Spectroscopic study of vacuum arc plasma expansion

Plasma instability of a vacuum arc centrifuge.

Ever since conception of the vacuum arc centrifuge in 1980, periodic fluctuations in the ion saturation current and floating potential have been observed in Langmuir probe measurements in the rotation region of a vacuum arc centrifuge. In this work we develop a linearized theoretical model to describe a range of instabilities in the vacuum arc centrifuge plasma column, and then test the validit...

Plasma expansion into a vacuum.

The charge separation effects in the collisionless plasma expansion into a vacuum are studied in great detail. Accurate results are obtained concerning the structure of the ion front, the resultant ion energy spectrum, and more specifically the maximum ion energy. These are of crucial importance for the interpretation of recent experiments, where high-energy ion jets were produced from short pu...

An interchangeable-cathode vacuum arc plasma source.

A simplified vacuum arc design [based on metal vapor vacuum arc (MeVVA) concepts] is employed as a plasma source for a study of a (7)Be non-neutral plasma. The design includes a mechanism for interchanging the cathode source. Testing of the plasma source showed that it is capable of producing on the order of 10(12) charges at confinable energies using a boron-carbide disk as the cathode target....

Coating Deposition Using Vacuum Arc and Ablation Metal Plasma

An innovative concept in the development of advanced coating deposition and ion implantation method including an application of filtered DC metal plasma or ablation plasma and highfrequency short-pulsed negative bias voltage with a duty factor in the range 10–99% are considered. It was shown that plasma based ion implantation as well as ion-assisted coating deposition may be realized for metal ...

Regimes of expansion of a collisional plasma into a vacuum