Positive Ion Species Research Articles

Comprehensive study of Kinetic Trajectory Simulation method for multi-component magnetized plasma-wall interaction process

For a wide range of plasma applications across diverse fields, a comprehensive understanding of the plasma-wall interaction mechanism is indispensable due to its inherent connection with confined plasma. This work compilation delves into the Kinetic Trajectory Simulation (KTS) method for the interaction of multi-component magnetized plasma with wall, specifically focusing on its implications for the tungsten wall sputtering model. In the evolution of the 1d3v (one dimensional spatial coordinates and three dimensional velocity coordinates) KTS method, the coupled set of kinetic equations has been solved under specified boundary conditions which yields results of higher accuracy. At the particle injection boundary, we have assumed the velocity distribution function of particle species to be cut-off Maxwellians, meeting essential requirements for plasma-wall transition processes: quasineutrality, sheath edge singularity, continuity of macroscopic fluid variables, and the kinetic Bohm sheath condition. The kinetic Bohm sheath condition, a fundamental criterion for plasma sheath formation, is extended for multi-component plasmas, accounting for the cut-off Maxwellian distribution of negatively charged particles. A comparative study of the kinetic Bohm sheath condition for cut-off and Boltzmann distributions reveals a deviation of less than 2.0% in magnitude. The concentration ratio of positive or negative ion species and the presheath side electron temperature influence various plasma-wall transition characteristics, including wall potential, Debye sheath thickness, particle densities, potential distribution, particle fluxes towards the surface, particle drift velocity, phase-space trajectory evolution, and physical sputtering of the tungsten surface. Although lighter ions possess higher energy when striking the surface, the physical sputtering yield of the tungsten surface is greater for heavier ions due to their lower threshold energy and larger collision cross-section. Furthermore, a comparative study of plasma-wall transition properties using kinetic and fluid approaches demonstrates qualitative similarities, with a notable deviation of approximately 4.0% in the magnitude in the vicinity of the material surface.

Development and commissioning of a hydrogen ion source for the CERN ALPHA experiment

The CERN ALPHA experiment makes precision measurements of antihydrogen atoms held in a superconducting magnetic minimum trap. Recent studies of the antihydrogen spectrum have provided unique tests of fundamental physics, and to improve on these studies ALPHA is now proposing upgrades to directly compare hydrogen and antihydrogen within their existing atom trap. One route towards producing cold, neutral hydrogen atoms is the integration of a hydrogen ion source into the experiment. Ideally, this should provide both positive (H+, H2 +, H3 +) and negative (H-) ions to facilitate different schemes for producing and trapping hydrogen atoms. For compatibility with ALPHA's existing beamlines, the source must produce modest (∼ 10 μA) beam currents at very low final energies (<100 eV). PELLIS, previously developed at JYFL, is a filament-driven ion source that generates 5–10 keV H- beams with small emittances and tens of microamps of beam current. Here, we present a modified PELLIS design to provide both positive and negative hydrogen ions for ALPHA. The use of an electromagnet filter field in PELLIS allows for the optimisation of H- volume production, and also tuning of the positive ion species fraction. We present simulations of H- (and similarly H+) transport through the initial extraction optics, which have been configured for a lower beam energy of 5 keV and designed to match a proposed beamline to interface with ALPHA. We present the results of detailed vacuum simulations that were used to guide the optics design, allowing the source (at 10-2 mbar) to interface with a transport beamline ∼ 0.5 m downstream that has strict vacuum requirements of < 10-9 mbar. We present experimental results from commissioning of the source, and show that it broadly performs as designed for both positive and negative hydrogen ions.

