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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Non-equilibrium Microwave Plasma for Efficient High Temperature Chemistry
Published on: August 1, 2017
Evidence of relaxation and spontaneous transition to a high-confinement state in high-beta steady-state plasmas
H Y Guo1, A L Hoffman, L C Steinhauer
1Redmond Plasma Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Abstract:
Evidence of relaxation has appeared, for the first time, in the extremely high-beta, steady-state field-reversed configuration plasma states driven by rotating magnetic fields (RMF) in the translation, confinement, and sustainment experiment. The plasma self-organizes into a near-force-free state in the vicinity of the magnetic axis, with significant improvement in confinement. Associated with this change in magnetic topology is the appearance of an axial RMF component; this would, in turn, generate a current drive in the poloidal direction, thus sustaining the magnetic helicity. A newly developed two-dimensional "equilibrium-lite" model is employed to analyze the magnetic properties of the final high-confinement state, and shows a large q and a significant magnetic shear in the core.
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