High-temperature Plasma Research Articles

Picoflare jets power the solar wind emerging from a coronal hole on the Sun.

Coronal holes are areas on the Sun with open magnetic field lines. They are a source region of the solar wind, but how the wind emerges from coronal holes is not known. We observed a coronal hole using the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. We identified jets on scales of a few hundred kilometers, which last 20 to 100 seconds and reach speeds of ~100 kilometers per second. The jets are powered by magnetic reconnection and have kinetic energy in the picoflare range. They are intermittent but widespread within the observed coronal hole. We suggest that such picoflare jets could produce enough high-temperature plasma to sustain the solar wind and that the wind emerges from coronal holes as a highly intermittent outflow at small scales.

Engineering design and analysis of first wall on the high-magnetic-field-side for HL-2M tokamak

The first wall is one of the key in-vessel components, which would be employed for protecting the vacuum vessel and other in-vessel components (e.g. diagnostic components, gas injection system, resonant magnetic perturbation coils). The first wall is facing the high temperature plasma, and the graphite is adopted as plasma facing material for HL-2M tokamak due to its many excellent properties including high thermal conductivity, good thermal shock, thermal fatigue resistance and good compatibility with plasma. The first wall on the high-magnetic-field-side is consisted of the graphite tile, the back plate, supports and the adjustment plate, and no active cooling structure is considered except for the residual neutral beam power region. All of the first wall parts are assembled with different bolts, and they are easy to install and maintain during their running life. All of the analysis results based on the finite element method show that the structural design of the first wall on the high-magnetic-field-side has good heat transfer performance, satisfying the thermal design requirements during the plasma operation stage (the average value of heat load in the residual neutral beam power 1.0 MW/m2, thermal load in other region 0.3 MW/m2, pulse time 5 s) for HL-2M device. The first wall can also withstand the impact of the electromagnetic load caused by 1.8 MA plasma disruption, including the major disruption and the vertical displacement events.

Transport collision integrals for C(5S)-H(2S), C(1S)-H(2S), C(1D)-H(2S), and C(3P)-H(2S) interactions

Transport collision integrals of interacting atoms or ions are essential in modeling transport properties of high-temperature gases and plasmas. Here, we obtained the potential energy curves (PECs) of CH using the state-of-the-art ab initio methods. The PECs were also extrapolated to investigate the transport collision integrals for C(3P)-H(2S), C(5S)-H(2S), C(1S)-H(2S), and C(1D)-H(2S) interactions, in which the interactions between the excited C(5S), C(1S), and C(1D) atoms and the ground H(2S) atoms were calculated for the first time. The resulting transport collision integrals were fitted to simple functional forms for ease of use in plasma modeling. Our transport collision integrals can provide data references for computing transport properties of high-temperature plasmas involving C and H atoms.

Simulation of shell pellet injection strategies for ITER-scale tokamaks

Dispersive shell pellet (DSP) injection is considered as an alternative to shattered pellet injection as a disruption mitigation system for ITER, and strategies for penetration of a shell pellet into ITER are modeled with the 3D magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) code NIMROD. Because the high plasma temperatures lead to rapid ablation of the shell, delivery of the dispersive payload to the core of ITER will be very challenging. Two strategies to increase payload delivery depth are modeled: first, multiple staggered pellets are simulated in DIII-D, to assess the ability for one DSP to ‘piggy-back’ on another to reach deeper into the core; second, DSP injection after pre-dilution-cooling with deuterium is simulated in ITER, in order to reduce the plasma temperature before shell pellet arrival. The DIII-D simulations show that a second, slower pellet can penetrate much deeper once the release of the first payload strongly cools the mid-radius region. When the pellets are staggered, deeper penetration of the second pellet leads to higher radiation fraction and larger runaway electron loss fraction, consistent with single pellet results. However, simultaneously released pellets at mid-radius that do not trigger a large n = 1 mode produce an even higher radiation fraction. The ITER simulations show that an inside-out TQ can be produced with a payload release just inside of the q = 2 surface, which is achieved at a speed of 800 m s−1 after pre-dilution cooling. Although stochastization of the core leads to a complete thermal quench, the edge flux surfaces are surprisingly robust in the ITER simulations, regardless of payload release location. As a result, runaway electron losses would not be expected.