Quantitative Measurement of Positive and Negative Ion Species Ejected from a Li–O–H Surface by Hydrogen and Noble Gas Ion Irradiation

Quantitative Measurement of Positive and Negative Ion Species Ejected from a Li–O–H Surface by Hydrogen and Noble Gas Ion Irradiation

Plasma sheath with multi‐species of positive ions and surface produced negative ions

AbstractThe structure of a plasma sheath has been investigated in front of a caesium‐coated metallic plate, using a simple theoretical model. Along with the electrons, the plasma is composed of multi‐species of positive ions, and surface and volume produced negative ions. While the volume produced negative ions are common in many plasma processing chambers, the surface produced negative ions are of critical importance, especially to the Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) systems. The surface negative ions are produced via the coated metallic plate. With a single species of positive ion, the Bohm criterion, which determines the sheath edge potential, is multi‐valued for a specific range of electronegativity (). The width of the multi‐valued region has been reported to increase with the surface production yield (). Calculations are done for hydrogen plasma with a slight admixture of a second gas such as argon. Besides discussing the differences brought in by the mere presence of a second ion, the paper highlights the importance of the positive ion current density in determining the Bohm criterion. In addition, the effect of three species of positive ions in the surface production process has been discussed.

Effect of negatively biased electrode on two ion species plasma–wall transition, ion drag force, and levitation of dust particle

The effect of negatively biased electrodes on two ion species (argon and xenon) magnetized plasma–wall transition characteristics and the levitation of an isolated dust particle in the sheath region has been investigated using the kinetic trajectory simulation method based on a kinetic theory. It is found that the electrode biasing affects the transition parameters: space charge density, sheath potential, evolution of phase-space, and particle flux toward the electrode. The scale length of the Debye sheath region becomes widened for the increase in negative biasing and the presence of magnetic field as well. The biasing voltage and size of the dust particle have significant effect on the evolution of the dust charge, ion drag force, and levitation of a charged dust grain in the transition region. The dust particle is negatively charged at the particle injection side, and it acquires a positive charge for higher biasing voltage close to the electrode owing to electron depletion in that region. The distance of stable levitation from the electrode increases with the increase in the negative voltage applied to the electrode. Furthermore, the volumetric composition of two species of positive ions influence the dust charging process with the negative charge of the dust particle increasing as the concentration of xenon ions increases.

Wave breaking field of relativistically intense electrostatic waves in electronegative plasma with super-thermal electrons

The wave breaking limit of relativistically intense electrostatic waves in an unmagnetised electronegative plasma, where electrons are alleged to attach onto neutral atoms or molecules and thus forming a significant amount of negative ions, has been studied analytically. A nonlinear theory has been developed, using one-dimensional (1D) relativistic multi-fluid model in order to study the roles of super-thermal electrons, negative ion species and the Lorentz factor, on the dynamics of the wave. A generalised kappa-type distribution function has been chosen for the velocities of the electrons, to couple the densities of the fluids. By assuming the travelling wave solution, the equation of motion for the evolution of the wave in a stationary wave frame has been derived and numerical solutions have been presented. Studies have been further extended, using standard Sagdeev pseudopotential method, to discover the maximum electric field amplitude sustained by these waves. The dependence of wave breaking limit on the different input parameters such as the Lorentz factor, electron temperature, spectral index of the electron velocity distribution and on the fraction and the mass ratio of the negative to positive ion species has been shown explicitly. The wavelength of these waves has been calculated for a wide range of input parameters and its dependence on aforementioned plasma parameters have been studied in detail. These results are relevant to understand particle acceleration and relativistic wave breaking phenomena in high intensity laser plasma experiments and space environments where the secondary ion species and super-thermal electrons exist.

Characteristics of plasma sheath in multi-component plasmas with three-ion species

The plasma sheath of a three ion species plasma is studied numerically, relying on the results of the experiment by Yip et al. (Phys. Plasmas 23:050703 (2016) to measure the positive ion velocities at the sheath edge. The positive ion species (Ar^+, Kr^+, and Xe^+) are assumed to be singly charged and to be characterized by the same temperature. It is shown that the sheath characteristics, viz. the particle number densities, the electrostatic potential and the space charge density profile in the sheath all depend on the Kr^+ concentration that is gradually added to the argon-xenon plasma as the third positive ion species. Also, the effect of ion-neutral collisions on the sheath properties is investigated numerically. Our results may be extended to a multi-ion plasma with more than two species of positive ions.

