MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF RF PLASMA AT LOW PRESSURES FOR CYLINDRIC VACUUM CHAMBER WITH CHARGED SPECIMAN

Для моделирования процессов в ВЧ-плазме пониженного давления с продувом газа разработана гибридная математическая модель при числах Кнудсена - для несущего газа. Модель включает начально-краевую задачу для кинетического уравнения Больцмана, описывающего функцию распределения несущего нейтрального газа, краевые задачи для уравнения неразрывности электронной, ионной и метастабильной компонент, уравнения сохранения энергии электронов, для ВЧ-уравнений Максвелла в форме телеграфных уравнений и уравнения Пуассона для потенциальной составляющей поля. Приводятся результаты расчета электрической напряженности, концентрации электронов, ионов и метастабилей, потенциальной составляющей электромагнитного поля в цилиндрической вакуумной камере. A hybrid mathematical model for the Knudsen numbers - for the carrier gas has been developed to simulate processes in a low pressure RF plasma with gas flow. The model includes an initial boundary value problem for the kinetic Boltzmann equation describing the distribution function of the carrier neutral gas, boundary value problems for the continuity equation of the electronic, ionic and metastable components, the electron energy conservation equations, for Maxwell’s RF equations in the form of telegraphic equations and the Poisson equation for the potential part of field. The results of the calculation of the electric intensity, the concentration of electrons, iones and metastables, the potential component of the electromagnetic field in a cylindrical vacuum chamber are presented.

Short Communication: Mechanism and Prevention of Irreversible Trapping of Atmospheric He During Mineral Crushing

A pervasive challenge in noble gas geochemistry is to ensure that analytical techniques do not modify the composition of the noble gases in the samples. Noble gases are present in the atmosphere and are used in a number of manufacturing procedures and by laboratory equipment. Of particular concern is the introduction of atmospheric or laboratory noble gases to samples during preparation before samples are placed in a vacuum chamber for analysis. Recent work has shown the potential for contamination of crushed samples with air-derived He that is not released by placing the samples under vacuum at low temperature. Using pure He gas as a tracer, we show that the act of crushing samples to a fine powder itself can introduce He contamination, but that this is easily avoided by crushing under liquid or in an inert atmosphere. Because the He is trapped during crushing, the same concern does not extend to samples that are naturally fine-grained when collected. The degree of He contamination even from crushing samples to sizes smaller than typically used for geochronology is insignificant for samples at least 1 Ma and with more than 1 ppm U when the guidelines outlined here are followed.

Калибровка нейтронных счетчиков токамака Глобус-М2

The paper discusses the results of the calibration of two corona neutron counters used to measure the total neutron yield from the plasma of the Globus-M2 tokamak. The calibration was carried out in the experimental hall of the Globus-M2 facility using an AmBe source. During the calibration, the source moved uniformly around the central solenoid in the equatorial plane of the vacuum chamber, and one of the detectors was gradually moved away from the tokamak along a line with a constant toroidal angle. The values of the calibration coefficient obtained depending on the distance of the detector from the tokamak axis are presented. The calibration technique made it possible to separate in the detector signal the contributions from the direct neutron flux emitted by the plasma and from the flux of neutrons scattered on the elements of the experimental hall.

Vacuum System Optimization for EAST Neutral Beam Injector

The neutral beam injector (NBI) generates a high-energy ion beam and neutralizes it, and then relies on drift transmission to inject the formed neutral beam into the fusion plasma to increase the plasma temperature and drive the plasma current. In order to better cooperate with the Experimental Advanced Superconductive Tokamak (EAST), part of the Chinese major national scientific and technological infrastructure, in carrying out long-pulse high-parameter physics experiments of 400 s and above, this paper considers the optimization of the current design and operation of the NBI beam line with a pulse width of 100 s. Based on an upgraded and optimized NBI vacuum chamber and the structure of the beam-line components, the gas-source characteristics under the layout design of the NBI system are analyzed and an NBI vacuum system that meets relevant needs is designed. Using Molflow software to simulate the transport process of gas molecules in the vacuum chamber, the pressure gradient in the vacuum chamber and the heat-load distribution of the low-temperature condensation surface are obtained. The results show that when the NBI system is dynamically balanced, the pressure of each vacuum chamber section is lower than the set value, thus meeting the performance requirements for the NBI vacuum system and providing a basis for subsequent implementation of the NBI vacuum system upgrade using engineering.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON AIR FLOW FIELD CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCTION METERING DEVICE

The vacuum seed metering device absorbs seeds by using the negative pressure generated by vacuum air flow. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the variation law of pyrolysis gas flow field to improve its seed metering performance. In this paper, the common disc and composite disc were selected as the research objects and tested on the indoor test-bed. The negative pressure was measured by U-type barometer, and the effects of fan speed, suction hole size, seed hole structure and air chamber thickness on the air flow field were studied. Firstly, the influence of fan rotation frequency on vacuum chamber negative pressure is studied, and the variation law of negative pressure in vacuum chamber and fan port of common disc and composite disc under the same frequency is compared. Secondly, the suction holes in the vacuum chamber were numbered, the negative pressure distribution of the suction holes was measured, and the influence of the number and diameter of the suction holes on the negative pressure of the vacuum chamber was studied. Finally, the negative pressure was measured at the distance of 0 to 10 mm from the suction hole to study the effect of seed hole structure on the air flow field. Moreover, increase the additional thickness of the vacuum chamber from 0 to 40 mm to study the influence of the chamber thickness on the distribution of the gas flow field. This paper makes a comprehensive experimental analysis on the influencing factors of air flow field of air suction seed metering device, necessary for future design of air suction seed metering device.

