Impulse Electric Field Research Articles

Observations of Impulsive Electric Fields Induced by Interplanetary Shock

AbstractWe investigate the characteristics of impulsive electric fields in the Earth's magnetosphere, as measured by the Van Allen Probes, in association with interplanetary shocks, as measured by Advanced Composition Explorer and Wind spacecraft in the solar wind from January 2013 to July 2016. It is shown that electric field impulses are mainly induced by global compressions by the shocks, mostly in the azimuthal direction, and the amplitudes of the initial electric field impulses are positively correlated with the rate of increase of the dynamic pressure across the shock in the dayside. It is also shown that the temporal profile of the impulse is related to the temporal profile of the solar wind dynamic pressure, Pd. It is suggested that during the first period of the impulse, the evolution of the electric field is directly controlled by external solar wind forcing, and thus, finite rates of change of Pd should be considered in the study of the interactions between solar wind and magnetosphere. The implications of shock‐induced impulsive electric fields on the acceleration and transport of radiation belt electrons are also discussed.

Electric Field Distribution and Switching Impulse Discharge under Shield Ball Surface Scratch Defect in an UHVDC Hall

The dimension and surface state of shielding fittings in ultra high voltage direct current (UHVDC) converter station valve halls have a great influence on their surface electric field and switching impulse characteristics, which are important parameters confirming the air gap distance in the valve hall. The characteristics of impulse discharge under different lengths, dent degrees and burrs around the scratches of Φ1.3 m shield balls with a 2 m sphere-plane gap length were tested, in the UHVDC testing base of the Hebei Electric Power Research Institute. The discharge characteristics under the influence of the surface scratches of the shield ball were obtained. The results demonstrate that the discharge voltage of sphere-plane gap decreases obviously when there are unpolished scratches on the surface of the shield ball. However, when the scratches are polished, the discharge voltage has no significant impact. At the same time, a 1:1 full-scale impulse test model was established based on the finite element method. The electric field intensity and the space electric field distribution of the shield ball were obtained under the influence of scratches with or without burrs. The results of the simulation show that when the surface of the shield ball is smooth, the electric field distribution around it is even. The electric field intensity on the surface of the shield ball increases obviously when there are burrs around the scratches. When there is no burr around the scratches, the length and depth of the scratches have no obvious effect on its electric field distribution. Meanwhile, calculation results are consistent with test results. The results can provide an important basis for the design and optimization of shielding fittings, and technical support for its localization.

Ignition and advancement of surface discharges at atmospheric air under positive lightning impulse voltage depending on perpendicular electric stress and solid dielectrics: modelling of the propagating phenomenology

In many high voltage equipment, partial discharges are regarded as one of the most widespread pathology whose ignition conditions and effects are studied by scientists and manufacturers to avoid major failures. Actually, those electrical gaseous phenomena generally occur under several constraints such as the electrostatic field level, the nature of insulating surface being polluted or not, and switching or lightning transients. The present paper discusses physical mechanisms related to the creeping discharges propagation growing over insulators subjected to perpendicular electric field and positive lightning impulse voltage. More precisely, the developed discussion attempts to answer some observations especially noticed for main discharges feature namely (i) the discharges morphology, (ii) their velocity and (iii) the space charges effects on electric field computation. Several factors like (i) the influence of the type of a material’s interface, its electric conductivity, permittivity and discharges mobility, (ii) the relationship between the applied electrostatic field, the space charges, the velocity, the propelling pressure and discharges temperature are among numerous parameters that have been addressed in this study which discusses lightning impulse transients phenomena.

RESEARCH OF IMPULSE PROPERTIES OF INDUM PHOSPHIDE

A theoretical research of the indium phosphide impulse properties has been carried out. The effect of the overshoot of the charge carriers drift velocity is analyzed. The influence of the electric field impulse parameters on the time and space distribution of the drift velocity was analyzed numerically. It is shown that the effect of the high electric field rectangular impulse on indium phosphide causes a short-term overshoot of the drift velocity. If the electric field is becoming stronger, the peak value of the drift velocity is getting higher but the duration of the overshoot is reducing. It is showing that the impulse duration does not affect the magnitude of the overshoot and the rate of relaxation processes. With increasing of the rectangular Impulse front duration peak values of high field overshoot are reducing. The impulse properties of indium phosphide and gallium arsenide were compared.

