Electron Beam Source Array for Low Temperature, Atmospheric Pressure, Controllable Air Plasma Processes

Richard MilesECS-0079344本提案旨在开发一种100元件电子束阵列源，用于体积空气等离子体的产生和控制。 该开发项目将与位于新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基的桑迪亚实验室合作进行。 电子束阵列源将允许在远低于热维持等离子体所需的温度和在电场驱动等离子体中导致电弧不稳定的条件下研究体积填充空气等离子体和MHD过程。该MRI设备将支持的研究领域包括：1）探索在低于2000 K的温度下修改附着和复合机制的方法，以最小化维持体积空气等离子体的功率需求。2）研究从高速，低温（3000 K）空气通过磁流体动力学过程通过使用电子束持续导电性。3）利用100个电子束单元的电流来空间分布和时间调制磁流体动力学过程的新控制策略的发展，4）研究用于反射电磁辐射的快速可重构等离子体阵列。该装置将由100个可单独控制的电子束组成，排列在7 cm x 7 cm，10 x 10的阵列中。 阵列的大小已被选择，以适应7特斯拉的磁铁，这将被用来引导电子，并与添加电极，将成为电力提取通道的MHD过程的研究。

Richard MilesECS-0079344 This proposal is for development of a 100 element electron beam array source for the production and control of volumetric air plasmas. The development project will be undertaken in partnership with Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. The electron beam array source will permit the study of volume filling air plasmas and MHD processes at temperatures far below those required for thermally sustained plasmas and under conditions which otherwise lead to arcing instabilities in electric field driven plasmas. The research areas that will be supported by this MRI equipment include following: 1) The exploration of approaches to the modification of attachment and recombination mechanisms at temperatures below 2000K in order to minimize the power requirements for sustaining volume air plasmas.2) The study of the extraction of power from high speed, low temperature (3000K) air by MHD processes through the use of electron beam sustained conductivity.3) The development of new control strategies for MHD processes using the currents of the 100 electron beam elements to spatially distribute and temporally modulate the conductivity.4) The study of rapidly reconfigurable plasma arrays for the reflection of electromagnetic radiation.The device will consist of 100 separately controllable electron beams arranged in a 7 cm by 7 cm, 10 x 10 array. The size of the array has been chosen to fit into a 7 Tesla magnet which will be use to guide the electrons and, with the addition of electrodes, will become the power extraction channel for the study of MHD processes.