Plasma Jet Formation Research Articles

Proton acceleration in antiparallel collisionless magnetic reconnection: Kinetic mechanisms behind the fluid dynamics

[1] This paper investigates the proton kinetic mechanisms leading to the formation of plasma jets in antiparallel magnetic reconnection. In particular, the interaction of the protons with the Hall electric field in the proton non-ideal region is discussed. The study, based on a two-dimensional hybrid simulation, details the important role of the proton pressure force in the acceleration process and its role in maintaining open and steady the proton outflow channel. When no fluid closure is assumed, it is found that this force arises from a strong anisotropy in velocity space which comes from kinetic effect. By analyzing the distribution functions and the individual particle dynamics, it is shown that the mixing of protons bouncing in a divergent electrostatic potential well associated to the Hall effect statistically couples the two in-plane velocity components of the particles. This coupling results, from the macroscopic point of view, in off-diagonal components of the pressure tensor.

Numerical study of ion acceleration and plasma jet formation in the interaction of an intense laser beam normally incident on an overdense plasma

AbstractWe present a numerical study of the acceleration of ions in the interaction of a high intensity circularly polarized laser beam normally incident on an overdense plasma target, and the subsequent formation of neutral plasma ejected toward the rear side of the target. We compare the results obtained from two different numerical codes. We use an Eulerian Vlasov code for the numerical solution of the one-dimensional relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell set of equations, for both electrons and ions, and a particle-in-cell code applied to the same problem. We consider the case when the laser free space wavelength λ0 is greater than the scale length of the jump in the plasma density at the target plasma edge Ledge (λ0 ≫ Ledge), and the ratio of the plasma density to the critical density is such that n/ncr ≫ 1. The ponderomotive pressure due to the incident high-intensity laser radiation pushes the electrons at the target plasma surface, producing a sharp density gradient at the plasma surface, which gives rise to a charge separation. The resulting electric field accelerates the ions that reach a free streaming expansion phase, where they are neutralized by the electrons. A neutral plasma jet is thus ejected toward the rear side of the target. Two cases are studied: In the first case, the laser intensity rises to a maximum and then remains constant, and in the second case, the laser intensity is a Gaussian-shaped pulse. The results show substantial differences in the phase-space structure of the ions and the electrons between these two cases. There is good agreement between the quantitative macroscopic results obtained by the two codes, and good qualitative agreement between the results showing the kinetic details of the phase-space structures. The low noise level of the Eulerian Vlasov code allows a more detailed representation of the phase-space structures associated with this system, especially in the low density regions of the phase-space where ions are accelerated.

Models to describe Plasma Jet, Arc Trajectory and arc blow formation in arc welding

Several researchers have devoted efforts on studying physics of arc and descriptive models are used to explain many arc welding related phenomena. However, due to the subject complexity, doubts still emerge about the mechanisms of some phenomena related to the arc. For instance, the description about electromagnetic interactions with the arc, which governs the arc trajectory and lead to plasma jet and arc blow formation, seems to be yet controversial. Thus, the present study aimed a better understanding of these phenomena. An e-mail survey was carried out to confirm discordant descriptions of the phenomena. Some points were raised about the actual physical explanation used in the current literature. Some experimental work with arcs at different levels of current was carried out and shows that plasma jet has an important role in the welding arc trajectory, but there are other factors acting at the same time. Using electromagnetic theory and flow mechanics explanation, more comprehensive models were eventually presented to explain plasma jet formation and the arc blow phenomenon.

A study on characterization of atmospheric pressure plasma jets according to the driving frequency for biomedical applications

Unique atmospheric pressure plasma devices are designed to investigate the plasma characteristics for various driving frequencies under the same operating conditions. Electrical properties of the plasma, gas temperature, formation of plasma jets, and sterilization efficiency are studied for two different driving frequencies of 13 kHz (low frequency) and 877 MHz (microwave frequency). When compared with low frequency plasma, microwave plasma is found to have better electrical properties such as no electric shock for safety, high discharge current for effective chemical reactions, clean waveform for homogenous plasma, and high power coupling efficiency. Furthermore, microwave plasma leads to effective sterilization which is related to the high intensity of atomic oxygen. One-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation reveals that microwave plasma has substantial electrons in the energy range 2–5 eV (bond dissociation energy), thus electrons in this energy range can produce more atomic oxygen. It shows that the probability of producing high energy ions, which can damage the electrode, is low in microwave plasma.

Influence of low atomic number plasma component on the formation of laser-produced plasma jets

The results of investigations are presented that are connected with a very simple method of plasma jet formation, which consists in irradiating a massive planar target made of material with relatively high atomic number by a partly defocused laser beam. This brief communication is aimed at investigations of interaction of axially symmetrical light (plastic-CH) plasma with heavy (copper) plasma. It demonstrates that a relatively thin plastic plasma envelope can compress the Cu plasma and control the Cu-jet formation.