Simulated Prompt Acceleration of Multi‐MeV Electrons by the 17 March 2015 Interplanetary Shock

AbstractPrompt enhancement of relativistic electron flux at L = 3–5 has been reported from Van Allen Probes Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) measurements associated with the 17 March 2015 interplanetary shock compression of the dayside magnetosphere. Acceleration by ∼1 MeV is inferred on less than a drift timescale as seen in prior shock compression events, which launch a magnetosonic azimuthal electric field impulse tailward. This impulse propagates from the dayside around the flanks accelerating electrons in drift resonance at the dusk flank. Such longitudinally localized acceleration events produce a drift echo signature which was seen at >1 MeV energy on both Van Allen Probe spacecraft, with sustained observations by Probe B outbound at L = 5 at 2100 MLT at the time of impulse arrival, measured by the Electric Fields and Waves instrument. MHD test particle simulations are presented which reproduce drift echo features observed in the REPT measurements at Probe B, including the energy and pitch angle dependence of drift echoes observed. While the flux enhancement was short lived for this event due to subsequent inward motion of the magnetopause, stronger events with larger electric field impulses, as observed in March 1991 and the Halloween 2003 storm, produce enhancements which can be quantified by the inward radial transport and energization determined by the induction electric field resulting from dayside compression.

Energy storage features and a predictive model for switching impulse flashover voltages of long air gaps

It has been a long sought goal to determine the critical flashover voltages of long air gaps by mathematical calculations instead of experiments. In this paper, a predictive model is proposed for 50% discharge voltage (U50) prediction of long air gaps subjected to switching impulses. This model is developed on the basis of the physical thought that air breakdown can be viewed as out-of-limit of the capacitive energy stored in the electric field. Two groups of features are defined to characterize the energy storage status of an air gap, from the perspective of electric field distribution and impulse voltage waveform, respectively representing the space distribution and time accumulation of the energy. The predictive model is established by support vector machine (SVM), and the input data are the energy storage features. Giving an estimated applied voltage range, the predicted result of the critical flashover voltage is searched by the golden section method. Trained by 6 known experimental data, this model is used to predict the U50 of rod-plane, rod-rod and rod-conductor long air gaps subjected to negative switching impulse voltages. The mean absolute percentage errors of 5 groups of test samples are respectively 6.0%, 5.8%, 6.3%, 3.2% and 1.7%, which are in an acceptable range in the view of engineering applications. The proposed method might be useful to predict the U50 of long air gaps with various geometries and under different voltage waveshapes, therefore reducing the required test work for insulation design of high voltage equipments.

Electron dropout echoes induced by interplanetary shock: A statistical study

Abstract“Electron dropout echo” as indicated by repeated moderate dropout and recovery signatures of the flux of energetic electron in the outer radiation belt region has been investigated systematically. The electron moderate dropout and its echoes are usually found for higher‐energy (>300 keV) channel fluxes, whereas the flux enhancements are obvious for lower energy electrons simultaneously after the interplanetary shock arrives at the Earth's geosynchronous orbit. The electron dropout echo events are found to be usually associated with the interplanetary shocks arrival. The 104 dropout echo events have been found from 215 interplanetary shock events from 1998 to 2007 based on the Los Alamos National Laboratory satellite data. In analogy to substorm injections, these 104 events could be naturally divided into two categories: dispersionless (49 events) or dispersive (55 events) according to the energy dispersion of the initial dropout. It is found that locations of dispersionless events are distributed mainly in the duskside magnetosphere. Further, the obtained locations derived from dispersive events with the time‐of‐flight technique of the initial dropout regions are mainly located at the duskside as well. Statistical studies have shown that the effect of shock normal, interplanetary magnetic field Bz and solar wind dynamic pressure may be insignificant to these electron dropout events. We suggest that the ∼1 min electric field impulse induced by the interplanetary shock produces a more pronounced inward migration of electrons at the duskside, resulting in the observed duskside moderate dropout of electron flux and its consequent echoes.

