High-frequency instability of the sheath-plasma resonance

Coherent high frequency oscillations near the electron plasma frequency (omega approx. less than omega sub p) are generated by electrodes with positive dc bias immersed in a uniform Maxwellian afterglow plasma. The instability occurs at the sheath-plasma resonance and is driven by a negative RF sheath resistance associated with the electron inertia in the diode-like electron-rich sheath. With increasing dc bias, i.e., electron transit time, the instability exhibits a hard threshold, downward frequency pulling, line broadening and copious harmonics. The fundamental instability is a bounded oscillation due to wave evanescence, but the harmonics are radiated as electromagnetic waves from the electrodes acting like antennas. Wavelength and polarization measurements confirm the emission process. Electromagnetic waves are excited by electrodes of various geometries (planes, cylinders, spheres) which excludes other radiation mechanisms such as orbitrons or beam-plasma instabilities. The line broadening mechanism was identified as a frequency modulation via the electron transit time by dynamic ions. Ion oscillations at the sheath edge give rise to burst-like RF emissions. These laboratory observations of a new instability are important for antennas in space plasmas, generation of coherent beams with diodes, and plasma diagnostics

Longitudinal Oscillations in Bounded Magnetoplasmas

Fine structure in absorption due to Buchsbaum-Hasegawa modes is observed over a wider range of magnetic fields than previously reported (omegac/omega = 0.5−0.985). The basic theory is satisfactory only near the cyclotron harmonic

Currents between tethered electrodes in a magnetized laboratory plasma

Laboratory experiments on important plasma physics issues of electrodynamic tethers were performed. These included current propagation, formation of wave wings, limits of current collection, nonlinear effects and instabilities, charging phenomena, and characteristics of transmission lines in plasmas. The experiments were conducted in a large afterglow plasma. The current system was established with a small electron-emitting hot cathode tethered to an electron-collecting anode, both movable across the magnetic field and energized by potential difference up to V approx.=100 T(sub e). The total current density in space and time was obtained from complete measurements of the perturbed magnetic field. The fast spacecraft motion was reproduced in the laboratory by moving the tethered electrodes in small increments, applying delayed current pulses, and reconstructing the net field by a linear superposition of locally emitted wavelets. With this technique, the small-amplitude dc current pattern is shown to form whistler wings at each electrode instead of the generally accepted Alfven wings. For the beam electrode, the whistler wing separates from the field-aligned beam which carries no net current. Large amplitude return currents to a stationary anode generate current-driven microinstabilities, parallel electric fields, ion depletions, current disruptions and time-varying electrode charging. At appropriately high potentials and neutral densities, excess neutrals are ionized near the anode. The anode sheath emits high-frequency electron transit-time oscillations at the sheath-plasma resonance. The beam generates Langmuir turbulence, ion sound turbulence, electron heating, space charge fields, and Hall currents. An insulated, perfectly conducting transmission line embedded in the plasma becomes lossy due to excitation of whistler waves and magnetic field diffusion effects. The implications of the laboratory observations on electrodynamic tethers in space are discussed

Process model based development of disassembly tools

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Disassembly processes require flexible tools for loosening and handling operations. Today, disassembly processes demand a great deal of manual labour and a vast variety of tools. Partly destructive tools which generate and use new acting surfaces are able to increase the economic viability owing to their flexibility and their promotion of the reuse of components. This article describes selected methods of acting surface generation and their application for prototypical tools.DFG, SFB 281, Demontagefabriken zur Rückgewinnung von Ressourcen in Produkt- und Materialkreisläufe

Microwave Scattering and Noise Emission from Afterglow Plasmas in a Magnetic Field

The microwave reflection and noise emission (extraordinary mode) from cylindrical rare‐gas (He, Ne, Ar) afterglow plasmas in an axial magnetic field is described. Reflection and noise emission are measured as a function of magnetic field near electron cyclotron resonance (ω ≈ ω_c) with electron density as a parameter (ω_p < ω). A broad peak, which shifts to lower values of ω_c/ω) as electron density increases, is observed for (ω_c/ω) ≤ 1. For all values of electron density a second sharp peak is found very close to cyclotron resonance in reflection measurements. This peak does not occur in the emission data. Calculations of reflection and emission using a theoretical model consisting of a one‐dimensional, cold plasma slab with nonuniform electron density yield results in qualitative agreement with the observations. Both the experimental and theoretical results suggest that the broad, density‐dependent peak involves resonance effects at the upper hybrid frequency ((ω_h)^2 = (ω_c)^2 + (ω_p)^2) of the plasma

Afterglow Plasma Diagnostics with a Microwave Sampling Radiometer

A simple waveguide arrangement has been developed for the study of microwave absorption and emission from a magnetized afterglow plasma column. The time and frequency resolved measurements are performed by a sampling radiometer. A comparison and null technique permits the direct measurement of the electron temperature. Continuous plots of the temperature vs frequency, magnetic field, and afterglow time are made possible by means of a servoloop. The width of the emission or absorption spectrum in the range of upper hybrid frequencies is used to derive the electron density which, together with the temperature measurement, allows a more complete analysis of the plasma decay

Study of the performance of antennas in magnetized plasmas

The antenna studies were performed in a large magnetized plasma source, a schematic drawing of which is shown. The plasma diagnostics consist of a 70 GHz (4 mm) microwave interferometer for density measurements and of various Langmuir probes for spatially resolved measurements of t sub e, n sub e and the shape of the electron distribution function. All diagnostic data are time-resolved by sample-and-hold techniques so as to yield information about the plasma build-up, the steady-state discharge, and the plasma decay in the afterglow. Whistler waves are excited and detected with various antennas which are inserted into the center of the plasma column through one axial and two orthogonal radial ports. The antennas were tested for their proper dipole response and then calibrated in a known field geometry in air. For the electric dipole, a parallel plate capacitor field was used; the magnetic loop is calibrated in the near-zone field of a long linear conductor of known radio frequency current distribution. Results are presented and discussed

Upper-Hybrid Resonance Absorption, Emission, and Heating of an Afterglow Plasma Column

Microwave absorption and emission and electron temperatures of a nonuniform axially magnetized afterglow plasma column in a waveguide geometry have been investigated experimentally. Frequency omega and magnetic field omegac are chosen to satisfy the upper-hybrid resonance condition omega2=omegac2+omegap2(r), where omegap(r) is the local electron plasma frequency. Nearly perfect absorption is observed in the range of upper-hybrid frequencies, while at other frequencies the absorption coefficient is essentially zero. The sharp absorption onset at the maximum upper-hybrid frequency yields an accurate measure for the peak electron density. Density decay and profile in the plasma column are observed—the latter using a new technique. In the range of high absorption the noise emission approaches the blackbody limit. The electron temperature is measured with a radiometer and a reference noise source in a new technique yielding both spatial and time dependence without perturbing the plasma. The time resolution is obtained by a sampling technique. The spatial resolution results from the fact that upper-hybrid resonance absorption and emission are confined to a narrow resonant layer. This property is also used to heat the electrons locally and observe the thermalization process

Semantics-directed implementation of method-call interception

We describe a form of method-call interception (MCI) that allows the programmer to superimpose extra functionality onto method calls at run-time. We provide a reference semantics and a reference implementation for corresponding language constructs. The setup applies to class-based, statically typed, compiled languages such as Java. The semantics of MCI is used to direct a language implementation with a number of valuable properties: simplicity of the implementational model and run-time adaptation capabilities and static type safety and separate compilation and reasonable performance. Our implementational development employs sourcecode instrumentation. We start from a naive implementational model, which is subsequently refined to optimise program execution. The implementation is assessed via benchmarks