Comparative Studies of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Characteristics Between He and Ar Working Gases for Sterilization

Helium (He) and Argon (Ar) atmospheric pressure plasma jets operated with low-frequency power source are designed and studied. The current and voltage waveforms, formation of plasma jets, estimated rotational and vibrational temperatures, optical emission spectra, and numerical simulations for He and Ar gases are investigated to analyze the plasma characteristics. Ar plasma shows higher discharge current and many instantaneous current peaks compared with He plasma. For gas flow between 1 and 7 L/min and applied voltage between 3 and 10 kV, no significant changes in Ar plasma are observed. He plasma is found to be sensitive as far as gas flow rate and applied voltage are concerned. This sensitivity is associated with a transition from laminar to turbulent mode of gas flow. The estimated gas temperatures show higher values for Ar plasma than those of He plasma. Ar plasma jet emits extremely high intensity of OH (305 nm ~312 nm) and O (777 nm) compared with that emitted from He plasma jet. High concentration of OH and O in Ar plasma is related with high density of electrons with 4-5 eV, which is in the range of the dissociation energy of H-H, O-H, and O=O bonds. As a result, wider sterilization area and higher sterilization efficacy in indirect treatment are observed for Ar plasma than He plasma.

Interaction of two plasma jets produced successively from Cu target

AbstractOur earlier papers demonstrate a very simple method of plasma jet formation, consisting in irradiating a massive planar target of a relatively high atomic number by a partly defocused laser beam. Our present interest is concentrated on interaction of the plasma jet with other media. This paper is aimed at investigations of interaction of two jets launched successively on Cu target. Our attention was paid to the role of radiative cooling in the plasma jet formation. The experiment was carried out at the PALS iodine laser facility. The laser provided a 250-ps (full width at half maximum) pulse with energy of 130 J at the third harmonic frequency (λ3 = 0.438 µm). Two successive jets were produced on a massive flat Cu target provided with a cylindrical channel 5 mm long and 400 µm in diameter. Since the focal spot diameter of the laser beam on the target surface was larger than that of the channel (800 µm), the annular irradiation of the target face resulted in creation of the first plasma jet, whereas the second jet was produced by action of the central part of laser beam on the channel wall. Three-frame interferometric system, X-ray streak camera, and a set of ion collectors were used as diagnostic tools.

Jet formation in counterstreaming plasmas produced by high-power laser beams

We report the experimental results of a plasma jet formation in counterstreaming plasmas created by irradiating a double CH-plane target with a high-power laser system. The time evolution of the jet collimation was obtained over several shots, each shot taking a shadowgraphy image at a different timing. Since no jet formation was observed when a single CH-plane target was irradiated, the presence of the counterstreaming plasma, as an ambient plasma, is essential to the jet plasma collimation.

Three distinct modes in a cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Cold atmospheric pressure helium plasma jets are increasingly used in many processing applications, due to a distinct combination of their inherent plasma stability with excellent reaction chemistry often enhanced downstream. Despite their widespread usage, it remains largely unknown whether cold atmospheric plasma jets maintain similar characteristics from breakdown to arcing or whether they possess different operating modes. In addition to their known ability to produce a fast moving train of discrete luminous clusters along the jet length, commonly known as plasma bullets, this paper reports evidence of two additional modes of operation, namely a chaotic mode and a continuous mode in an atmospheric helium plasma jet. Through detailed electrical and optical characterization, it is shown that immediately following breakdown the plasma jet operates in a deterministic chaotic mode. With increasing input power, the discharge becomes periodic and the jet plasma is found to produce at least one strong plasma bullet every cycle of the applied voltage. Further increase in input power eventually leads to the continuous mode in which excited species are seen to remain within the inter-electrode space throughout the entire cycle of the applied voltage. Transition from the chaotic, through the bullet, to the continuous modes is abrupt and distinct, with each mode having a unique set of operating characteristics. For the bullet mode, direct evidence is presented to demonstrate that the evolution of the plasma jet involves a repeated sequence of generation, collapse and regeneration of the plasma head occurring at locations progressively towards the instantaneous cathode. These offer previously unavailable insight into plasma jet formation mechanisms and the potential of matching plasma jet modes to specific needs of a given processing application.