Observation of the Korteweg-de Vries soliton in molecular dynamics simulations of a dusty plasma medium

The excitation and evolution of Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) solitons in a dusty plasma medium are studied using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. The dusty plasma medium is modelled as a collection of dust particles interacting through Yukawa potential, which takes into account dust charge screening due to the lighter electron and ion species. The collective response of such screened dust particles to an applied electric field impulse is studied here. An excitation of a perturbed positive density pulse propagating in one direction along with a train of negative perturbed rarefactive density oscillations in the opposite direction is observed. These observations are in accordance with evolution governed by the KdV equation. Detailed studies of (a) amplitude vs. width variation of the observed pulse, (b) the emergence of intact separate pulses with an associated phase shift after collisional interaction amidst them, etc., conclusively qualify the positive pulses observed in the simulations as KdV solitons. It is also observed that by increasing the strength of the electric field impulse, multiple solitonic structures get excited. The excitations of the multiple solitons are similar to the experimental observations reported recently by Boruah et al. [Phys. Plasmas 23, 093704 (2016)] for dusty plasmas. The role of coupling parameter has also been investigated here, which shows that with increasing coupling parameter, the amplitude of the solitonic pulse increases whereas its width decreases.

Analysis of electric field and emission spectrum in the glow discharge of therapeutic plasma electrode

ABSTRACTGas-filled glass plasma electrodes coupled with high-frequency high-voltage generators are used in medicine and dentistry for more than a century. In recent literature, therapeutic effects of such procedure have been explained through topical bio-oxidative effects of ozone generated by the dielectric barrier discharge. The aim of this study was to evaluate characteristics of electric field and optical emission spectrum generated in the treatment field by the glow discharge of the plasma electrode. Emission spectrum in red and near-infrared wavelength range (540–886 nm) and pulsed electric field (impulse frequency 1053 Hz, exponentially damped sine wave in the range of 33 kHz, duty cycle 20%) were recorded. Estimated electric field strength at 1-mm distance was in the range from 5.8 to 13.7 kV/m and between 106 and 108 V/m in the close proximity of electrode's surface (below 0.01 mm). Recorded factors are integral constituents in the treatment field and their properties can be correlated to the known biological and therapeutic effects of photostimulation and electrostimulation. These factors present important bioactive components which could be responsible for therapeutic effects, reported in number of clinical studies, especially those which could not be explained through topical bio-oxidative effects of ozone.

Ferroelastic Strain-Mediated Nonvolatile Tuning of Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in (Co/Pt)3 /(1 1 1) Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 Multiferroic Heterostructures

Nonvolatile control of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is of great technological importance for low-power spintronic devices. In this study, we successfully achieved ferroelastic strain-mediated nonvolatile tuning of PMA at room temperature in (Co/Pt)3/(1 1 1) Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO 3 multiferroic heterostructures. Electric field control of magnetic anisotropy was qualitatively studied by ferromagnetic resonance. The anisotropy could be reversibly flipped between low and high perpendicular states by electric field impulses. The application of a negative electric field to positively poled Pb(Mg1/3Nb 2/3)O3-PbTiO3 resulted in a significant enhancement of PMA up to 250 Oe, in which nonvolatile modulation contributed more than 150 Oe. The nonvolatile behavior is due to non-180° ferroelastic domain switching in (1 1 1) Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 as revealed by X-ray diffraction. Ferroelastic domain switching in multiferroic heterostructures is an effective way to nonvolatilely modulate PMA that will enable the realization of high-density and power-efficient spintronic memory.