Circuit simulation of current loss in magnetically insulated transmission line system in 15- MA Z-pinch driver

In this paper, a transmission line circuit model of a magnetically insulated transmission line(MITL) system is developed for a 15-MA Z-pinch driver. The current loss characteristics of multi-level MITL and the ion emission due to the expansion of anode and cathode plasma in the post hole vacuum convolute(PHC) and inner-MITL region are analyzed. The spatiotemporal distribution of current loss of the outer-MITL and ion current of the PHC and inner-MITL of the 15 MA driver are obtained. The results show that the first electron emission happens at the end of constant-impedance MITL and the beginning of constant-gap MITL, and the end of constant-gap MITL firstly achieves fully magnetic insulation. Electron emission occurs at the start of load current and its duration is about 30 ns, which is short for a single pulse and has little effect on the rising edge nor peak value of the load current. The waveform of the electron flow varying with time resembles a saddle shape, whose amplitude first goes up, then comes down, and increases again. The electron flow current decreases from upstream to downstream in constant-gap MITL in space. The starting time of the loss current of the PHC is synchronized with the gap closing time. The loss current amplitude increases rapidly, reaching 4 MA at the peak load current time and 6.5 MA in the end. In the inner-MITL region, the main positive ion species are protons and oxygen 2+. At the beginning, the ion loss current of protons is larger than that of oxygen 2+, and then the protons are quickly magnetically insulated due to the small charge-to-mass ratio. The ion loss current of the inner-MITL region mainly increases after the peak load current time, and its peak value is 2.1 MA. Given the input conditions, the stack is going to deliver current of about 18 MA, the hold voltage is about 2.3 MV, and the peak load current is about 13.5 MA.

Dust ion acoustic solitons and double layers in a dusty plasma with adiabatic positive dust, adiabatic positive ion species, and Cairns-distributed electrons

The propagation of dust ion acoustic solitary waves and double layers is studied in a dusty plasma with heavy adiabatic positively charged dust grains and lighter adiabatic positive ions with Cairns-distributed electrons using the arbitrary amplitude Sagdeev pseudopotential approach. The analysis of the Sagdeev pseudopotential shows that this plasma model supports the propagation of positive solitons limited by the occurrence of the ion sonic point and negative solitons limited by the occurrence of double layers. Solitons of both polarities coexist for a range of some plasma parameters. We have shown that at a critical dust-to-ion density ratio, f, at which the third derivative of the Sagdeev pseudopotential vanishes, positive and negative solitons coexist without a soliton with finite amplitude at the acoustic speed, contrary to an earlier study. This suggests that the existence of a soliton with finite amplitude at the acoustic speed is not always a pre-requisite for the coexistence of nonlinear structures of both polarities. Positive and negative solitons coexist when the electrons are strongly nonthermal, with moderate ion thermal effects. Increasing ion thermal effect shifts the coexistence region to lower values of f, and when the ion thermal effects become important, negative solitons disappear and only positive solitons survive. The effects of different plasma parameters on the characteristics of the nonlinear structures have also been discussed in detail.

Electrostatic Ion-cyclotron Wave Excitation by a Gyrating Ion Beam in a Magnetized Plasma Containing Heavy Positive Ions

In the present paper, we have developed a theoretical model of cylindrical magnetized plasma column consisting of electrons, ions &amp; heavy positive ion species. A gyrating ion beam of potassium having radius ~1.5 cm and energy 10eV is launched through one end of the cylinder parallel to the static magnetic field and the electrostatic ion cyclotron wave is assumed to propagate nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field. The presence of heavy positive ions in the collisionless magnetized plasma decreases the critical drift for the excitation of EIC waves and hence the injected beam drives the electrostatic ion cyclotron (EIC) waves to instability through Cerenkov interaction. Therefore, the plasma is observed to contains two excited EIC wave modes; a (light positive) ion mode and a (heavy positive) ion mode. The frequencies and growth rates for both the positive unstable modes are worked out using fluid theory for the typical existing experimental parameters which are found to increase with the increase in ion beam energy and beam density. It is also observed that the unstable wave frequency and growth rate for both the modes increases with the increase in relative ion concentration of and heavy positive ions respectively. Magnetic field is also one of the important factors which influence the plasma instabilities appreciably. As the magnetic field increases, the frequency of both the ion modes increases linearly.

