Table of contents

In this work, the effects of superthermal and trapped electrons on the oblique propagation of nonlinear dust-acoustic waves in a magnetized dusty (complex) plasma are investigated. The dynamic of electrons is simulated by the generalized Lorentzian (κ) distribution function (DF). The dust grains are cold and their dynamics are simulated by hydrodynamic equations. Using the standard reductive perturbation technique (RPT) a nonlinear modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation is derived. Two types of solitary waves; fast and slow dust acoustic solitons, exist in this plasma. Calculations reveal that compressive solitary structures are likely to propagate in this plasma where dust grains are negatively (or positively) charged. The properties of dust acoustic solitons (DASs) are also investigated numerically.

A hydrodynamic model is used to investigate the characteristics of positive ions in the sheath region of a low-pressure magnetized electronegative discharge. Positive ions are modeled as a cold fluid, while the electron and negative ion density distributions obey the Boltzmann distribution with two different temperatures. By taking into account the ion-neutral collision effect in the sheath region and assuming that the momentum transfer cross section has a power law dependence on the velocity of positive ions, the sheath formation criterion (modified Bohm's criterion) is derived and it is shown that there are specified maximum and minimum limits for the ion Mach number M. Considering these two limits of M, the behaviors of electrostatic potential, charged particle density distributions and positive ion velocities in the sheath region are studied for different values of ion-neutral collision frequency.

In this paper, a mechanism about the variability of the L-H transition power threshold P_L–H is proposed which is based on the ion orbit losses. Only in the edge where there are enough ion orbit losses and the negative radial electric field E_r is high enough can the H-mode be triggered. The ion orbit losses are determined by the ion in the loss region under certain edge conditions. For different mass A and different charge Z, the critical loss energy E ∝ Z²/A in the loss region. In H and D charges, because the D⁺ loss region is larger than H⁺, it can be deduced that the P_L–H of H is larger than that of D. In a ⁴He discharge, experiment finds there exist a considerable number of ⁴He¹⁺ in the plasma edge. The actual ion orbit losses are determined by the mixing ratio of ⁴He¹⁺ and ⁴He²⁺. The ⁴He¹⁺ loss region is larger than that of ⁴He²⁺, and the loss region of D⁺ interposes between ⁴He¹⁺ and ⁴He²⁺. Different ⁴He¹⁺ content can cause the edge ion losses in a ⁴He discharge to be greater than, less than or equal to that in a D discharge. So a ⁴He discharge can exhibit multiple experimental phenomena in the P_L–H.

A 3D Monte Carlo (MC) code PIC- EDDY, based on EDDY (erosion and deposition dynamic simulation) code, was used to investigate the redeposition of different impurities in the gaps of C tiles. By incorporating the rate coefficients of beryllium (Be) and tungsten (W) into the code, we obtain deposition profiles of hydrocarbon, beryllium and tungsten particles in the toroidal and poloidal gaps, respectively. The redeposition rate of tungsten was found to be higher than those of other impurities in the gaps, except at the bottom, due to its easier local deposition within one gyroradius. Due to the effect of reflection coefficients of hydrocarbon fragments on graphite, fewer hydrocarbons were resided at the entrance while more were deposited on the sides of the gap. At elevated plasma temperatures (such as 30 eV), asymmetric deposition distributions were observed between the toroidal and poloidal gaps due to the dominant ionized particles. Ions were mainly deposited within 1 mm depth inside gaps, and the bottom deposition particles were almost all neutrals.

A full aperture backscattering light diagnostic system (FABLDS) implemented on the Shen Guang-III Prototype Laser Facility is described in the paper. FABLDS measures both stimulated brillouin scattering (SBS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) with a series of optical detectors. Energy sensors record the integrated energy, and streak cameras coupled with spectrometers measure the temporal spectrum of the backscattering light. This paper provides an overview of the FABLDS and detailed descriptions of the optical path. Special components, including off-axis parabolic mirror, spatial filter and optical light filters, are incorporated along the beam path for purifying the scattering light. Several hohlraum targets were employed, including C₅H₁₂ gas-filled targets and empty targets in the experiments. Results presented in the paper indicate that the fraction of backscatter light has been obviously shrinked when the laser is smoothed by continuous phase plates (CPP).