Intensive electrocaloric effect in triglycine sulfate under nonequilibrium thermal conditions and periodic electric field

We present the results of both direct measurements and modeling of the intensive electrocaloric effect ΔTAD in ferroelectric triglycine sulfate under nonequilibrium thermal conditions and periodically varying electric field. In the narrow region around the phase transition temperature TC, a visible difference was observed between the electrocaloric responses at applying ΔTON and removal ΔTOFF of the constant electric field: |ΔTON| < |ΔTOFF| and |ΔTON| > |ΔTOFF| at T < TC and T > TC, respectively. The variation of the frequency and profile of the periodic electric field at T < TC allowed one to obtain the gradual decrease in the average temperature of the top of the sample compared to the bottom kept at the constant temperature. At low frequency electric field, qualitative agreement was found between the time dependences of the measured experimentally and calculated ΔT values.Experimental and modeling studies of electrocaloric effect ΔTAD in triglycine sulfate showed that the applying/removal of a periodic electric field to/from the bulk sample decreases the average value of the waiving temperature of the top Ttop compared to T = const of the bottom. Both frequency and duty cycle of the electric field impulses strongly affect Ttop.

Van Allen Probes observations of magnetic field dipolarization and its associated O+ flux variations in the inner magnetosphere at L < 6.6

AbstractWe investigate the magnetic field dipolarization in the inner magnetosphere and its associated ion flux variations, using the magnetic field and energetic ion flux data acquired by the Van Allen Probes. From a study of 74 events that appeared at L = 4.5–6.6 between 1 October 2012 and 31 October 2013, we reveal the following characteristics of the dipolarization in the inner magnetosphere: (1) its time scale is approximately 5 min; (2) it is accompanied by strong magnetic fluctuations that have a dominant frequency close to the O+ gyrofrequency; (3) ion fluxes at 20–50 keV are simultaneously enhanced with larger magnitudes for O+ than for H+; (4) after a few minutes of the dipolarization, the flux enhancement at 0.1–5 keV appears with a clear energy‐dispersion signature only for O+; and (5) the energy‐dispersed O+ flux enhancement appears in directions parallel or antiparallel to the magnetic field. From these characteristics, we discuss possible mechanisms that can provide selective acceleration to O+ ions at >20 keV. We conclude that O+ ions at L = 5.4–6.6 undergo nonadiabatic local acceleration caused by oscillating electric field associated with the magnetic fluctuations and/or adiabatic convective transport from the plasma sheet to the inner magnetosphere by the impulsive electric field. At L = 4.5–5.4, however, only the former acceleration is plausible. We also conclude that the field‐aligned energy‐dispersed O+ ions at 0.1–5 keV originate from the ionosphere and are extracted nearly simultaneously to the onset of the dipolarization.

Storm time impulsive enhancements of energetic oxygen due to adiabatic acceleration of preexisting warm oxygen in the inner magnetosphere

AbstractWe examine enhancements of energetic (>50 keV) oxygen ions observed by the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Ion Composition Experiment (RBSPICE) instrument on board the Van Allen Probes spacecraft in the inner magnetosphere (L ~ 6) at 22–23 h magnetic local time (MLT) during an injection event of the 6 June 2013 storm. Simultaneous observations by two Van Allen Probes spacecraft located close together (~0.5 RE) indicate that particle injections occurred in the premidnight sector (< ~24 h MLT). We also examine the evolution of the proton and oxygen energy spectra at L ~ 6 during the injection event. The spectral slope did not significantly change during the storm. The oxygen phase space density (PSD) was shifted toward higher PSD in a wide range of the first adiabatic invariant. The spectral evolution manifests the characteristics of adiabatic acceleration and density increase of oxygen ions. Warm (0.1–10 keV) oxygen measured by the Helium, Oxygen, Proton, and Electron (HOPE) instrument was enhanced prior to the storm mostly in magnetic field‐aligned directions. The most reasonable scenario of this event is that warm oxygen ions that preexisted in the inner magnetosphere were picked up and adiabatically transported and accelerated by spatially localized, temporarily impulsive electric fields.