Effects of Different Cooking Methods on Glycemic Index, Physicochemical Indexes, and Digestive Characteristics of Two Kinds of Rice

Diets including rice and rice-cooking methods influence digestive processes and blood glucose control. In this research, the effects of three different treatments (high-temperature and low-pressure plasma cooking, high-temperature cooking at atmospheric pressure (traditional method), and high-temperature cooking at high pressure) on the texture, color, molecular structure, infrared spectrum, microstructure, debranching enzyme activity, amylopectin content, glycemic index (GI), and in vitro starch digestibility of two rice varieties were studied. The results showed that the hardness, elasticity, viscosity, and chewability of rice after the high-temperature and low-pressure plasma treatment had no obvious changes compared with the traditional cooking method. A SEM analysis showed that the physical properties of the hydrophilicity on the surface of the rice increased after the high-temperature and low-pressure plasma treatment; the debranching enzyme activity reached 3.88 U/g (Xiantao rice) and 3.81 U/g (Heyuan rice), respectively, the amylose content of raw rice reached 68.77 mg/mL (Xiantao rice) and 64.92 mg/mL (Heyuan rice), which increased by 43.31 mg/mL and 39.46 mg/mL, respectively, and the GI was within the medium glycemic index of 56–69. The resistant starch in the Heyuan and Xiantao rice varieties amounted to 88.60 ± 3.10% and 89.40 ± 3.58%, respectively, after the high-temperature and low-pressure plasma processing method. The results showed positive effects and application potential for the cooking method in respect of diabetic consumers.

Unconditionally Stable System Incorporated Factorization-Splitting Algorithm for Blackout Re-Entry Vehicle

A high-temperature plasma sheath is generated on the surface of the re-entry vehicle through the conversion of kinetic energy to thermal and chemical energy across a strong shock wave at the hypersonic speed. Such a condition results in the forming of a blackout which significantly affects the communication components. To analyze the re-entry vehicle at the hypersonic speed, an unconditionally stable system incorporated factorization-splitting (SIFS) algorithm is proposed in finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) grids. The proposed algorithm shows advantages in the entire performance by simplifying the update implementation in multi-scale problems. The plasma sheath is analyzed based on the modified auxiliary difference equation (ADE) method according to the integer time step scheme in the unconditionally stable algorithm. Higher order perfectly matched layer (PML) formulation is modified to simulate open region problems. Numerical examples are carried out to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm from the aspects of target characteristics and antenna model. From resultants, it can be concluded that the proposed algorithm shows considerable accuracy, efficiency, and absorption during the simulation. Meanwhile, plasma sheath significantly affects the communication and detection of the re-entry vehicle.

Latitudinal distribution of solar microflares and high-temperature plasma at solar minimum

The paper analyzes the latitudinal distribution of high-temperature plasma (T>4 MK) and microflares on the solar disk during low solar activity in 2009. The distribution of A0.1–A1.0 microflares contains belts typical of ordinary flares of B class and higher. In total, we have registered 526 flares, most of which, about 96 %, occurred at high latitudes. About 4 % of microflares were found near the solar equator. We believe that they were formed by the residual magnetic field of previous solar cycle 23. Ordinary flares were almost not observed near the equator during this period. The number of microflares in the southern hemisphere was slightly higher than in the northern one. This differs from the distribution of ordinary flares for which the northern hemisphere was previously reported to be dominant.

Широтные распределения солнечных микровспышек и высокотемпературной плазмы в минимуме солнечной активности

The paper analyzes the latitudinal distribution of high-temperature plasma (T>4 MK) and microflares on the solar disk during low solar activity in 2009. The distribution of A0.1–A1.0 microflares contains belts typical of ordinary flares of B class and higher. In total, we have registered 526 flares, most of which, about 96 %, occurred at high latitudes. About 4 % of microflares were found near the solar equator. We believe that they were formed by the residual magnetic field of previous solar cycle 23. Ordinary flares were almost not observed near the equator during this period. The number of microflares in the southern hemisphere was slightly higher than in the northern one. This differs from the distribution of ordinary flares for which the northern hemisphere was previously reported to be dominant.