A streaked optical pyrometer (SOP) is developed and calibrated for the measurement of the temperature of shocked materials. In order to achieve a higher relative sensitivity, a one-channel scheme is adopted for the system. The system is calibrated with a shocked step-shaped aluminum sample in the SG-III prototype laser facility. The relation between the count number in the detection system and the sample temperature is thus obtained, which can be adopted to infer the temperature of any shocked materials in future experiments.

Ray tracing study of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves is conducted based on a realistic plasma density model. The simulation result shows that EMIC waves propagate away from the equatorial source region to higher latitudes basically along geomagnetic field lines, and are reflected at the region where their frequency matches the local bi-ion frequency. H⁺ band suffers H⁺-He⁺ bi-ion frequency reflection at lower latitudes, whereas He⁺ band suffers He⁺-O⁺ bi-ion frequency reflection at higher latitudes. Moreover, the concentration of heavy ions slightly affects the bi-ion frequencies and then slightly determines the reflection location of ray paths of EMIC waves. The current results present the first detailed study on the propagation characteristics of EMIC waves associated with bi-ion frequencies.

In this paper, we present a theoretical study on the discharge characteristics of radio-frequency discharges at atmospheric pressure driven by a higher frequency of 40.68 MHz while the electrode gap is altered. Based on the analytical equations and simulation data from a one-dimensional fluid model, an optimal gap between electrodes, at which the largest electron density is obtained, can be observed under a constant power condition; however, as the electrode gap increases the time-averaged electron temperature decreases, and the underpinning physics is also discussed based on the simulation results. This study indicates that at a constant power by choosing an appropriate electrode spacing, the rf discharge can be effectively optimized at atmospheric pressure.

The aim of this paper is to obtain relevant sets of collision cross sections of the parent ions in low pressure discharges in argon, oxygen, and nitrogen, i.e., Ar⁺ in Ar, O₂⁺ in O₂ and N₂⁺ in N₂. These ion data are first discussed and then validated from comparisons between the calculated transport coefficients and those measured in the literature. The elastic momentum transfer collision cross sections are determined from a semi-classical approximation for the phase shift calculation based on a 12-6-4 inter-particle potential while ion transport coefficients are determined versus the reduced electric field from Monte Carlo simulations.

In this work, surface activation of automotive polymers using atmospheric pressure plasmas was investigated. The aim was to increase the polar fraction of the surface energy of both plane and convex polymer devices with a radius in the range of 30 mm. For this purpose, a fittable low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma source based on capacitively coupled multi-pin electrodes was set up and applied. Each single electrode generates a treatment spot of approximately 2 cm² with a tunable power density of up to 1.4 W/cm². The surface energy was evaluated by contact angle measurements. After treatment at a low energy density of 1.01 J/cm², the polar fraction of the surface energy of the investigated polymers was increased by a factor of 3.3 to 132, depending on the polymer materials. It was shown that by applying the presented fittable plasma source, this effect is independent of the surface radius of the polymer sample.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been applied to the analysis of heavy metals in liquid samples. A new approach was presented to lower the limit of detection (LOD) and minimize the sample matrix effects, in which dried wood pellets absorbed the given amounts of Cr standard solutions and then were baked because they have stronger and rapid absorption properties for liquid samples as well as simple elemental compositions. In this work, we have taken a typical heavy metal Cr element as an example, and investigated the spectral feasibility of Cr solutions and dried wood pellets before and after absorbing Cr solutions at the same experimental conditions. The results were demonstrated to successfully produce a superior analytical response for heavy metal elements by using wood pellet as sample matrix according to the obtained LOD of 0.07 ppm for Cr element in solutions.

