Application of a gas tunnel to high-energy-density plasma beams

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Abstract
The characteristics of high-temperature and high-energy-density plasma beams in a ‘‘gas tunnel’’ were experimentally clarified. A strong vortex flow at a high flow rate forms a radial pressure distribution with a sharp gradient. This produces a ‘‘gas tunnel’’ in the center, where the pressure is very low. In this study, this type of gas tunnel was applied to the production of plasma, and high-temperature and high-energy-density plasma beams were easily obtained. The plasma arc produced in this gas tunnel has a higher temperature and electron density than a conventional plasma arc because of a strong thermal pinch effect. Measurement of the properties of this plasma arc was primarily carried out by means of spectroscopy, and it was found that almost fully ionized plasma was obtained in the gas tunnel even at a small current of 200 A. In addition, a temperature of more than 3×104 K was achieved by increasing the arc current. A plasma jet generated in the gas tunnel has a very high electrical potential gradient of more than 40 V/cm and high thermal efficiency, and it is relatively easy to obtain an extremely high power of more than 200 kW.

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