The continuous flow pinch for production of hot and dense plasma

This paper reports on the investigations of a focused flow device for the production of plasma of thermonuclear interest. An attempt has been made to find the optimum conditions for increasing the temperature and density of the plasma. High-speed photography and magnetic probe measurements have been used to study the dynamic characteristics of the discharges. The current distribution in the gun has been found for various parameters. It is suggested that the hottest part of the column is defined by the focus of the current streamlines in the region of the pinch. Changes were made in the initial distributions and type of neutral gas, discharge currents and the shape of the outer electrode in an attempt to modify this current distribution and to increase the temperature and density in the pinch region. Optimum conditions were established by an optical technique. A plasma pinch temperature of 150 eV was achieved with electron densities of order 1012 per cubic centimetre. (author)