Underwater operation of a DBD plasma jet

A plasma jet produced in water using a submerged ac excited electrode in a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge configuration was studied. Plasma jet formation was found to occur only while the source was submerged. Plasma jet operation was characterized with and without gas flow. It was found that over 60% of the discharge power was deposited into the water and did not vary appreciably with excitation frequency. Presumably the remaining power fraction went into excitation, ionization and local electrode heating. Emission spectra of the jet revealed nitrogen, hydrogen, hydroxyl and oxygen emission lines. Operation of the plasma jet in water containing the oxidation–reduction indicator methylene blue dye resulted in a marked clearing of the water as observed visually and with a spectrophotometer, suggesting plasma-induced chemical reactivity.

JET FORMATION IN COUNTERSTREAMING COLLISIONLESS PLASMAS

Plasma jet formation was observed in counterstreaming plasmas in a laboratory experiment. In order to model an ambient plasma of astrophysical jets, the counterstreaming plasmas were created by irradiating a double CH-plane target with a high-power laser system. Since the mean free paths of the ions in terms of the counterstreaming motion were larger than the scale length of the experiment, the two-stream interaction of the plasmas was essentially collisionless. The time evolution of the jet collimation was obtained over several shots with different timing by shadowgraphy. When a single CH-plane target was irradiated, no jet collimation was observed. The counterstreaming plasma as an ambient plasma is essential for the jet plasma to collimate.

Formation of a supersonic laser-driven plasma jet in a cylindrical channel

A simple method of supersonic plasma jet production where the jet is formed in a cylindrical channel guiding the plasma generated from a laser-irradiated thin foil target is proposed and examined. High-Mach number (≥10) plasma jets of parameters relevant to laboratory astrophysics applications using 120 J, 1.315 μm, and 0.3 ns laser pulse for a thin CH foil irradiation are demonstrated. The method seems to be flexible in the production of jets of various compositions and hydrodynamic parameters and does not require high-energy lasers for the jet generation.

Formation of fast shocks by magnetic reconnection in the solar corona

Reconnections of magnetic fields over the solar surface are expected to generate abundant magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) discontinuities and shocks, including slow shocks and rotational discontinuities. However, the generation of fast shocks by magnetic reconnection process is relatively not well studied. In this paper, magnetic reconnection in a current sheet is studied based on two-dimensional resistive MHD numerical simulations. Magnetic reconnections in the current sheet lead to the formation of plasma jets and plasma bulges. It is further found that the plasma bulges, the leading part of plasma jets, in turn lead to the generation of fast shocks on flanks of the bulges. The simulation results show that during the magnetic reconnection process, the plasma forms a series of structures: plasma jets, plasma bulges, and fast shocks. As time increases, the bulges spread out along the current sheet (±z direction) and the fast shocks move just ahead of the bulges. The effects of initial parameters ρs/ρm, β∞, and trec on the fast shock generation are also examined, where ρs/ρm is the ratio of plasma densities on two sides of the initial current sheet, β∞=P∞/(B∞2/2μ0), P∞ is the plasma pressure and B∞ is the magnetic field magnitude far from the current sheet, and trec is the reconnection duration. In the asymmetric case with ρs/ρm=2, β∞=0.01 and trec=1000, the maximum Alfvén Mach number of fast shocks (MA1 max) is MA1 max≅1.1, where MA1=Vn1/VA1, and Vn1 and VA1 are, respectively, the normal upstream fluid velocity and the upstream Alfvén speed in the fast shocks frame. As the density ratio ρs/ρm (=1–8) and plasma beta β∞ (=0.0001–1) increase, MA1 max varies slightly. For the case with a large plasma beta β∞ (=5), the fast shock is very weak. As the reconnection duration trec increases, the bulges lead to generation of fast shocks with a higher MA1 max. The present results can be applied to the mechanism of coronal heating by fast shocks.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of mechanisms responsible for plasma jets formation at PALS

AbstractRecent experimental results demonstrated that well formed plasma jets can be produced at laser interaction with targets made of materials with high atomic number (A ≥ 29 where A = 29 corresponds to Cu). On the contrary, it is impossible to launch a plasma jet on low-A material targets like plastic. This paper is aimed at explanation of this difference by considering mechanisms responsible for plasma jet formation, i.e., the radiative cooling of ablative plasma and the influence of target irradiation annular profile speculated hitherto, newly complemented by different expansion regimes of the Cu and plastic plasmas (provided by numerical simulations). The experiment was carried out with the PALS iodine laser. Two different planar massive targets, plastic and Cu, as well as the plastic target covered by thin Cu layers of various thicknesses were irradiated by the third harmonic laser beam of energy of 30 J, pulse duration of 250 ps (full width at half maximum), and the focal spot radius of 400 µm. To find the most suitable range of these layers (from 28 to 190 nm) a simple analytical model of laser-driven evaporation was developed. Three-frame laser interferometer and an X-ray streak camera were used as two main diagnostic tools. Numerical modeling was performed with the use of two-dimensional hydrodynamic code ATLANT-HE. Results provided from experiments and theoretical analyses have proved that the process of plasma jet formation is rather complex. Relative importance of the three mechanisms mentioned above depends on the target irradiation geometry as well as the target material used.

