104 research outputs found
Formation of laser plasma channels in a stationary gas
The formation of plasma channels with nonuniformity of about +- 3.5% has been
demonstrated. The channels had a density of 1.2x10^19 cm-3 with a radius of 15
um and with length >= 2.5 mm. The channels were formed by 0.3 J, 100 ps laser
pulses in a nonflowing gas, contained in a cylindrical chamber. The laser beam
passed through the chamber along its axis via pinholes in the chamber walls. A
plasma channel with an electron density on the order of 10^18 - 10^19 cm-3 was
formed in pure He, N2, Ar, and Xe. A uniform channel forms at proper time
delays and in optimal pressure ranges, which depend on the sort of gas. The
influence of the interaction of the laser beam with the gas leaking out of the
chamber through the pinholes was found insignificant. However, the formation of
an ablative plasma on the walls of the pinholes by the wings of the radial
profile of the laser beam plays an important role in the plasma channel
formation and its uniformity. A low current glow discharge initiated in the
chamber slightly improves the uniformity of the plasma channel, while a high
current arc discharge leads to the formation of overdense plasma near the front
pinhole and further refraction of the laser beam. The obtained results show the
feasibility of creating uniform plasma channels in non-flowing gas targets.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physics of Plasma
Spatial and Wavenumber Resolution of Doppler Reflectometry
Doppler reflectometry spatial and wavenumber resolution is analyzed within
the framework of the linear Born approximation in slab plasma model. Explicit
expression for its signal backscattering spectrum is obtained in terms of
wavenumber and frequency spectra of turbulence which is assumed to be radially
statistically inhomogeneous. Scattering efficiency for both back and forward
scattering (in radial direction) is introduced and shown to be inverse
proportional to the square of radial wavenumber of the probing wave at the
fluctuation location thus making the spatial resolution of diagnostics
sensitive to density profile. It is shown that in case of forward scattering
additional localization can be provided by the antenna diagram. It is
demonstrated that in case of backscattering the spatial resolution can be
better if the turbulence spectrum at high radial wavenumbers is suppressed. The
improvement of Doppler reflectometry data localization by probing beam focusing
onto the cut-off is proposed and described. The possibility of Doppler
reflectometry data interpretation based on the obtained expressions is shown.Comment: http://stacks.iop.org/0741-3335/46/114
Integration of design tools and knowledge capture into a CAD system: a case study
onceptual design phase is partially supported by product lifecycle management/computer-aided design (PLM/CAD) systems causing discontinuity of the design information flow: customer needs — functional requirements — key characteristics — design parameters (DPs) — geometric DPs. Aiming to address this issue, it is proposed a knowledge-based approach is proposed to integrate quality function deployment, failure mode and effects analysis, and axiomatic design into a commercial PLM/CAD system. A case study, main subject of this article, was carried out to validate the proposed process, to evaluate, by a pilot development, how the commercial PLM/CAD modules and application programming interface could support the information flow, and based on the pilot scheme results to propose a full development framework
Paraxial WKB Method Applied to the Lower Hybrid Wave Propagation
The paraxial WKB (pWKB) approximation, also called beam tracing method, has been employed in order to study the propagation of lower hybrid (LH) waves in a tokamak plasma. Analogous to the well-know ray tracing method, this approach reduces Maxwell's equations to a set of ordinary differential equations, while, in addition, retains the effects of the finite beam cross-section, and, thus, the effects of diffraction. A new code, LHBEAM (Lower Hybrid BEAM tracing), is presented, which solves the pWKB equations in tokamak geometry for arbitrary launching conditions and for analytic and experimental plasma equilibria. In addition, LHBEAM includes linear electron Landau damping for the evaluation of the absorbed power density and the reconstruction of the wave electric field in both the physical and Fourier space. Illustrative LHBEAM calculations are presented along with a comparison with the ray tracing code GENRAY and the full wave solver TORIC-LH
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