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Design of a Plasma Injector for a Pulsed Plasma AcceleratorIn recent years, a pulsed plasma accelerator has been proposed as a candidate stand-off driver for the formation of an imploding liner in magnetized target fusion. For a near-term physics exploratory experiment to study the feasibility of this standoff approach, a plasma accelerator has been proposed that requires the controlled introduction and preparation of the initial plasma for acceleration. This includes uniform injection of the propellant downstream of the breech with a high degree of ionization. The design of a plasma feed is presented, which injects a high conductivity, highly collisional propellant transverse to the conductor. The plasma injector is designed to establish an initial plasma with a moderate Hall parameter at the trailing edge of the plasma slug, high Hall parameter behind the slug for magnetic insulation, and a short diffusion length in comparison with characteristic dimensions of the plasma slug to avoid propellant loss at the trailing edge.
Document ID
20030000997
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Cassibry, J. T.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Thio, Y. C. F.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Markusic, T. E.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Sommers, J.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Rodgers, Stephen L.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Plasma Physics
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics Annual Meeting
Location: Orlando, FL
Country: United States
Start Date: November 15, 2002
End Date: November 17, 2002
Sponsors: American Physical Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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