A laboratory platform for studying rotational dust flows in a plasma crystal irradiated by a 10 keV electron beam.

A novel laboratory platform has been designed and built for the irradiation of a plasma crystal (PC) with an electron beam (e-beam) having an energy around 10 keV and a current of tens of milliamperes. The pulsed e-beam collimated to a few millimeter-size spot is aimed at a crystal made of dust particles levitated in a radio-frequency (RF) plasma. The platform consists of three vacuum chambers connected in-line, each with different utility: one for generating free electrons in a pulsed hollow-anode Penning discharge, another for the extraction and acceleration of electrons at [Formula: see text] kV and for focusing the e-beam in the magnetic field of a pair of circular coils, and the last one for producing PCs above a RF-driven electrode. The main challenge is to obtain both a stable e-beam and PC by insuring appropriate gas pressures, given that the e-beam is formed in high vacuum ([Formula: see text] Torr), while the PC is produced at much higher pressures ([Formula: see text] Torr). The main diagnostics include a high speed camera, a Faraday cup and a Langmuir probe. Two applications concerned with the creation of a pair of dust flow vortices and the rotation of a PC by the drag force of the e-beam acting on the strongly coupled dust particles are presented. The dust flow can become turbulent as demonstrated by the energy spectrum, featuring vortices at different space scales.

Rotation of a strongly coupled dust cluster in plasma by the torque of an electron beam.

A 1-mm-size cluster composed of 10 dust particles immersed in plasma is rotated by the torque of a pulsed electron beam with energy in the range 8-12 keV. The dust particles are electrically charged spheres with radius 5.9 µm and are levitated in the plasma sheath, forming a round, planar, Coulomb-coupled cluster. The electron beam irradiates the dust cluster passing slightly off its center, and sets the particles in motion by the action of the electron drag force. The total torque at 12 keV is 4.9±0.2×10^{-11} Nm at an angular speed 1.41±0.05 rad s^{-1}. The main dynamical features of the cluster such as intershell rotation and itinerancy of the dust particles inside the cluster are simulated by using a molecular dynamics code.

RADIOLOGICAL SAFETY ASSESSMENT FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL AREA OF A HYPER-INTENSE LASER WITH PEAK-POWER OF 1PW-CETAL.

Ultra-high intensity lasers in use are connected with ionizing radiation sources that raise a real concern in relation to installations, personnel, population and environment protection. The shielding of target areas in these facilities has to be evaluated from the conceptual stage of the building design. The sizing of the protective concrete walls was determined using computer codes such as Fluka. For the experiments to be carried out in the facility of the Center for Advanced Laser Technologies (CETAL), both proton beams with the energy of 100 MeV and electron beams with 300 MeV energy were considered to calculate the dimensions of structural shielding and to establish technical solutions fulfilling the radiation protection constraints imposed by the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control.

Stepped heating procedure for experimental SAR evaluation of ferrofluids.

The aim of this paper is to present a reliable procedure for the experimental determination of the specific absorption rate (SAR) in case of superparamagnetic Fe oxide nanoparticles dispersed in liquid environments. It is based on the acquisition of consecutive steps of time-temperature dependences along of both heating and cooling processes. Linear fitting of these recorded steps provides the heating and cooling speeds at different temperatures, which finally allow the determination of the heating profile in adiabatic-like conditions over a broad temperature range. The presented methodology represents on one hand, a useful alternative tool for the experimental evaluation of the heating capability of nanoparticulate systems for magnetic hyperthermia applications and on the other hand, gives support for a more accurate modeling of bio-heat transfer phenomena.

Experimental demonstration of Martian soil simulant removal from a surface using a pulsed plasma jet.

A plasma jet produced in a small coaxial plasma gun operated at voltages up to 2 kV and working in pure carbon dioxide (CO2) at a few Torr is used to remove Martian soil simulant from a surface. A capacitor with 0.5 mF is charged up from a high voltage source and supplies the power to the coaxial electrodes. The muzzle of the coaxial plasma gun is placed at a few millimeters near the dusty surface and the jet is fired parallel with the surface. Removal of dust is imaged in real time with a high speed camera. Mars regolith simulant JSC-Mars-1A with particle sizes up to 5 mm is used on different types of surfaces made of aluminium, cotton fabric, polyethylene, cardboard, and phenolic.

Collimated electron beam accelerated at 12 kV from a Penning discharge.

A pulsed electron beam accelerated at 12 kV with a duration of 40 µs per pulse is obtained from a Penning discharge with a hollow anode and two cathodes. The electrons are extracted through a hole in one of the cathodes and focused by a pair of coils. The electron beam has a diameter of a few mm in the cross section, while the beam current reaches peak values of 400 mA, depending on the magnetic field inside the focussing coils. This relatively inexpensive and compact device is suitable for the irradiation of small material samples placed in high vacuum.

Experimental demonstration of plasma-drag acceleration of a dust cloud to hypervelocities.

Simultaneous acceleration of hundreds of dust particles to hypervelocities by collimated plasma flows ejected from a coaxial gun is demonstrated. Graphite and diamond grains with radii between 5 and 30 microm, and flying at speeds up to 3.7 km/s, have been recorded with a high-speed camera. The observations agree well with a model for plasma-drag acceleration of microparticles much larger than the plasma screening length.

Experimental real-time phase synchronization of a paced chaotic plasma discharge.

Experimental phase synchronization of chaos in a plasma discharge is studied using a phase variable lift technique (i.e., phase points separated by 2pi are not considered as the same). Real-time observation of synchronized and unsynchronized states is made possible through a real-time sampling procedure. Parameter space regions of synchronization and unsynchronization are identified, and a set of equations is suggested to model the real plasma circuit.