Synthesis of Double-Walled Boron Nitride Nanotubes from Ammonia Borane by Thermal Plasma Methods.

Highly crystalline double-walled boron nitride nanotubes (DWBNNTs ∼60%) were synthesized from ammonia borane (AB; H3B-NH3) precursors using a high-temperature thermal plasma method. The differences between the synthesized BNNTs using the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) precursor and AB precursor were compared using various techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and in situ optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The synthesized BNNTs were longer and had fewer walls when the AB precursor was used than when the conventional method was used (with the h-BN precursor). The production rate significantly improved from ∼20 g/h (h-BN precursor) to ∼50 g/h (AB precursor), and the content of amorphous boron impurities was significantly reduced, implying a self-assembly mechanism of BN radicals rather than the conventional mechanism involving boron nanoballs. Through this mechanism, the BNNT growth, which was accompanied by an increased length, a decreased diameter, and a high growth rate, could be understood. The findings were also supported by in situ OES data. Considering the increased production yield, this synthesis method using AB precursors is expected to make an innovative contribution to the commercialization of BNNTs.

A Role for Bose-Einstein Condensation in Astrophysics

We revive a 60-year-old idea that might explain a remarkable new observation of a periodic low-frequency radio emission from a source at galactic distances (GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3). It derives from the observation that a high-density high-temperature charged boson plasma is a superconducting superfluid with a Meissner effect.

51‐3: Copper Thin Film Dry Etching Equipment via ECR Plasma Source

This paper presents Gen. 2 (370 mm * 470 mm) size thin copper film dry etching performance that is etched by high electron temperature plasma source with low temperature substrate. Dry etching is performed using HCl gas in a reactive ion etching mode. In addition, scanning low temperature susceptor and the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma produced by rectangular‐type microwave slot antenna (ReSLAN) are used.

Plasma Confinement in the L-2M Stellarator at High Microwave Heating Powers

The results of experiments on high-temperature plasma confinement in a quasi-stationary fusion facility are presented. The results were obtained on the L-2M stellarator in which superposition of magnetic fields with three-dimensional spatial symmetry is created with the help of external windings. The plasma was created and heated using microwave pulses with a record specific power of 2 to 4 MW/m3. Under these conditions, spontaneous transition processes were observed in a plasma stable with respect to large-scale instabilities, leading to an abrupt increase in energy. High thermal loads on the wall of the vacuum chamber are observed in the area of the helical separatrix, which leads to an increase in the penetration of impurities into the plasma. Plasma energy and confinement time correspond to L-2M single-machine scaling at lower powers while at specific powers above 3 MW/m3, confinement time decreases due to the accumulation of impurities. The research results can be used to develop fusion energy facilities or to simulate astrophysical phenomena.

Effective Suppression of Amorphous Ga2O and Related Deep Levels on the GaN Surface by High-Temperature Remote Plasma Pretreatments in GaN-Based Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor Electronic Devices.

Gallium nitride (GaN) has been considered one of the most promising materials for the next-generation power and radio-frequency electronic devices, as they can operate at higher voltage, higher frequency, and higher temperature, compared with their silicon (Si) counterparts. However, the fresh GaN surface is susceptible to the natural oxidation composed of Ga2O3, Ga2O, and other intermediate oxidation states. Moreover, the oxidized GaN surface no longer features the distinct atomic step-terrace morphology, resulting in a degraded interface when gate or passivation dielectrics are deposited without appropriate pretreatment. It is responsible for the degraded performance of GaN-based devices such as current collapse and threshold voltage instability. In this study, the proposed high-temperature (500 °C) remote plasma pretreatments (RPPs) can play a significant role in addressing the issue of the deteriorated GaN surface exposed to air. Atomic step-terrace morphology was recovered after 500 °C-RPP due to the removal of oxides and suboxides. First-principles calculations verified that Ga2O at the GaN surface leads to interface states at ∼2.9 eV (EC-E ∼ 0.4 eV) in the bandgap, which is consistent with the increase of interface states at the EC-E range of 0.4-0.9 eV measured through constant-capacitance deep-level transient spectroscopy. Meanwhile, deep interface states and surface-related current collapse are well suppressed in GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor devices. These improved properties by 500 °C-RPP are generalizable to a broader range, including pre-gate and pre-passivation treatment, of which a decent surface/interface is desirable for high-performance GaN-based devices.

