Abstract
Reliable generation of fully ionized, regularly rotating plasma columns of Cu, Cu-Ni, Cu-Zn and others, has been demonstrated. The plasma was produced by 6-12-ms, 1-4-kA constant current pulses of vacuum arc in a constant magnetic field of up to 5 kG. The radial plasma density roughly followed a Gaussian profile, with 10**1 **4 cm** minus **3 peak density. The radial electric field in the column was shown to point inward and grow linearly with the radius, indicating the rotation to be mainly due to the E multiplied by B drift. Centrifugal mass enrichment of up to 300% was produced in a Cu-Zn plasma. An improved multispecies, multi-ionization states theoretical model was developed, which calculates the individual radial density profiles for the various ion species in a steady-state equilibrium plasma centrifuge.
Original language | English |
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Pages | 172-177 |
Number of pages | 6 |
State | Published - 1986 |