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Ordonez, C. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Ordonez, C. A..

15 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Artificially structured boundary plasma trap

A computer simulation is presented of single-species non-neutral plasma confinement using an artificially structured boundary. The artificially structured boundary produces a spatially periodic static electromagnetic field along the plasma periphery such that the spatial period of the applied field is much smaller than the dimensions of the confined plasma. The simulated non-neutral plasma self-consistently produces an electrostatic potential energy well for oppositely signed charged particles. The results support the prospect of developing plasma space-charge based confinement, with an unmagnetized plasma of one species of charged particles confined by an electric field produced by an edge-confined plasma of a second species of charged particles. The Warp particle-in-cell code is used for the simulations.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation of plasma fueling using magnetic plasma expulsion

The possibility of fueling a magnetically confined plasma using particle sources located inside of the plasma is studied by computer simulation. Magnetic plasma expulsion [R. E. Phillips and C. A. Ordonez, Phys. Plasmas 25, 012508 (2018)] would serve to keep the magnetically confined plasma away from the particle sources without adversely affecting plasma confinement. The simulations show how charged particles can be injected into a plasma by using particle sources located directly between two current-carrying wires that create a magnetic expulsion field. Plasma fueling with the average energy of injected particles greater than the average energy of plasma particles may serve for heating the plasma. Also, plasma fueling with positive and negative particles injected at different rates may serve for changing the neutrality of the plasma. Conditions for plasma fueling are investigated using a classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation. Two types of particle sources are considered, and the fraction of emitted particles that reach (and fuel) the magnetically confined plasma is evaluated for each.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Electrostatic equilibria of non-neutral plasmas confined in a Penning trap with axially varying magnetic field

A procedure for computing the electrostatic equilibria of non-neutral plasmas in a Penning trap with a nonuniform magnetic field by solving Poisson's equation using an iterative method is described. Plasma equilibria in a model Penning trap with high and low field regions are computed. The plasma is assumed to follow the Boltzmann density distribution along magnetic field lines. Correspondence with previous investigations examining similar configurations analytically and using particle-in-cell simulations is found. The relationship between the plasma density in low and high field regions is examined for various plasma temperatures, densities, magnetic mirror ratios, and plasma and electrode radii. An analytical description of the radial density profile in the high field region is developed and compared with the computed equilibria. A concept is described for cooling a positron plasma with laser-cooled ions trapped axially within a high magnetic field region, while antiprotons are trapped axially separated from the laser-cooled ions within a low field region, and the positron plasma extends to both regions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Magnetic plasma expulsion

Magnetic confinement of plasmas is widely studied for restricting a plasma's extent to a given region. Presented is one scheme for what is referred to as magnetic plasma expulsion, which would prevent the plasma from entering a given region. Magnetic plasma expulsion techniques may allow instrumentation access to the interiors of plasmas. Magnetic plasma expulsion techniques may also make alternative approaches for magnetic plasma confinement possible. Particle-in-cell simulation with the Warp code is used to study magnetic plasma expulsion. Some conditions for achieving magnetic plasma expulsion are reported.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Charged particle reflection by a planar artificially structured boundary with electrostatic plugging

A classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation is used to investigate an artificially structured boundary for confinement and control of charged particles. The artificially structured boundary considered here incorporates a planar sequence of conducting wires, where adjacent wires carry current in opposite directions. Such a configuration creates a sequence of magnetic cusps and was studied previously [C. A. Ordonez, J. Appl. Phys. 106, 024905 (2009)]. The effect of introducing a sequence of electrodes for electrostatic plugging of the cusps is investigated. The results of the simulations are used to identify regions of parameter space in which particle losses through the cusps may be negligible in the single particle limit. A trap based on a cylindrical generalization of the artificially structured boundary presented here may lead to a method for confining non-neutral and partially neutralized plasmas along the edge, such that the bulk of a confined plasma is effectively free of externally applied electromagnetic fields.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Giant increase in cross-magnetic-field transport rate as an electron-positron plasma cools