Ultra-high-resolution observations of persistent null-point reconnection in the solar corona

Magnetic reconnection is a key mechanism involved in solar eruptions and is also a prime possibility to heat the low corona to millions of degrees. Here, we present ultra-high-resolution extreme ultraviolet observations of persistent null-point reconnection in the corona at a scale of about 390 km over one hour observations of the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager on board Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The observations show formation of a null-point configuration above a minor positive polarity embedded within a region of dominant negative polarity near a sunspot. The gentle phase of the persistent null-point reconnection is evidenced by sustained point-like high-temperature plasma (about 10 MK) near the null-point and constant outflow blobs not only along the outer spine but also along the fan surface. The blobs appear at a higher frequency than previously observed with an average velocity of about 80 km s−1 and life-times of about 40 s. The null-point reconnection also occurs explosively but only for 4 minutes, its coupling with a mini-filament eruption generates a spiral jet. These results suggest that magnetic reconnection, at previously unresolved scales, proceeds continually in a gentle and/or explosive way to persistently transfer mass and energy to the overlying corona.

Evolution of alumina phase structure in thermal plasma processing

Alumina (Al2O3) remains one the most important engineering ceramic for industrial applications. In addition to the α phase, transition alumina phases have interesting characteristics. Controlling the obtained phase structure from alumina melt requires processes with extreme cooling rates and therefore limits the tailoring capabilities. This study investigates how the cooling rate of pure alumina affects its microstructural properties and phase structure in plasma-based processing. The paper reports phase changes in micron sized granulated alumina particles in high-temperature plasma spheroidization and compares the results to plasma sprayed alumina coatings. Both plasma processes involve melting of the material followed by subsequent rapid cooling. Direct comparison on the alumina phase transitions is obtained for the two methodically distinct processing routes, creating unique microstructures due to difference in their cooling rates.

Plasma diagnostics using fast cameras at the GOLEM tokamak

Tomographic inversion of radiation determines spatial distribution of tokamak plasma radiation sources using line integrated plasma projections data. For measurements of the projections, fast visible radiation matrix cameras became broadly applied on tokamaks in recent past. These novel cameras opened new possibilities in high temperature plasma studies.The GOLEM tokamak of the Czech Technical University in Prague strives to implement up-to-date diagnostics with enhanced temporal and spatial resolution. Therefore, a novel diagnostic system of two crossed monochrome cameras Photron FASTCAM MINI UX50 was integrated into the GOLEM diagnostics. The proposed contribution will detail their novel port mounts (vertical and horizontal) at the GOLEM tokamak which have been designed so that additional optical measurements of the plasma core (e.g. plasma spectroscopy) is possible.As the main purpose of this study, we shall focus in particular on the frame rate potential which is high enough to make detection and observation of highly transient phenomena in the GOLEM plasmas possible. Progress in solving specific challenges of the ill-conditioned tomographic inversion via the algorithm optimization and testing for the GOLEM tokamak will be presented together with the first tomographic results.