Rapid enhancement of low‐energy (<100 eV) ion flux in response to interplanetary shocks based on two Van Allen Probes case studies: Implications for source regions and heating mechanisms

AbstractInteractions between interplanetary (IP) shocks and the Earth's magnetosphere manifest many important space physics phenomena including low‐energy ion flux enhancements and particle acceleration. In order to investigate the mechanisms driving shock‐induced enhancement of low‐energy ion flux, we have examined two IP shock events that occurred when the Van Allen Probes were located near the equator while ionospheric and ground observations were available around the spacecraft footprints. We have found that, associated with the shock arrival, electromagnetic fields intensified, and low‐energy ion fluxes, including H+, He+, and O+, were enhanced dramatically in both the parallel and perpendicular directions. During the 2 October 2013 shock event, both parallel and perpendicular flux enhancements lasted more than 20 min with larger fluxes observed in the perpendicular direction. In contrast, for the 15 March 2013 shock event, the low‐energy perpendicular ion fluxes increased only in the first 5 min during an impulse of electric field, while the parallel flux enhancement lasted more than 30 min. In addition, ionospheric outflows were observed after shock arrivals. From a simple particle motion calculation, we found that the rapid response of low‐energy ions is due to drifts of plasmaspheric population by the enhanced electric field. However, the fast acceleration in the perpendicular direction cannot solely be explained by E × B drift but betatron acceleration also plays a role. Adiabatic acceleration may also explain the fast response of the enhanced parallel ion fluxes, while ion outflows may contribute to the enhanced parallel fluxes that last longer than the perpendicular fluxes.

Response of the incompressible ionosphere to the compression of the magnetosphere during the geomagnetic sudden commencements

AbstractThe ionospheric plasma in midlatitude moves upward/downward during the geomagnetic sudden commencement causing the HF Doppler frequency changes; SCF (+ −) and (− +) on the dayside and nightside, respectively, except for the SCF (+ −) in the evening as found by Kikuchi et al. (1985). Although the preliminary and main frequency deviations (PFD, MFD) of the SCF have been attributed to the dusk‐to‐dawn and dawn‐to‐dusk potential electric fields, there still remain questions if the positive PFD can be caused by the compressional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave and what causes the evening anomaly of the SCF. With the HF Doppler sounder, we show that the dayside ionosphere moves upward toward the Sun during the main impulse (MI) of the SC, when the compressional wave is supposed to push the ionosphere downward. The motion of the ionosphere is shown to be correlated with the equatorial electrojet, matching the potential electric field transmitted with the ionospheric currents from the polar ionosphere. We confirmed that the electric field of the compressional wave is severely suppressed by the conducting ionosphere and reproduced the SC electric fields using the global MHD simulation in which the potential solver is employed. The model calculations well reproduced the preliminary impulse and MI electric fields and their evening anomaly. It is suggested that the electric potential is transmitted from the polar ionosphere to the equator by the zeroth‐order transverse magnetic (TM0) mode waves in the Earth‐ionosphere waveguide. The near‐instantaneous transmission of the electric potential leads to instantaneous global response of the incompressible ionosphere.

AFM fishing of proteins under impulse electric field

A combination of (atomic force microscopy)-based fishing (AFM-fishing) and mass spectrometry allows to capture protein molecules from solutions, concentrate and visualize them on an atomically flat surface of the AFM chip and identify by subsequent mass spectrometric analysis. In order to increase the AFM-fishing efficiency we have applied pulsed voltage with the rise time of the front of about 1 ns to the AFM chip. The AFM-chip was made using a conductive material, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The increased efficiency of AFM-fishing has been demonstrated using detection of cytochrome b5 protein. Selection of the stimulating pulse with a rise time of 1 ns, corresponding to the GHz frequency range, by the effect of intrinsic emission from water observed in this frequency range during water injection into the cell.

