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Reduction of plasma density in the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductance experiment by using a helicon
Aaron C Hossack1, Taylor Firman, Thomas R Jarboe
1Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Abstract:
A helicon based pre-ionization source has been developed and installed on the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductance (HIT-SI) spheromak. The source initiates plasma breakdown by injecting impurity-free, unmagnetized plasma into the HIT-SI confinement volume. Typical helium spheromaks have electron density reduced from (2-3) × 10(19) m(-3) to 1 × 10(19) m(-3). Deuterium spheromak formation is possible with density as low as 2 × 10(18) m(-3). The source also enables HIT-SI to be operated with only one helicity injector at injector frequencies above 14.5 kHz. A theory explaining the physical mechanism driving the reduction of breakdown density is presented.
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