On the propagation of electrostatic wave modes in the inhomogeneous ionospheric plasma of Venus

The influence of gradients of number density, magnetic field, and flow velocity in a plasma on the propagation of low-frequency electrostatic waves is investigated in plasma conditions relevant for the Venusian ionosphere (vicinity of Venus terminator). For this purpose, we assume a collisionless inhomogeneous plasma model consisting of two positive ion species, hydrogen H+ and oxygen O+, as well as neutralizing electrons. Linear dispersion relations predict two types of plasma modes, namely, ion-acoustic mode and drift mode. It is found that these modes have relatively long wavelengths, extending to 10 km and frequencies on the order of ∼10−3−10−2 Hz. The characteristics of these modes show a strong dependence on the gradients of plasma parameters, and numerical analysis reveals that the coupling of these modes may lead to nonlinear instabilities. However, unstable modes occur only when the field-aligned shear flows are introduced. These results help explain the presence of low-frequency electrostatic modes and their basic features in the Venusian ionosphere, and will allow future studies to extend modeling to other planetary or even cometary conditions.

Simulation of pre-breakdown discharges in high-pressure air: II. Effect of surface protrusions

Analysis of deviations from the similarity law, observed at high and very high pressures in experiments on discharge ignition and breakdown in corona-like configurations, can serve as a useful, albeit inevitably indirect, source of information about microprotrusions on the surface of the electrodes. In this work, such analysis was performed by means of 2D numerical modelling. Conical or cylindrical protrusions on the surface of the inner electrode were studied and the kinetic scheme includes the electrons, one species of positive ions, and negative ions , , and . It is shown that the deviations from the similarity law, observed in the experiment, may indeed be attributed to enhanced ionization of air molecules in regions of amplified electric field near the microprotrusions. A qualitative agreement with the experiment in all the cases is achieved for protrusion heights of the order of 50 µm. Such values may appear rather high, however there is no other explanation in sight at present. The enhancement of the field electron emission from the surface of the negative electrode due to the amplification of the electric field on the microprotrusion was estimated and found insignificant in the range of values of the protrusion aspect ratio where the enhanced ionization in the gas phase is already appreciable.

Experimental determination of Li diffusivity in LLZO using isotopic exchange and FIB-SIMS

Current lithium ion battery technology makes use of flammable liquid electrolytes and so the development of solid ceramic electrolytes for the next generation of all-solid-state batteries can offer a safer alternative. However, the lithium diffusion behaviour in these solid electrolytes is not yet well characterised, despite the importance of this information for optimising cell performance. Similarly, the transport properties at the metal anode interface are critically important, but not well understood. We propose a methodology for obtaining lithium diffusion coefficients of bulk solid ceramic garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) electrolytes by coupling dense pellets with isotopically labelled lithium metal, followed by analysis with focused-ion-beam secondary ion mass spectrometry. We report room temperature lithium diffusivities of 2–8 × 10−13 m2 s−1 for doped LLZO using an estimate of the lithium diffusion length in good agreement with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Simultaneous detection of positive and negative secondary ion species by SIMS enables correlation of layered interfaces consisting of metallic lithium, corrosion/surface degradation products and bulk LLZO during depth profiling. Charging of the ceramic during ion sputtering is investigated and shown to have a minimal effect on the obtained lithium isotopic fractions in the current setup. Additionally, the effect of the presence of corrosion products at the surface of garnets as a result of air-exposure is investigated. This method could be extended to any Li-metal stable solid electrolyte, or with a reactive solid electrolyte coupled with a stable interlayer. As such, this work sets the basis of a methodology for further quantitative diffusion analyses for Li-conducting solid ceramic electrolytes and their interfaces with electrodes, as used in both solid-state lithium batteries and hybrid systems coupling solid and liquid electrolytes.

