ELECTRON BEAM PLASMA POTENTIAL DIAGNOSTIC FOR TANDEM MIRRORS

THE TANDEM MIRROR APPROACH TO CONFINING A THERMONUCLEAR FUSION PLASMA UTILIZES ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO "PLUG" PLASMA ION AND ELECTRON LOSSES OUT THE ENDS OF A LONG CENTRAL SOLENOID. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WOULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLASMA DIAGNOSTIC FOR MEASURING THE AXIAL AND RADIAL ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL AS A FUNCTION OF TIME IN A TANDEM MIRROR. THE TECHNIQUE UTILIZES A PROBING ELECTRON BEAM LAUNCHED FROM THE END WALL, AND X-RAY DETECTION SYSTEMS LOCATED AT AXIAL LOCATIONS OF INTEREST. THE TECHNIQUE APPEARS TO BE APPLICABLE TO CURRENT DEVICES (TMX-U, TARA) AS WELL AS FUTURE DEVICES (MFTF-B). THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WOULD SEEK TO DETERMINE THE FEASABILITY OF THE DIAGNOSTIC, TIME AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION, AND TO PROPOSE A PLAN FOR THE HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT (ELECTRON GUN AND DETECTOR SYSTEMS) SUITABLE FOR TMX-U, TARA, AND MFTF-B TANDEM MIRRORS.