such onset is consistent with the activation of DNA methyl group rotational motions. Then, at a certain temperature T _d, the MSD show a second onset of anharmonicity, which corresponds to the DNA dynamical transition. The T _d values vary as a function of the hydration degree of the environment. The crucial role of the solvent mobility to activate the DNA thermal fluctuations is proposed, together with a preferential hydration effect of the DNA phosphate groups. Finally, a comparison between the average mobility of homologous samples of DNA and the lysozyme protein is considered. Advanced neutron scattering and complementary techniques to study biological systems. Contributions from the meetings, “Neutrons in Biology”, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UK, 11–13 July and “Proteins At Work 2007”, Perugia, Italy, 28–30 May 2007.     

Spectroscopic measurements of the parameters of the helium plasma jets generated in the plasma focus discharge at the PF-3 facility

The spectroscopic technique used to measure the parameters of the plasma jets generated in the plasma focus discharge and those of the plasma of the immobile gas through which these jets propagate is described. The time evolution of the intensities and shapes of spectral lines in experiments carried out with helium at the PF-3 facility was studied by means of electron-optical streak cameras. The plasma electron temperature, T ≈ 4–5 eV, was determined from the intensity ratio of two spectral lines, one of which (λ₁ = 5876 Å) belongs to neutral helium, while the other (λ₂ = 4686 Å), to hydrogen-like helium ions. The plasma density at different time instants was determined from the Stark broadening of these lines in the electric fields of different nature. The plasma density is found to vary from 4 × 10¹⁴ to 2 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3.     

ECR heating power modulation as a means to ease the overcoming of the radiation barrier in fusion devices

A method is proposed to ease the overcoming of the impurity radiation barrier during current drive in tokamaks, as well as in alternative fusion and plasmochemical systems with ECR plasma heating. The method is based on the fact that the dependence of the ionization rate on the electron temperature is strongly nonlinear and the dependence of the recombination rate on the latter is weaker. The result is that, during temperature oscillations, the effective temperature for ionization-recombination processes is higher than that in a steady state, so the ionization equilibrium is shifted and strongly emitting ions are stripped more rapidly. Thereby, ECR plasma heating in the initial discharge stage can be made more efficient by modulating the heating power at a low frequency. The evolution of the electron temperature in a homogeneous hydrogen plasma with a carbon impurity and in small ISX-scale tokamaks is simulated numerically, as well as the evolution of the electron and ion temperatures and of the current during discharge startup in the ITER device. Numerical simulations of the effect of modulation of the ECR heating power on the rate of heating of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon plasmas were also carried out. The assumption of coronal equilibrium is not used. It is shown that the low-frequency modulation of the heating power can substantially ease the overcoming of the radiation barrier.     

Study of the plasma parameters in a high-current pulsed magnetron sputtering system

Results are presented from experimental studies of the current-voltage characteristics and spatial and temporal parameters of the plasma in a high-current pulsed magnetron sputtering system with a 10-cm-diameter plane disk cathode. It is shown that the plasma density in such a system is three orders of magnitude higher than that in conventional dc magnetron discharges and reaches 10¹³ cm⁻³ at a distance of 250 mm from the cathode at a peak discharge current of 500 A. The plasma propagates from the cathode region at a velocity of 1 cm/μs in the axial direction and 0.25 cm/μs in the radial direction. Optical emission spectroscopy shows that the degree of plasma ionization increases severalfold with increasing discharge current, mainly at the expense of the sputtered material.     

Impact of magnetic field inhomogeneity on electron cyclotron radiative loss in tokamak reactors