Head-on collisional effects of ion acoustic waves in pair-ion plasma: topological and non-topological solitons

The phenomena concerning head-on collision between the two topological and non-topological solitons are investigated in unmagnetized and collisionless plasma system consisting of weakly relativistic cold positive ( $$H^{+}$$ , $${Xe}^{+}$$ and $$K^{+}$$ ) and negative ( $$H^{-}$$ , $${SF}_{6}^{-}$$ , $$O_{2}^{-}$$ and $$C_{7}F_{14}^{-}$$ ) ion species with superthermal electrons. To do this, the two-sided Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equations are derived using extended Poincare–Lighthill–Kue method. The solutions of KdV equations are obtained by solitary ansatz technique. Productions as well as collisional effects of non-topological and topological solitons are investigated taking the experimentally obtained plasma parameters into accounts. The study reveals that the nonlinearity of non-topological solitons become more pronounced for $$K^{+}-C_{7}F_{14}^{-}$$ plasma as compared to the other ionic species plasmas. The masses and densities of negative ion species play a vital role on the potential profiles of topological solitons. A new type large amplitude wave is produced in the colliding region due to collision depending on plasma parameters.

Stopbands in fast ion-acoustic soliton propagation revisited

It was recently discovered that, in a multispecies plasma with two positive ion species (one cold and one warm adiabatic) and Boltzmann-distributed electrons, a “stopband” could occur, i.e., there was a range of velocities where no fast ion-acoustic solitons could propagate between two ranges where propagation was possible. Several extensions were subsequently investigated, including the effects of the cool ions having finite temperature and of nonthermal electron distributions. Efforts were made to estimate existence domains in plasma parameter space, often by ad hoc arguments, but the illustrations were invariably restricted to the same specific set of parameter values or their neighborhoods. In contrast, here, a systematic and structured study is given: physical arguments determine a range of compositional parameters so that a Sagdeev pseudopotential analysis establishes in a consistent way the various curves limiting the existence domains in parameter space. This is done for four models, namely, Boltzmann, nonthermal Cairns, superthermal kappa, and nonextensive Tsallis electron distributions, and for each, existence domains are plotted in the space of ion charge-to-mass ratio and inverse electron temperature, and detailed examples are presented. Contrary to reports in the literature, stopbands are shown to exist for large deviations from isothermality. However, their range in parameter space is shifted from that obtained for Boltzmann electrons. This establishes that the stopband phenomenon is robust and governed primarily by the cold and warm ion properties and the electron temperature, the form of the electron distribution having only a quantitative effect.

Insights of Hysteresis Behaviors in Perovskite Solar Cells from a Mixed Drift-Diffusion Model Coupled with Recombination

Hysteresis in perovskite solar cells is a notorious issue limiting its development in stability, reproducibility and efficiency. Ions’ migration coupled with charges’ recombination are indispensable factors to generate the hysteretic curves on the basis of experimental and theoretical calculation studies, however, the underlying physical characteristics are rarely clarified. Here, a mixed electronic-ionic drift-diffusion model combined with bulk and interfacial recombination is investigated. Positive and negative ion species could drift to and accumulate at interfaces between the perovskite/transport layers, influencing internal electric potential profiles and delaying the charges’ ejection to the transport layers. The charges might recombine spontaneously or trap-assisted, reducing the total amount of electrons and holes collected in the external circuit, leading to a diminished photocurrent. Moreover, our calculations indicate that an appropriate measurement protocol is really essential to evaluate the device performance precisely and to suppress J–V hysteresis. Meanwhile, a negligible hysteretic loop could be obtained by balancing the material properties of the transport layers and restraining the ions mobility in the perovskite layer.

