Periodically oscillating plasma sphere

Abstract

The periodically oscillating plasma sphere, or POPS, is a novel fusion concept first proposed by D. C. Barnes and R. A. Nebel [Fusion Technol. 38, 28 (1998)]. POPS utilizes the self-similar collapse of an oscillating ion cloud in a spherical harmonic oscillator potential well formed by electron injection. Once the ions have been phase-locked, their coherent motion simultaneously produces very high densities and temperatures during the collapse phase of the oscillation. A requirement for POPS is that the electron injection produces a stable harmonic oscillator potential. This has been demonstrated in a gridded inertial electrostatic confinement device and verified by particle simulation. Also, the POPS oscillation has been confirmed experimentally through observation that the ions in the potential well exhibit resonance behavior when driven at the POPS frequency. Excellent agreement between the observed POPS frequencies and the theoretical predictions has been observed for a wide range of potential well depths and three different ion species. Practical applications of POPS require large plasma compressions. These large compressions have been observed in particle simulations, although space charge neutralization remains a major issue.