Hot ion plasma production in HIP-1 using water-cooled hollow cathodesThe paper reports on hot-ion plasma experiments conducted in a magnetic mirror facility. A steady-state E x B plasma was formed by applying a strong radially inward dc electric field near the mirror throats. Most of the results were for hydrogen, but deuterium and helium plasmas were also studied. Three water-cooled hollow cathodes were operated in the hot-ion plasma mode with the following results: (1) thermally emitting cathodes were not required to achieve the hot-ion mode; (2) steady-state operation (several minutes) was attained; (3) input powers greater than 40 kW were achieved; (4) cathode outside diameters were increased from 1.2 cm (uncooled) to 4.4 cm (water-cooled); (5) steady-state hydrogen plasmas with ion temperatures from 185 to 770 eV and electron temperatures from 5 to 21 eV were produced. Scaling relations were empirically obtained for discharge current, ion temperature, electron temperature, and relative ion density as a function of hydrogen gas feed rate, magnetic field, and cathode voltage.
Document ID
19760038710
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Reinmann, J. J. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Lauver, M. R. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Patch, R. W. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Layman, R. W. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Snyder, A. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, Ohio, United States)