Xylose fermentation is essential for ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Exposure of the xylose-fermenting yeast Candida shehatae (C. shehatae) CICC1766 to atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) air plasma yields a clone (designated as C81015) with stability, which exhibits a higher ethanol fermentation rate from xylose, giving a maximal enhancement in ethanol production of 36.2% compared to the control (untreated). However, the biomass production of C81015 is lower than that of the control. Analysis of the NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide)- and NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate)-linked xylose reductases and NAD⁺-linked xylitol dehydrogenase indicates that their activities are enhanced by 34.1%, 61.5% and 66.3%, respectively, suggesting that the activities of these three enzymes are responsible for improving ethanol fermentation in C81015 with xylose as a substrate. The results of this study show that DBD air plasma could serve as a novel and effective means of generating microbial strains that can better use xylose for ethanol fermentation.

In this study, two regeneration methods (dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma and ozone (O₃) regeneration) of saturated granular activated carbon (GAC) with pentachlorophenol (PCP) were compared. The results show that the two regeneration methods can eliminate contaminants from GAC and recover its adsorption properties to some extent. Comparing the DBD plasma with O₃ regeneration, the adsorption rate and the capacity of the GAC samples after DBD plasma regeneration are greater than those after O₃ regeneration. O₃ regeneration decreases the specific surface area of GAC and increases the acidic surface oxygen groups on the surface of GAC, which causes a decrease in PCP on GAC uptake. With increasing regeneration cycles, the regeneration efficiencies of the two methods decrease, but the decrease in the regeneration efficiencies of GAC after O₃ regeneration is very obvious compared with that after DBD plasma regeneration. Furthermore, the equilibrium data were fitted by the Freundlich and Langmuir models using the non-linear regression technique, and all the adsorption equilibrium isotherms fit the Langmuir model fairly well, which demonstrates that the DBD plasma and ozone regeneration processes do not appear to modify the adsorption process, but to shift the equilibrium towards lower adsorption concentrations. Analyses of the weight loss of GAC show that O₃ regeneration has a lower weight loss than DBD plasma regeneration.

A spacecraft loses all forms of communication, including global positioning system signals, data telemetry, voice communication and so on, when it enters the communication blackout phase. This becomes more and more critical with the development of reentry vehicle missions since radio blackout brings about many serious issues related to vehicle safety. This paper studies the influence of magnetic field on antenna performance in plasma. The results indicate that the effect of plasma on the antenna performance can be negligible when the magnetic field reaches a certain strength. This provides another way to solve the reentry blackout problem.

In the experimental campaign of 2010 and 2011 on KSTAR, the NBI-1 system was equipped with one prototype ion source and operated successfully, providing a neutral beam power of 0.7–1.6 MW to the tokamak plasma. The new ion source planned for the 2012 KSTAR campaign had a much more advanced performance compared with the previous one. The target performance of the new ion source was to provide a neutral deuterium beam of 2 MW to the tokamak plasma. The ion source was newly designed, fabricated, and assembled in 2011. The new ion source was then conditioned up to 64 A/100 keV over a 2-hour beam extraction and performance tested at the NB test stand (NBTS) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) in 2012. The measured optimum perveance at which the beam divergence is a minimum was about 2.5 μP, and the minimum beam divergent angle was under 1.0° at 60 keV. These results indicate that the 2.0 MW neutral beam power at 100 keV required for the heating of plasma in KSTAR can be delivered by the installation of the new ion source in the KSTAR NBI-1 system.

A magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL) is used to transmit high power electric pulses in large pulse power systems. However, current loss is unavoidable, especially when the current density is up to 1 MA/cm. In the paper, the current loss of an MITL made of stainless steel, which is usually used in large pulse power generators, is experimentally studied, and possible mechanisms to explain the current loss of the MITL are analyzed and discussed. From the experimental results, the relationship between loss current density and input current density follows approximately a power law. The loss is also related to the configuration of the MITL.

High magnetic field shielding has been increasingly important for engineering design in recent years. In this report, a cylindric shield made from soft iron is studied using FEM (finite element method) analysis and compared with experiments. The residual fields inside the shield are calculated and measured in both parallel and perpendicular fields up to 2000 Gs. The calculated results are compared with the experiments, and the input B-H curve is modified for a better conformity. The results indicate that the covers could greatly improve the shielding performance of the cylindric shield in our research. The comparison result shows that a proper B-H curve, which can well describe the material properties, is very important in FEM analysis and should be selected carefully.