A new multi-line cusp magnetic field plasma device (MPD) with variable magnetic field

A new multi-line cusp magnetic field plasma device consisting of electromagnets with core material has been constructed with a capability to experimentally control the relative volume fractions of magnetized to unmagnetized plasma volume as well as accurate control on the gradient length scales of mean density and temperature profiles. Argon plasma has been produced using a hot tungsten cathode over a wide range of pressures 5 × 10^-5 -1 × 10^-3 mbar, achieving plasma densities ranging from 10⁹ to 10¹¹ cm^-3 and the electron temperature in the range 1-8 eV. The radial profiles of plasma parameters measured along the non-cusp region (in between two consecutive magnets) show a finite region with uniform and quiescent plasma, where the magnetic field is very low such that the ions are unmagnetized. Beyond that region, both plasma species are magnetized and the profiles show gradients both in temperature and density. The electrostatic fluctuation measured using a Langmuir probe radially along the non-cusp region shows less than 1% (δI_isat/I_isat < 1%). The plasma thus produced will be used to study new and hitherto unexplored physics parameter space relevant to both laboratory multi-scale plasmas and astrophysical plasmas.