Plasma, Volume 4, Issue 3 (September 2021) – 9 articles

This paper is a sequel to the 1998 review paper “Scientific status of the Dense Plasma Focus” with 16 authors belonging to 16 nations, whose initiative led to the establishment of the International Center for Dense Magnetized Plasmas (ICDMP) in the year 2000. Its focus is on understanding the principal defining characteristic features of the plasma focus in the light of the developments that have taken place in the last 20 years, in terms of new facilities, diagnostics, models, and insights. Although it is too soon to proclaim with certainty what the plasma focus phenomenon is, the results available to date conclusively indicate what it is demonstrably not. The review looks at the experimental data, cross-correlated across multiple diagnostics and multiple devices, to delineate the contours of an emerging narrative that is fascinatingly different from the standard narrative, which has guided the consensus in the plasma focus community for several decades, without invalidating it. It raises a question mark over the Fundamental Premise of Controlled Fusion Research, namely, that any fusion reaction having the character of a beam-target process must necessarily be more inefficient than a thermonuclear process with a confined thermal plasma at a suitably high temperature. Open questions that need attention of researchers are highlighted. A future course of action is suggested that individual plasma focus laboratories could adopt in order to positively influence the future growth of research in this field, to the general benefit of not only the controlled fusion research community but also the world at large. Full article

Ion holes refer to the phase-space structures where the trapped ion density is lower at the center than at the rim. These structures are commonly observed in collisionless plasmas, such as the Earth’s magnetosphere. This paper investigates the role of multiple parameters in the generation and structure of ion holes. We find that the ion-to-electron temperature ratio and the background plasma distribution function of the species play a pivotal role in determining the physical plausibility of ion holes. It is found that the range of width and amplitude that defines the existence of ion holes splits into two separate domains as the ion temperature exceeds that of the electrons. Additionally, the present study reveals that the ion holes formed in a plasma with ion temperature higher than that of the electrons have a hump at its center. Full article

A theoretical investigation has been carried out to examine the ion-acoustic shock waves (IASHWs) in a magnetized degenerate quantum plasma system containing inertialess ultra-relativistically degenerate electrons, and inertial non-relativistic positively charged heavy and light ions. The Burgers equation is derived by employing the reductive perturbation method. It can be seen that under the consideration of non-relativistic positively charged heavy and light ions, the plasma model only supports the positive electrostatic shock structure. It is also observed that the charge state and number density of the non-relativistic heavy and light ions enhance the amplitude of IASHWs, and the steepness of the shock profile is decreased with ion kinematic viscosity. The findings of our present investigation will be helpful in understanding the nonlinear propagation of IASHWs in white dwarfs and neutron stars. Full article

A strongly coupled quantum dusty plasma consisting of electrons and dust with the ions in the background is considered when there is streaming of electrons. It is observed that the streaming gives rise to both the slow and fast modes of propagation. The nonlinear mode is then analyzed by the reductive perturbation approach, resulting in the KdV-equation. In the critical situation where non-linearity vanishes, the modified scaling results in the MKdV equation. It is observed that both the KdV and MKdV equations possess quasi-solitary wave solution, which not only has the character of a soliton but also has a periodic nature. Such types of solitons are nowadays called nanopteron solitons and are expressed in terms of cnoidal-type elliptic functions. Full article

The negative air ions (NAI) are used for the removal of particles or droplets from the air. In this study, three types of piezoelectric cold plasma generators (PCPG), in combination with cylindrical electrostatic ion filters, are applied for NAI production. The high voltage on the filter cylinder is induced by the electric field from the piezoelectric transformer of the PCPG. To achieve the dc bias, the cylinder of the electrostatic filter is connected to the ground over ultrafast switching diodes. The ion concentrations are measured for different airflows, PCPG powers, and electrostatic filter geometries. The NAI concentration in the order of magnitude of 10${}^7$ cm${}^{-3}$, and a negative-to-positive ion concentration ratio of over 200 is reached. The production of ozone is evaluated and the PCPG configuration with a minimum ozone production rate is proposed. The ozone concentration below 60 ppb is reached in the airflow of 90 m${}^3$/h. Full article

This study investigates the suitability of Piezoelectric Direct Discharge Plasma as a tool for wetting behaviour modification of PEEK and dentin, and compares the results of this method with low-pressure plasma treatment and phosphoric acid etching. Static contact angle measurements were made, roughness was assessed using tactile measurement, and AFM and SEM images were taken. An optimum operating distance of ≤15 mm was determined for the plasma based on the water contact angle. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that despite only a fraction of the power, the PDD plasma also produces hydrophilic and nanostructured PEEK surfaces with a 38° water contact angle in the same plasma time. In contrast, the gold standard of dental surface modification of dentin—phosphoric acid etching—showed no measurable contact angle due to the exposed dentin tubules. Treatment with PDD plasma reduces the water contact angle of dentin from 65° to 43° and is not negative affected by water. Wet, PDD plasma-treated dentin samples show a water contact angle of only 26.5°. The dentin tubules exposed by chemical etching led to a significantly increased roughness. No comparable effect could be demonstrated for plasma treatment on dentin, but based on the contact angle measurements, a chemically strongly activated surface with strongly polar interaction behaviour can be assumed. The additional use of the PDD plasma technique to improve wetting could therefore have a positive effect on the adhesive bond between human dentin and polymeric dental restorative materials or, depending on the adhesive system, replace the etching process altogether. Full article

A novel piezoelectric plasma generator developed by TDK Electronics GmbH & Co. OG, the CeraPlas^®, was investigated for its feasibility as a charger for aerosol particles. The CeraPlas^® charger was directly compared to a commercially available bipolar X-ray charger regarding its efficiency of charging atomized NaCl particles in a size range from 30 nm to 100 nm. First results show the ability of the CeraPlas^® to perform bipolar aerosol charging with high reproducibility, and measurements of the charge distribution in the $N_{i}t$ product yielded about 10¹² m⁻³ s for our experimental charging configuration. Unwanted generation of ozone was suppressed by a dedicated charging chamber and operation in N₂ atmosphere. Full article

All tokamaks are designed to withstand a certain number of energetic electromagnetic (EM) transients caused by uncontrolled terminations of plasma pulses, including symmetric and asymmetric plasma vertical displacement events: VDEs and AVDEs. These events generate significant pulsed EM loads in all conductive components and coils. Axially symmetric transient EM loads induced by VDEs without Halo current have been calculated well since the 1980s; however, Halo-related EM load components and lateral loads associated with AVDEs still cause discussions. The author worked on fast plasma and EM transients in tokamaks quite a while ago then deviated to other areas but has been keeping track of the topic since. He is aware of discussions of the modelling of Halo currents and of significant scatter present in current estimates for AVDE-induced lateral loads and contends that some points of engineering logic formulated earlier on this topic may help reduce these uncertainties. This article summarises a few points of the engineering understanding developed in informal discussions within the ITER EDA team with the purpose to preserve these points for all tokamak developments. Full article