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

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.