Influence of target material on structure of the plasma outflow produced by a partly defocused laser beam

This paper is aimed at the explanation of mechanisms responsible for plasma jet formation: the radiative cooling of ablative plasma and the influence of target irradiation geometry. The experiment was carried out with the Prague Asterix Laser System (PALS) iodine laser. A three-frame laser interferometer and an x-ray streak camera were used as two main diagnostic tools. These investigations have shown that the geometry of target irradiation is crucial, an annular target irradiation being necessary for plasma jet formation. Thus the role of radiative cooling in the plasma jet forming seems to be negligible.

Dynamics of a dense laboratory plasma jet investigated using soft x-ray laser interferometry

The formation and evolution of a collisional aluminum plasma jet created by optical laser irradiation of triangular grooves with pulses of 120ps duration at an intensity of 1x10(12)W cm(-2) were studied with experiments and simulations. Series of high-contrast soft x-ray laser interferograms obtained with a 46.9nm laser mapped the plasma density evolution of an initially narrow plasma jet that expands along the symmetry plane and evolves into a broader plasma plume with significant side lobes. Two-dimensional simulations performed using the radiation hydrodynamic code HYDRA reveal that the jet formation is initiated by accelerated material ablated from the vertex and is augmented by the continual sequential arrival of wall material along the symmetry plane, where it collides and is redirected outward. Radiative cooling is identified as an important process in maintaining the collimation of the jet. These results demonstrate that well collimated collisional plasma jets with parameters in a range of interest can be generated with low-energy laser pulses (<1J) , opening the possibility of studying relevant plasma phenomena in a small laboratory setting.

Microplasma generation in a microscale short vacuum arc

A mechanism of plasma plume generation and plasma jet formation in a microscale vacuum arc (MVA) was proposed. The uniqueness of the subject is the force generated by a common plasma plume extracted from cathode and anode spots in a MVA. A calculating model for microplasma origin was developed taking into account the atom ionization and the phenomena in the nonequilibrium layers near evaporated surface in the cathode and anode regions. The plasma parameters as well as the electrode erosion rate were studied. It was found relatively large anode erosion rate and force at the anode surface in MVA in comparison to the force that usually occurs at the cathode in arcs with large gap. This important result of MVA was proposed to use in an exceptional microthruster concept for spacecraft propulsion and for anode microplasma source.

Anodic plasma in Hall thrusters

In this paper plasma dynamics and ionization of propellant gas are modeled within the anode holes used for gas injection of a Hall thruster. Under conditions of anode coating with dielectric material, the discharge current should close within these holes, which results in ionization and formation of plasma jets emanating from the openings. The model shows that gas ionization inside the anode holes is very significant. For instance, the electron density increases by two orders of magnitude under certain conditions. The potential drop in the anode region which includes the electrostatic sheath inside the hole and potential drop along the hole might be positive or negative, depending on the anode hole radius.

Interferometric investigations of influence of target irradiation on the parameters of laser-produced plasma jets

Our recent experimental results demonstrate that the formation of plasma jets is a fundamental process accompanying the laser produced plasma expansion, if a massive planar target with relatively high atomic number is irradiated by a defocused laser beam. In this paper some new results on the influence of target irradiation conditions on plasma jet parameters are presented. The experiment was carried out at the PALS iodine laser facility, with the third harmonic beam of the pulse duration of 250 ps (FWHM). The beam energies varied in the range of 13–160 J, the focal spot radii in the range of 35–600 µm. The planar massive targets used in the experiment were made of Cu, Ag and Ta. For measurements of the electron density evolution a three frame interferometric system was employed. The jets were observed in the whole range of the laser energy used. The initial velocities of the plasma jets produced in the reported experiment reached the value of up to 7·107 cm/s, the jets were up to 4 mm long including the jet pedestal and about 400 µm in diameter. Calculations of the efficiency of the plasma jet production show that it decreases with increasing the laser energy.

Self-organized pattern formation of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet in a dielectric barrier discharge configuration

This letter reports the observation of self-organized patterns formed in a 29mm wide atmospheric pressure plasma jet. By altering the gas flow rate and/or the applied voltage, the plasma jet is seen to have at least three different modes, namely, a diffuse-looking discharge, a self-organized discharge, and an unstable discharge with randomly occurring plasma channels. The self-organized discharge mode is characterized by several bright plasma channels embedded in a diffuse and dim plasma background. These plasma channels are regularly spaced from each other and their self-organized patterns are shown to evolve abruptly.