“Trunk‐like” heavy ion structures observed by the Van Allen Probes

AbstractDynamic ion spectral features in the inner magnetosphere are the observational signatures of ion acceleration, transport, and loss in the global magnetosphere. We report “trunk‐like” ion structures observed by the Van Allen Probes on 2 November 2012. This new type of ion structure looks like an elephant's trunk on an energy‐time spectrogram, with the energy of the peak flux decreasing Earthward. The trunks are present in He+ and O+ ions but not in H+. During the event, ion energies in the He+ trunk, located at L = 3.6–2.6, magnetic local time (MLT) = 9.1–10.5, and magnetic latitude (MLAT) = −2.4–0.09°, vary monotonically from 3.5 to 0.04 keV. The values at the two end points of the O+ trunk are energy = 4.5–0.7 keV, L = 3.6–2.5, MLT = 9.1–10.7, and MLAT = −2.4–0.4°. Results from backward ion drift path tracings indicate that the trunks are likely due to (1) a gap in the nightside ion source or (2) greatly enhanced impulsive electric fields associated with elevated geomagnetic activity. Different ion loss lifetimes cause the trunks to differ among ion species.

Magnetohydrodynamic modeling of three Van Allen Probes storms in 2012 and 2013

Abstract. Coronal mass ejection (CME)-shock compression of the dayside magnetopause has been observed to cause both prompt enhancement of radiation belt electron flux due to inward radial transport of electrons conserving their first adiabatic invariant and prompt losses which at times entirely eliminate the outer zone. Recent numerical studies suggest that enhanced ultra-low frequency (ULF) wave activity is necessary to explain electron losses deeper inside the magnetosphere than magnetopause incursion following CME-shock arrival. A combination of radial transport and magnetopause shadowing can account for losses observed at radial distances into L = 4.5, well within the computed magnetopause location. We compare ULF wave power from the Electric Field and Waves (EFW) electric field instrument on the Van Allen Probes for the 8 October 2013 storm with ULF wave power simulated using the Lyon–Fedder–Mobarry (LFM) global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) magnetospheric simulation code coupled to the Rice Convection Model (RCM). Two other storms with strong magnetopause compression, 8–9 October 2012 and 17–18 March 2013, are also examined. We show that the global MHD model captures the azimuthal magnetosonic impulse propagation speed and amplitude observed by the Van Allen Probes which is responsible for prompt acceleration at MeV energies reported for the 8 October 2013 storm. The simulation also captures the ULF wave power in the azimuthal component of the electric field, responsible for acceleration and radial transport of electrons, at frequencies comparable to the electron drift period. This electric field impulse has been shown to explain observations in related studies (Foster et al., 2015) of electron acceleration and drift phase bunching by the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT) instrument on the Van Allen Probes.

Silica microwire-based interferometric electric field sensor.

Silica microwire, as an optical waveguide whose diameter is close to or smaller than the wavelength of the guided light, is of great interest because it exhibits a number of excellent properties such as tight confinement, large evanescent fields, and great configurability. Here, we report a silica microwire-based compact photonic sensor for real-time detection of high electric field. This device contains an interferometer with propylene carbonate cladding. Based on the Kerr electro-optic effect of propylene carbonate, the applied intensive transient electric field can change the refractive index of propylene carbonate, which shifts the interferometric fringe. Therefore, the electric field could be demodulated by monitoring the fringe shift. The sensor was successfully used to detect alternating electric field with frequency of 50Hz and impulse electric field with duration time of 200μs. This work lays a foundation for future applications in electric field sensing.

Pulsed electric field treatment of saccharomyces cerevisiae using different waveforms

Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment can be used for non-thermal inactivation of microorganisms. The aim of this paper is to investigate PEF treatment of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, using three different field waveforms: square; non-oscillating exponential and oscillating exponential. The PEF system used in this paper consists of a pulsed power supply and a parallel-plane metallic electrodes treatment cell located in an air-pressurised chamber. PEF treatment of the yeast was conducted using electric field impulses with magnitudes of 67 kV/cm and 80 kV/cm. The efficacy of the PEF treatment for inactivation of the yeast cells was assessed by comparison of the PEFtreated and untreated yeast populations. Results showed that ~3-log10 reduction in the yeast population can be achieved with 100 impulses using all tested waveforms. Amongst all three tested waveforms non-oscillating exponential impulses demonstrated improved PEF performance. The effect of duration of treatment and peak magnitude of the field on the PEF process is discussed.