Mach numbers for gases and plasmas in a convergent-divergent cascaded arc

For a plasma, flowing through a cascaded arc channel with a varying cross-section, and flowing from a subsonic to a supersonic state, the sonic condition moves downstream and the plasma Mach number at the smallest cross section is less than one, although in case of a transonic isentropic gas flow the sonic condition is found at the smallest cross section. This shift in sonic condition is due to the lack of isentropic behavior of the plasma flow. Sources causing the anisentropy are viscosity, heat and ionization, of which ionization is vital for a plasma. It is found that the plasma Mach number is always lower than the corresponding gas Mach number. A quasi one-dimensional analysis and simulations with a two-dimensional plasma model, which support the analysis, are presented. © 1999 American Institute of Physics. © 1999 American Institute of Physic

On the electron-scattering power of protein structures in the spinach chloroplast

The relative electron-scattering power of chromidia and interchromidia in protein structures of the spinach chloroplast was examined with the aid of the electron microscope. It has been demonstrated that: 1. 1. The technique of Marton and Schiff holds for WO3 crystals and silica films too. 2. 2. The mean electron-scattering constant of the chromidia amounts to about 1.34 times that of the interchromidia in preparations treated with acetone. After lipoid removal with lipase this value is 1.56. This indicates that the constitution of the chromidia is different from that of the interchromidia

Ionisation efficiency in a pinched cascaded arc channel

In the present study, we will focus on the improvement of the ion density at the arc outlet. Efficiency increases are necessary to obtain effective remote deposition, in which the plasma source and target area are decomposed. Remote deposition is easier to control than non-remote deposition and therefore preferable. The increase in the ionisation outflow will be obtained by creating a nozzle shaped cylindrical arc channel. Simulations were used to obtain the results. The arc plasma expands supersonically into a low pressure vessel. To simulate the existence of the expansion, a Ma=0.9 boundary condition is implemented at the arc outle

Numerical and experimental studies of the carbon etching in EUV-induced plasma

We have used a combination of numerical modeling and experiments to study carbon etching in the presence of a hydrogen plasma. We model the evolution of a low density EUV-induced plasma during and after the EUV pulse to obtain the energy resolved ion fluxes from the plasma to the surface. By relating the computed ion fluxes to the experimentally observed etching rate at various pressures and ion energies, we show that at low pressure and energy, carbon etching is due to chemical sputtering, while at high pressure and energy a reactive ion etching process is likely to dominate

Plasma probe characteristics in low density hydrogen pulsed plasmas

Probe theories are only applicable in the regime where the probe's perturbation of the plasma can be neglected. However, it is not always possible to know, a priori, that a particular probe theory can be successfully applied, especially in low density plasmas. This is especially difficult in the case of transient, low density plasmas. Here, we applied probe diagnostics in combination with a 2D particle-in-cell model, to an experiment with a pulsed low density hydrogen plasma. The calculations took into account the full chamber geometry, including the plasma probe as an electrode in the chamber. It was found that the simulations reproduce the time evolution of the probe IV characteristics with good accuracy. The disagreement between the simulated and probe measured plasma density is attributed to the limited applicability of probe theory to measurements of low density pulsed plasmas. Indeed, in the case studied here, probe measurements would lead to a large overestimate of the plasma density. In contrast, the simulations of the plasma evolution and the probe characteristics do not suffer from such strict applicability limits. These studies show that probe theory cannot be justified through probe measurements

Dynamics of lane formation in driven binary complex plasmas

The dynamical onset of lane formation is studied in experiments with binary complex plasmas under microgravity conditions. Small microparticles are driven and penetrate into a cloud of big particles, revealing a strong tendency towards lane formation. The observed time-resolved lane formation process is in good agreement with computer simulations of a binary Yukawa model with Langevin dynamics. The laning is quantified in terms of the anisotropic scaling index, leading to a universal order parameter for driven systems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, movies available at http://www.mpe.mpg.de/pke/lane-formation

Dissociative recombination and electron-impact de-excitation in CH photon emission under ITER divertor-relevant plasma conditions

For understanding carbon erosion and redeposition in nuclear fusion devices, it is important to understand the transport and chemical break-up of hydrocarbon molecules in edge plasmas, often diagnosed by emission of the CH A^2\Delta - X^2\Pi Ger\"o band around 430 nm. The CH A-level can be excited either by electron-impact or by dissociative recombination (D.R.) of hydrocarbon ions. These processes were included in the 3D Monte Carlo impurity transport code ERO. A series of methane injection experiments was performed in the high-density, low-temperature linear plasma generator Pilot-PSI, and simulated emission intensity profiles were benchmarked against these experiments. It was confirmed that excitation by D.R. dominates at T_e < 1.5 eV. The results indicate that the fraction of D.R. events that lead to a CH radical in the A-level and consequent photon emission is at least 10%. Additionally, quenching of the excited CH radicals by electron impact de-excitation was included in the modeling. This quenching is shown to be significant: depending on the electron density, it reduces the effective CH emission by a factor of 1.4 at n_e=1.3*10^20 m^-3, to 2.8 at n_e=9.3*10^20 m^-3. Its inclusion significantly improved agreement between experiment and modeling

Experimental and computational characterization of a modified GEC cell for dusty plasma experiments

A self-consistent fluid model developed for simulations of micro- gravity dusty plasma experiments has for the first time been used to model asymmetric dusty plasma experiments in a modified GEC reference cell with gravity. The numerical results are directly compared with experimental data and the experimentally determined dependence of global discharge parameters on the applied driving potential and neutral gas pressure is found to be well matched by the model. The local profiles important for dust particle transport are studied and compared with experimentally determined profiles. The radial forces in the midplane are presented for the different discharge settings. The differences between the results obtained in the modified GEC cell and the results first reported for the original GEC reference cell are pointed out