Production and Observation of the Dissipative Trapped-Ion Instability

Abstract
A new, steady-state linear mirror machine has been constructed which produces a low-density, low-temperature hydrogen plasma in the collisionality regime of the dissipative trapped-ion instability. This instability was seen and identified through the observed dependence of wave amplitude on trapped fraction, axial and radial position, and collisionality and through the scaling of real frequency with trapped fraction.