A linear helicon plasma device with controllable magnetic field gradient

Current free double layers (CFDLs) are localized potential structures having spatial dimensions – Debye lengths and potential drops of more than local electron temperature across them. CFDLs do not need a current for them to be sustained and hence they differ from the current driven double layers. H...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of scientific instruments 2012-06, Vol.83 (6), p.063501-063501-6
Main Authors: Barada, Kshitish K., Chattopadhyay, P. K., Ghosh, J., Kumar, Sunil, Saxena, Y. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chambers
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
Coiling
COUPLING
DEBYE LENGTH
Devices
Double layer
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
EXPANSION
INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ION TEMPERATURE
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
Plasma (physics)
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA WAVES
Stability
TOPOLOGY
WAVE PROPAGATION
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Summary:Current free double layers (CFDLs) are localized potential structures having spatial dimensions – Debye lengths and potential drops of more than local electron temperature across them. CFDLs do not need a current for them to be sustained and hence they differ from the current driven double layers. Helicon antenna produced plasmas in an expanded chamber along with an expanding magnetic field have shown the existence of CFDL near the expansion region. A helicon plasma device has been designed, fabricated, and installed in the Institute for Plasma Research, India to study the role of maximum magnetic field gradient as well as its location with respect to the geometrical expansion region of the chamber in CFDL formation. The special feature of this machine consisting of two chambers of different radii is its capability of producing different magnetic field gradients near the physical boundary between the two chambers either by changing current in one particular coil in the direction opposite to that in other coils and/or by varying the position of this particular coil. Although, the machine is primarily designed for CFDL experiments, it is also capable of carrying out many basic plasma physics experiments such as wave propagation, wave coupling, and plasma instabilities in a varying magnetic field topology. In this paper, we will present the details of the machine construction, its specialties, and some preliminary results about the production and characterization of helicon plasma in this machine.
ISSN:0034-6748
1089-7623
DOI:10.1063/1.4723816