An electron-positron plasma in thermal equilibrium within a uniform magnetic field is studied here using a classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation. The cross-magnetic-field single-particle diffusion coefficient is evaluated as a function of the magnetic field strength and plasma temperature. The transport rate is found to increase by many orders of magnitude as the plasma temperature is lowered, for a magnetic field strength of 1 T. The sharp dependence on temperature is due to electrons and positrons becoming temporarily correlated and drifting across the magnetic field before dissociating.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Aperture-based antihydrogen gravity experiment: Parallel plate geometry

An analytical model and a Monte Carlo simulation are presented of an experiment that could be used to determine the direction of the acceleration of antihydrogen due to gravity. The experiment would rely on methods developed by existing antihydrogen research collaborations. The configuration consists of two circular, parallel plates that have an axis of symmetry directed away from the center of the earth. The plates are separated by a small vertical distance, and include one or more pairs of circular barriers that protrude from the upper and lower plates, thereby forming an aperture between the plates. Antihydrogen annihilations that occur just beyond each barrier, within a “shadow” region, are asymmetric on the upper plate relative to the lower plate. The probability for such annihilations is determined for a point, line and spheroidal source of antihydrogen. The production of 100,000 antiatoms is predicted to be necessary for the aperture-based experiment to indicate the direction of free fall acceleration of antimatter, provided that antihydrogen is produced within a sufficiently small antiproton plasma at a temperature of 4 K.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electrostatic storage ring with focusing provided by the space charge of an electron plasma

Electrostatic storage rings are used for a variety of atomic physics studies. An advantage of electrostatic storage rings is that heavy ions can be confined. An electrostatic storage ring that employs the space charge of an electron plasma for focusing is described. An additional advantage of the present concept is that slow ions, or even a stationary ion plasma, can be confined. The concept employs an artificially structured boundary, which is defined at present as one that produces a spatially periodic static field such that the spatial period and range of the field are much smaller than the dimensions of a plasma or charged-particle beam that is confined by the field. An artificially structured boundary is used to confine a non-neutral electron plasma along the storage ring. The electron plasma would be effectively unmagnetized, except near an outer boundary where the confining electromagnetic field would reside. The electron plasma produces a radially inward electric field, which focuses the ion beam. Self-consistently computed radial beam profiles are reported.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Accelerator-based fusion with a low temperature target

Neutron generators are in use in a number of scientific and commercial endeavors. They function by triggering fusion reactions between accelerated ions (usually deuterons) and a stationary cold target (e.g., containing tritium). This setup has the potential to generate energy. It has been shown that if the energy transfer between injected ions and target electrons is sufficiently small, net energy gain can be achieved. Three possible avenues are: (a) a hot target with high electron temperature, (b) a cold non-neutral target with an electron deficiency, or (c) a cold target with a high Fermi energy. A study of the third possibility is reported in light of recent research that points to a new phase of hydrogen, which is hypothesized to be related to metallic hydrogen. As such, the target is considered to be composed of nuclei and delocalized electrons. The electrons are treated as conduction electrons, with the average minimum excitation energy being approximately equal to 40% of the Fermi energy. The Fermi energy is directly related to the electron density. Preliminary results indicate that if the claimed electron densities in the new phase of hydrogen were achieved in a target, the energy transfer to electrons would be small enough to allow net energy gain.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Classical trajectory Monte Carlo code for simulating ion beam focusing or defocusing with magnetic elements modeled as current loops or current lines

A computational tool is described that can be used for designing magnetic focusing or defocusing systems. A fully three-dimensional classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulation has been developed. Ion trajectories are simulated in the presence of magnetic elements that can be modeled as any combination of current loops and current lines. Each current loop or line may be located anywhere in the system and oriented along any of the three coordinate axes. The configuration need not be axisymmetric. The solutions are obtained using normalized parameters, which can be used for easily scaling the results. Examples are provided of the utility of the code.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