Effect of DC Biased Voltage and Ion Temperature on Bounded Ion-Ion Plasma

A one dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation method has been employed to study the effect of DC voltage and ion temperature on the properties of ion-ion plasma bounded by two symmetrical but oppositely biased electrodes. It is assumed that the ion-ion plasma is collisionless and both the positive and negative ion species have the same mass, temperature, and degree of ionization. Simulation results show that the formation of sheath and presheath regions and fluctuation of plasma parameters in that region are affected by the biasing voltage and ion temperature. It was found that the magnitude of the electrostatic electric field at the vicinity of biasing electrodes was affected by the biasing voltage and ion temperature as well. This strong electric field close to the electrodes further prevents the flow of charged particles towards the electrodes. The presence of a non-zero electric field at the quasineutral region suggests a presheath region similar to the electron-ion plasma. In the quasineutral region, the density of ions increased with the increase in biasing voltage and decreased with the increase in temperature of isothermal ions. Furthermore, the phase space diagrams for the ions were obtained which indicated different regions of the plasma. The positive ions acquire negative velocity towards the negatively biased electrode and the negative ions acquire positive velocity towards the positively biased electrode.

Effect of presheath electron temperature on magnetized plasma-wall transition and wall sputtering by plasma having two species of positive ions

In this work, the kinetic simulation method has been employed to study the effect of presheath electron temperature on plasma-wall interaction mechanism and its consequence on wall sputtering. Multi-component plasma interacts with tungsten (W) surface through non-neutral plasma sheath formed near the Plasma Facing Material (PFM). It is assumed that two ion species have different temperatures with same degree of ionization. We have examined the ion velocity distributions in front of the material wall. The thermal velocity of electron at the presheath-sheath interface determines the dimension of Debye sheath and hence energy flow towards the wall. The obtained results of the present work conclude that the angle of incidence at the wall and its sputtering rate is highly affected by electron temperature at the presheath-sheath boundary.

Analyzing Positive Reactant Ions in High Kinetic Energy Ion Mobility Spectrometry (HiKE-IMS) by HiKE-IMS-MS.

In contrast to classical ion mobility spectrometers (IMS) operating at ambient pressure, the high kinetic energy ion mobility spectrometer (HiKE-IMS) is operated at reduced pressures between 10-40 mbar. In HiKE-IMS, ions are generated in a reaction region before they are separated in a drift region. Due to the operation at reduced pressure, it is possible to reach high reduced electric field strengths up to 120 Td in both the reaction as well as drift region, resulting in a pronounced decrease in chemical cross sensitivities and a significant enhancement of the dynamic range. Until now though, only limited knowledge about the ionization pathways in HiKE-IMS is available. Typically, proton bound water clusters, H+(H2O)n, are the most abundant positive reactant ion species in classical IMS with atmospheric chemical ionization sources. However, at reduced pressure and increased effective ion temperature, the reactant ion population significantly changes. As the ionization efficiency of analyte molecules in HiKE-IMS strongly depends on the reactant ion population, a detailed knowledge of the reactant ion population generated in HiKE-IMS is essential. Here, we present a coupling stage of the HiKE-IMS to a mass spectrometer enabling the identification of ion species and the investigation of ion molecule reactions prevailing in HiKE-IMS. In the present study, the HiKE-IMS-MS is used to identify positive reactant ion populations in both, purified air and nitrogen, respectively. The experimental data suggest the generation of systems of clustered primary ions (H+(H2O)n, NO+(H2O)m, and O2+(H2O)p), which most probably serve as reactant ions. Their relative abundances highly depend on the reduced electric field strength in the reaction region. Furthermore, their effective mobilities are studied as a function of the reduced electric field strength in the drift region.

Kinetic sheath in presence of multiple positive ions, negative ions, and particle wall emission

The region between a Maxwellian plasma source and a floating or current-carrying surface is described by a static, one-dimensional collisionless kinetic sheath model. In the plasma source, electrons, negative ions, and several positive ion species with different temperatures can be included. The surface (wall) can emit electrons and/or negative ions. When the flux of surface-emitted negative ions and/or electrons reaches a critical value, the sheath becomes space-charge saturated, which leads to the formation of a virtual cathode in front of the emitting wall and sets the maximum current density that can be transported from the surface to the plasma. The analytical results are benchmarked against a particle-in-cell code.