The potential importance of electron cyclotron (EC) emission in the local electron power balance in the steady-state regimes of ITER operation with high temperatures, as well as in the DEMO reactor, requires accurate calculation of the one-dimensional (over magnetic surfaces) distribution of the net radiated power density, P _EC(ρ). When the central electron temperature increases to ∼30 keV, the local EC radiative loss comprises a substantial fraction of the heating power from fusion alphas and is close to the total auxiliary NBI heating power, P _EC(0) ≃ 0.3P _α(0) ≃ P _aux(0). In the present paper, the model of EC radiative transport in an axisymmetric toroidal plasma is extended to the case of an inhomogeneous magnetic field B(R, Z). The impact of such inhomogeneity on local and total power losses is analyzed in the framework of this model by using the CYNEQ code. It is shown that, for the magnetic field B, temperature T _e , density n _e , and wall reflection coefficient R _w expected in ITER and DEMO, accurate simulations of the EC radiative loss require self-consistent 1.5D transport analysis (i.e., one-dimensional simulations of plasma transport and two-dimensional simulations of plasma equilibrium). It is shown that EC radiative transport can be described with good accuracy in the 1D approximation with the surface-averaged magnetic field, B(ρ) = 〈B(R, Z)〉 _ms . This makes it possible to substantially reduce the computational time required for time-dependent self-consistent 1.5D transport analysis. Benchmarking of the CYNEQ results with available results of the RAYTEC, EXACTEC, and CYTRAN codes is performed for various approximations of the magnetic field.     

Diagnostics of plasma produced by femtosecond laser pulse impact upon a target with an internal nanostructure

X-ray diagnostics of the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with intensities of 10¹⁶–10¹⁸ W/cm² with CO₂ clusters and frozen nanosize water particles is carried out. The stage of cluster expansion and the formation of a plasma channel, which governs the parameters of the formed X-ray radiation source and accelerated ion flows, is studied. The measurements are based on recording spatially resolved X-ray spectra of H- and He-like oxygen ions. Utilization of Rydberg transitions for spectra diagnostics makes it possible to determine plasma parameters on a time scale of t ∼ 10 ps after the beginning of a femtosecond pulse. The role of the rear edge of the laser pulse in sustaining the plasma temperature at a level of ∼100 eV in the stage of a nonadiabatic cluster expansion is shown. The analysis of the profiles and relative intensities of spectral lines allows one to determine the temperature and density of plasma electrons and distinguish the populations of “thermal” ions and ions that are accelerated up to energies of a few tens of kiloelectronvolts. It is shown that the use of solid clusters made of frozen nanoscale water droplets as targets leads to a substantial increase in the number of fast He-like ions. In this case, however, the efficiency of acceleration of H-like ions does not increase, because the time of their ionization in plasma exceeds the time of cluster expansion.     

Effects of high temperature and low pH on photosystem 2 photochemistry in spinach thylakoid membranes

The effects of temperature (25–45 °C) and pH (7.5–5.5) on photosystem (PS) 2 was studied in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) thylakoid membranes using chlorophyll a fluorescence induction kinetics. In high temperature and low pH treated thylakoid membranes a decline in the variable to maximum fluorescence ratio (F_v/F_m) and PS 2 electron transport rate were observed. More stacking in thylakoid membranes, studied by digitonin fractionation method, was observed at low pH, while the degree of unstacking increased under high temperature conditions. We conclude that the change in pH does not significantly affect the donor/acceptor side of PS 2 while high temperature does. Fluorescence emission spectra at 77 K indicated that low pH is associated with energy redistribution between the two photosystems while high temperature induced changes do not involve energy re-distribution. We suggest that both, high temperature and low pH, show an inhibitory effect on PS 2 but their mechanisms of action are different.     

Stability and folding dynamics of polyglutamic acid

The thermal stability and folding dynamics of polyglutamic acid were studied by equilibrium circular dichroism (CD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), and time-resolved temperature-jump infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Polyglutamic acid (PGA) forms α-helical peptides in aqueous solution and is an ideal model system to study the helix–coil transition. Melting curves were monitored with CD and FTIR as a function of pD. At low pD, PGA aggregates at temperatures above 323 K, whereas at pD >5, unfolding and refolding are reversible. At pD 5.4, a helix–coil transition occurs with a transition temperature T _m of 307 K. At slightly higher pD of 6.2, the peptide conformation is already in a coil structure and only small conformational changes occur upon heating. We determined the equilibrium constant for the reversible helix–coil transition at pD 5.4. The dynamics of this transition was measured at single IR wavelengths after a nanosecond laser-excited temperature jump of ∆T ~ 10 K. Relaxation constants decreased with increasing peptide temperature. Folding and unfolding rates as well as activation energies were extracted based on a two-state model. Our study shows how equilibrium and time-resolved infrared spectroscopic data can be combined to characterize a structural transition and to analyze folding mechanisms.     

