The collision of two plasmas in a cusped magnetic field

Possibilities of plasma confinement in cusped geometry are investigated. The plasmas are made by two coaxial guns mounted so as to fire simultaneously against one another into opposite ends of an evacuated drift tube. The cusp coil is located at the center of the drift tube. Behaviors of plasmas are mainly observed with magnetic probes. As the ordered motion of plasmas can be stopped, β=1 region appears instantaneously in the neighborhood of the midplain of the cusped geometry. It is also confirmed that a condition of β=1 occurs in center region of the cusped magnetic bottle notwithstanding β is less than unity at point cusps. (author)