Source Type: Journal
Physics of Hot Plasmas, Oliver & Boyd; Edinburgh, Scotl; 28 July 1968 through 16 August 1968

PRODUCTION AND CONTAINMENT OF HIGH DENSITY PLASMAS

NIBLETT GBF

Abstract

Research on the production and containment of high density plasmas has had an important part to play in plasma phisics. This is to be expected, since much of the interest in laboratory plasmas has sprung from the attempt to generate controlled thermonuclear reactions among the light elements, and it is the spectacular uncontrolled release of energy at high density in the H-bomb that has given hope that controlled fusion power is possible. This paper considers briefly those characteristics of high density plasmashich make them of particular interest, and outline some of the physical problems associated with their production and containment. In this article high density plasma means a fully ionized gas with density in excess of about 10//1//6 particules/cu cm and with temperature in excess of some 10//6 K. Such a plasma is, generally speaking, collision-dominated and behaves in most respects as a fluid rather than as an assembly of independent particles.

Index Keywords

Engineering controlled terms: CONFINEMENT; GASES, DENSITY MEASUREMENT; HIGH DENSITY PLASMAS; ITK; PLASMAS, GENERATORS