Design and characterization of the Magnetized Plasma Interaction Experiment (MAGPIE): A new source for plasma-material interaction studies

Boyd D. Blackwell*, Juan Francisco Caneses, Cameron M. Samuell, John Wach, John Howard, Cormac Corr

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    89 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The Magnetized Plasma Interaction Experiment (MAGPIE) is a versatile helicon source plasma device operating in a magnetic hill configuration designed to support a broad range of research activity and is the first stage of the Materials Diagnostic Facility at the Australian National University. Various material targets can be introduced to study a range of plasma-material interaction phenomena. Initially, with up to 2.1kW of RF at 13.56MHz, argon (10 18-10 19m 3) and hydrogen (up to 10 19m 3 at 20kW) plasma with electron temperature 3-5eV was produced in magnetic fields up to 0.19T. For high mirror ratio we observe the formation of a bright blue core in argon above a threshold RF power of 0.8kW. Magnetic probe measurements show a clear m=+1 wave field, with wavelength smaller than or comparable to the antenna length above and below this threshold, respectively. Spectroscopic studies indicate ion temperatures <1eV, azimuthal flow speeds of 1kms 1 and axial flow near the ion sound speed.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number055033
    JournalPlasma Sources Science and Technology
    Volume21
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2012

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