Rayleigh-Taylor instability in an adiabatic-radiative rare plasma

Considering the particle nature of photons, the impact of electromagnetic radiation pressure is examined on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) in a non-uniform rare magnetoplasma. For low-density and high-temperature rare plasma, the RTI with radiation pressure is revisited in the adiabatic limit. The growth rate conditions and propagating modes are derived using the framework of a developed fluid model. For specific values of ion temperature, the cut-off values of propagation of the fringing instability is found to be temperature dependent. A numerical comparison of the present results with previous work Maryam N, Rozina C and Ali S (2021, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 49 1072–1078) is displayed in table 1. It is found that the radiative acoustic speed is increased due to electromagnetic radiation pressure in rare plasmas as compared to radiative acoustic speed in dense plasmas. However, the growth rate of RTI increases comparatively as function of radiation pressure in rare plasmas. The present findings reveals that the consequences of RTI are remarkably concerned with the choice of electromagnetic radiation pressure either in dense (astrophysical) or rare (laboratory) plasmas. These findings are relevant to the observations of long-lived irregularities for explaining the gravitational instability in laboratory plasmas, e.g. in fusion devices like tokamaks.

A focusing X-ray spectrometer based on continuously conical crystal.

X-ray optics with good focusing ability and high spectral resolution are required in X-ray spectroscopy for the diagnosis of high temperature and density plasmas. In our study, a novel X-ray spectrometer is developed to provide the ability to record spectra with excellent focusing performance and high energy resolution. It is accomplished by using a continuously conical crystal (CCC) that is formed by circles with different curvatures. In this paper, we present the foundational work of the design and development of continuously conical crystal spectrometer (CCCS) along with initial results obtained with a titanium (Ti) target as the object source. First, the spectrometer based on such a continuously conical crystal is used to measure X-ray spectra on Ti target X-ray Tube device. The spectral resolution (λ/Δλ) is around 615 with the source size of 1 mm. Then, we test the capability of the spectrometer on Xingguang-III Laser Facility with Ti target. He-like and Li-like Ti lines are recorded based on which the spectrometer performance is evaluated. The experiment result shows that the spectrometer provides a high spectral resolving power up to 1000, while acquiring a one-dimensional image of the source.

Observations of xenon spectra on the EAST x-ray crystal spectrometer for high-temperature plasma diagnostics

The Xe44+ 2.7203 Å line, which has been proposed as one of the diagnostic lines for the x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer on ITER, is observed on the EAST tokamak together with its several satellite lines. The observations are made under high electron temperature (T e ) conditions (core T e > 5 keV). Most of the observed xenon lines are identified by comparing the experiment results with the atomic simulation results. The first ion temperature measurements made by the xenon spectra on EAST are also reported in this article. These xenon spectra observations contribute to the justification for using xenon as the diagnostic impurity in x-ray crystal spectrometers in future reactor-scale high-temperature plasmas.

Enhanced protein glutaminase production from Chryseobacterium proteolyticum combining physico-chemical mutagenesis and resistance screening and its application to soybean protein isolates.

Protein glutaminase (PG) is a novel protein modification biotechnology that is increasingly being used in the food industry. However, the current level of fermentation of PG-producing strains still does not meet the requirements of industrial production. To obtain the mutant strains with high PG production, the atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) combined with LiCl chemical mutagen were used in mutagenesis of a PG producing Chryseobacterium proteolyticum 1003. A mutant strain (WG15) was successfully obtained based on malonic acid resistance screening after compound mutagenesis of the starting strain C. proteolyticum 1003 using ARTP with LiCl, and it was confirmed to be genetically stable in PG synthesis after 15 generations. The protein glutaminase production of WG15 was 2.91 U mL-1 after optimization of fermentation conditions, which is 48.69% higher than the original strain C. proteolyticum 1003. The PG obtained from fermentation showed good activities in deamidation of soy protein isolate. The solubility and foaming properties of the PG-treated soy protein isolate were significantly increased by 36.50% and 10.03%, respectively, when PG was added at the amount of 100 U mL-1 . In addition, the emulsifying activity and emulsion stability of the treated soy protein isolate were improved by 12.44% and 10.34%, respectively, on the addition of 10U mL-1 PG. The secondary structure of the soy protein isolate changed after PG treatment, with an increased proportion of glutamate. The results of the present study indicate that the PG produced by this mutant strain could improve the functional properties of soybean protein isolate and the C. proteolyticum mutant WG15 has great potential in food industry. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.