Evaluation of the nonlinear surface resistance of REBCO coated conductors for their use in the FCC-hh beam screen

To assess the feasibility of using high-temperature superconductors for the beam screens of future circular colliders, we have undertaken a study of the power dependence of the microwave surface resistance in state-of-the-art REBCO coated conductors at about 8GHz and 50K. We have employed a dielectric resonator to produce radio-frequency electromagnetic fields on the surface of the coated conductors having amplitudes similar to those generated by proton bunches circulating in the vacuum chamber of the proposed hadron-hadron Future Circular Collider at CERN. We show that surface resistances in REBCO coated conductors without artificial pinning centers are more affected by a radio-frequency magnetic field than those containing nano-inclusions. Despite that, at 8GHz, 50K, and 9T, most REBCO coated conductors studied outperform copper in terms of surface resistance, with the best sample having a 2.3mΩ surface resistance while being subject to an RF field 2.5 times stronger than that in the FCC-hh. We also extrapolate the measured data to 16T and 1GHz, the actual FCC-hh dipole magnetic field, and mid beam frequency spectrum, demonstrating the possibility of lowering the surface resistance of the vacuum chamber by up to two orders of magnitude compared to copper. Further, we discuss the correlation between the time structure of the electromagnetic fields provided by vector network analyzers compared to the proton bunches' time structure in the collider and present the effect of low alternating magnetic fields on vortex displacement and the possibility of demagnetization of superconducting samples.

Vacuum Leak Detection Method Using Index Regression and Correction for Semiconductor Equipment in a Vacuum Chamber

In semiconductor manufacturing, fault detection is an important method for monitoring equipment condition and examining the potential causes of a fault. Vacuum leakage is considered one of the major faults that can occur in semiconductor processing. An unnecessary O2 and N2 mixture, a major component of the atmosphere, creates unexpected process results and hence drops in yield. Vacuum leak detection systems that are currently available in the vacuum industry are based on helium mass spectrometers. They are used for detecting the vacuum leakage at the sole isolation condition where the chamber is fully pumped but cannot be used for in situ detection while the process is ongoing in the chamber. In this article, a chamber vacuum leak detection method named Index Regression and Correction (IRC) is presented, utilizing common data which were gathered during normal chamber operation. This method was developed by analyzing a simple list of data, such as pressure, the temperature of the chamber body, and the position of the auto pressure control (APC), to detect any leakages in the vacuum chamber. The proposed method was experimentally verified and the results showed a high accuracy of up to 97% when a vacuum leak was initiated in the chamber. The proposed method is expected to improve the process yield of the chamber by detecting even small vacuum leakages at very early stages of the process.

Investigation and diagnostics of plasma flows in a pulsed plasma accelerator for experimental modelling of processes in tokamaks

This paper presents the experimental results on electron, ion temperatures and densities in a pulsed plasma accelerator. The values of electron densities and temperatures were computed using the methods of relative intensities of Hα and Hβ lines, Hβ Stark broadening, and the technique is based on Faraday cup beam current measurements. In this work, a linear optical spectrometer S-100 was used to acquire the emission spectra of hydrogen and air plasmas. In this spectrum, there are some lines due to Fe, Cu, N2, O2, and H2. The series of visible lines in the hydrogen atom spectrum are named the Balmer series. The spectral emissions of iron and copper occur throughout the gas breakdown and ignition of an arc discharge, during the erosion and sputtering of materials. The vacuum chamber and coaxial electrodes were made. The electron temperatures and densities in a pulsed plasma accelerator, measured via relative intensities of spectral lines and Stark broadening, at a charging voltage of a capacitor bank of 3 kV and a working gas pressure in a vacuum chamber of 40 mTorr, were 2.6 eV and 1.66 · 1016 cm−3 for hydrogen plasma. These results were compared with the Faraday cup beam current measurements. However, no match was found. Considering and analyzing this distinction, we concluded that the spectral method of plasma diagnostics provides more accurate results than electrical measurement. The theory of probe measurements can give approximate results in a moving plasma.

LANGMUIR PROBE TO CHARACTERIZE THE DUST PLASMA OF ALUMINUM OXIDE (AL2O3) PRODUCED BY DC PLASMA SYSTEM

In this research, we have conducted an experimental study of the dusty plasma to the Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) dust material with a grain radius of (0.2) µm to (0.6) µm. In the experiment, we use air in the vacuum chamber system under different low pressure (0.1-0.8) Torr. The results have showed that the existence of dust particles in air plasma is equal to the Paschen minimum which is (0.4) Torr with Al2O3 dusty and without dust. The effect of Al2O3 dust particles on the plasma characteristics like floating potential (Vf), plasma potential (Vp), electron saturation current (Ies), temperature of the electron (Te), density of electron (ne) and density of ion (ni) of the DC system that can be calculated in the glow-discharge region. Parameter measurements are taken by four cylindrical probes which are diagnosed at a distance of (40) mm from the cathode diameter, the Paschen minimum at a pressure of (0.4) Torr. The plasma potential and the probe's floating voltage become more negative when dust is immersed in the plasma region. The features of these parameters show that the current discharge decreases while the discharge voltage increases when the aluminum oxide dust particles that are incorporated. And vice versa was in the absence of dust. Electron density increases in the existence of dust particles which causes the electron temperature to decrease.