Non-self-sustained glow discharge with electrostatic confinement of electrons sustained by a fast neutral molecule beam

Experimental study of plasma produced at the nitrogen pressure 0.2–1 Pa in the chamber volume V ≈ 0.12 m³ as a result of injection into the chamber of a broad nitrogen molecule beam with 1–4 keV energy and 0.1–1 A equivalent current is carried out, and the study results are presented. Dependences of the plasma density distribution on the beam equivalent current I _b , energy E _b , and gas pressure p indicate a crucial role of fast molecules in gas ionization, and the probe characteristics reveal two groups of plasma electrons with the temperatures T _e ∼ 0.4 eV and T _e ∼ 16 eV. Immersion in plasma of an electrode isolated from the chamber and application to the electrode of a positive voltage U result in non-self-sustained discharge. When U changes from ∼0.5 to ∼1.5 V, the discharge current I rapidly rises to a certain value I*, and after that the rate of rise dI/dU drops by an order of magnitude. At U ∼ 10 V, the current I rises to I ₀ ≈ 1.5I*, and dI/dU once again drops by an order of magnitude. Current I ₀ specifies the number of electrons produced inside the chamber per second, and it grows up with E _b , I _b , and p. At U > 20 V, due to gas ionization by fast electrons emitted by the chamber and accelerated up to the energy ∼eU in the sheath between the plasma and the chamber walls, the current I rises again. When U grows up to ∼50 V, production of fast electrons with energies exceeding the ionization threshold begins inside the sheath, and the ionization intensity rises dramatically. At U > 150 V, contribution of fast electrons to gas ionization already exceeds the contribution of fast molecules, and the plasma density and its distribution homogeneity inside the chamber both grow up substantially. However, even in this case, the discharge is non-self-sustained, and only at U > 300 V it does not expire when the beam source is switched off.     

Behaviors of impurity in ITER plasma with standard type I ELMy H-mode and steady-state scenarios

Self-consistent simulations of impurity behaviors in ITER plasmas in standard Type I ELMy H-mode and steady-state scenarios are investigated using 1.5D BALDUR integrated predictive modeling code. In these simulations, the plasma core transports, including electron and ion thermal, hydrogenic and impurity transports, are predicted using a linear combination of anomalous and neoclassical transports. An anomalous transport is calculated using a theory-based Multimode (MMM95) model; while the neoclassical transport is calculated using NCLASS model. The temperature and density boundary conditions are described at the top of the pedestal. Two different models for hydrogenic and impurity boundary density conditions are considered. The first model is called a “static boundary density model,” in which the hydrogenic and impurity densities at the boundary are fixed. For the second model, called a “dynamic boundary density model,” the hydrogenic and impurity densities at the boundary are assumed to be a large fraction of its line-averaged density. For simplicity, the pedestal temperature is assumed to be a constant in all simulations. The combination of a core transport model together with the boundary density models is used to simulate the time evolution of plasma current, temperature, and density profiles for ITER plasmas in standard type I ELMy H-mode and steady-state scenarios. As a result, the behaviors of impurity in ITER plasmas can be investigated. It is found in both ITER scenarios that the total amount of impurity, including beryllium and helium, in plasma core increases rapidly in early state and reaches a steady-state value. The level of impurity content in the steady state depends sensitively on the impurity boundary conditions. The effective charge at the edge is found to be about 1.4 and 1.1 using a static boundary density model and a dynamic boundary density model, respectively. It is also found that the hydrogenic and impurity transports in ITER plasmas for both scenarios is dominated by the kinetic ballooning modes, while the ITG and TEM modes provide the largest contributions for both thermal transports in most of region. In addition, a sensitivity study is carried out to investigate the impacts of pedestal temperature, pedestal density and line-averaged density on the impurity behaviors. It is found that increasing the pedestal temperature results in a reduction of the impurity content. On the other hand, increasing the pedestal density, line-averaged density or impurity influx result in an increase of the impurity content.