Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “PLASMA WAVES”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Pulsed mid-infrared radiation from spectral broadening in laser wakefield simulations

Spectral red-shifting of high power laser pulses propagating through underdense plasma can be a source of ultrashort mid-infrared (MIR) radiation. During propagation, a high power laser pulse drives large amplitude plasma waves, depleting the pulse energy. At the same time, the large amplitude plasma wave provides a dynamic dielectric response that leads to spectral shifting. The loss of laser pulse energy and the approximate conservation of laser pulse action imply that spectral red-shifts accompany the depletion. In this paper, we investigate, through simulation, the parametric dependence of MIR generation on pulse energy, initial pulse duration, and plasma density.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1999

Cassini and Wind Stereoscopic Observations of Jovian Non-Thermal Radio Emissions

During two intervals in 1999, simultaneous observations of Jupiter's decametric and hectometric radio emissions were made with the Cassini radio and plasma wave instrument (RPWS) and the radio and plasma wave instrument (WAVES) on the Wind spacecraft in Earth orbit. During January, the Jovian longitude difference between the two spacecraft was about 5 deg, whereas for the August-September Earth flyby of Cassini, the angle ranged from 0 deg to about 2.5 deg. With these separations, the instantaneous widths of the walls of the hollow conical radiation beams of some of the decametric arcs were measured suggesting that the typical width is approximately 2 deg. The conical beams seem to move at Io's revolution rate rather than with Jupiter's rotation rate. Additionally, some of the non-arc emissions have very narrow and quite peculiar beamwidths.

Kaiser, Michael L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

An Estimate of the Dust Pickup Currents at Enceladus

The electrodynamic environment at Enceladus is often assumed to be driven exclusively by ions produced from the moon's south polar plume. In this presentation, we demonstrate that acceleration of moon-originating submicron dust by the reduced co-rotating E-field is capable of creating a substantial current perpendicular to the magnetic field. This pickup current may be comparable to the ion pickup current, and may be large enough to deflect the local magnetic field. We will analyze observations from the Langmuir Probe that is a component of Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) package, along with associated plasma waves that reveal electron concentrations. We will especially examine the observations from the 12 March 2008 spacecraft passage by the body, where the spacecraft was moving primarily southward taking it along-side the jet/plume emitted from the south pole of the moon. The region of dust pickup is found to originate about 3-5 Enceladus radii northward of the moon, and extends to at least 10 radii southward of the moon. We attempt to quantify the dust pickup current and describe the effect the current might have on the overall magnetoplasma and E-field environment in the vicinity of the body.

Farrell, William M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere of Uranus

The Voyager 2 encounter of Uranus has provided observations of plasma waves in and near the magnetosphere. These data, while the first from Uranus, will also be the only direct information on wave-particle interactions at this planet for many years to come. The observations include electrostatic waves upstream of the bow shock, turbulence in the shock, Bernstein emissions and whistler mode waves in the magnetosphere, broadband electrostatic noise in the magnetotail, and a number of the other types of plasma waves which have yet to be clearly identified. Each of these types of waves exist in a plasma environment which both supports the growth of the waves and is modified by interactions with the waves. Wave-particle interactions provide the channels through which the waves can accelerate, scatter, or thermalize the plasmas. The most spectacular example in the case of Uranus is the extremely intense whistler mode activity in the inner magnetosphere which is the source of strong pitch angle diffusion. The resulting electron precipitation is sufficient to produce the auroral emissions observed by Voyager. The strong diffusion, however, presents the problem of supplying electrons in the range of 5 to 40 keV in order to support the losses to the atmosphere.

Kurth, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere of Uranus

The Voyager 2 encounter of Uranus has provided observations of plasma waves in and near the magnetosphere. These data, while the first from Uranus, will also be the only direct information on wave-particle interactions at this planet for many years to come. The observations include electrostatic waves upstream of the bow shock, turbulence in the shock Bernstein emissions and whistler mode waves in the magnetosphere, broadband electrostatic noise in the magnetotail, and a number of the other types of plasma waves which have yet to be clearly identified. Each of these types of waves exist in a plasma environment which both supports the growth of the waves and is modified by interactions with the waves. Wave-particle interactions provide the channels through which the waves can accelerate, scatter, or thermalize the plasmas. The most spectacular example in the case of Uranus is the extremely intense whistler mode activity in the inner magnetosphere which is the source of strong pitch angle diffusion. The resulting electron precipitation is sufficient to produce the auroral emissions observed by Voyager. The strong diffusion, however, presents the problem of supplying electrons in the range of 5 to 40 keV in order to support the losses to the atmosphere.

Kurth, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Polarization of low-frequency electromagnetic radiation in the lobes of Jupiter's magnetotail

The plasma wave instruments on the Voyager spacecraft have detected intense electromagnetic radiation within the lobes of Jupiter's magnetic tail down to the lowest frequency of the detector (10 Hz). During a yaw maneuver performed by Voyager 1 in the lobe of the Jovian magnetotail, a modulation appeared in the amplitudes of waves detected in the 10-, 17.8- and 31.1-Hz channels of the plasma wave analyzer, well below the local electron cyclotron frequency of 260 Hz. The lowest amplitudes occurred when the antenna axis was most nearly parallel to the magnetic field. Wave amplitudes in the 56.2-Hz and higher frequency channels remained nearly constant during the maneuver. From the cold-plasma theory of electromagnetic waves, it is concluded that the plasma frequency was between the 56.2- and 31.1-Hz channels where the parallel-polarized component of the spectrum cuts off. This implies a tail-lobe density between 0.000032 and 0.000015/cu cm. The left-hand cutoff frequency would then be below 10 Hz, consistent with either the Z-mode (L, X) or whistlers (R-mode) in the modulated channels.

Moses, S. L.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Influence of flavor oscillations on neutrino beam instabilities

We consider the collective neutrino plasma interactions and study the electron plasma instabilities produced by a nearly mono-energetic neutrino beam in a plasma. We describe the mutual interaction between neutrino flavor oscillations and electron plasma waves. We show that the neutrino flavor oscillations are not only perturbed by electron plasmas waves but also contribute to the dispersion relation and the growth rates of neutrino beam instabilities.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Self-organized standing waves generated by AC-driven electron cyclotron drift instabilities

The formation of self-organized standing wave structures is observed due to the electron cyclotron drift instability (ECDI) driven by a time-varying external electric field and a crossed magnetic field. Using a particle-in-cell simulation, two standing wave mechanisms are identified: the linear mode and the beating mode. In the former, a standing wave emerges as a superposition of two counterpropagating ion acoustic waves predicted by the linear theory of ECDI. On the other hand, in the beating mode, the plasma wave is in resonance with the applied frequency. Nonlinear resonance of such standing waves results in a change in the dominant wavenumber and frequency. Such counterpropagating plasma waves are consistent with the experimental observations using coherent Thomson scattering in a crossed-field plasma discharge.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2011

Two-dimensional s-polarized solitary waves in plasmas. II. Stability, collisions, electromagnetic bursts, and post-soliton evolution

The dynamics of two-dimensional s-polarized solitary waves is investigated with the aid of particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Instead of the usual excitation of the waves with a laser pulse, the PIC code was directly initialized with the numerical solutions from the fluid plasma model. This technique allows the analysis of different scenarios including the theoretical problems of the solitary wave stability and their collision as well as features already measured during laser-plasma experiments such as the emission of electromagnetic bursts when the waves reach the plasma-vacuum interface, or their expansion on the ion time scale, usually named post-soliton evolution. Waves with a single density depression are stable whereas multihump solutions decay to several waves. Contrary to solitons, two waves always interact through a force that depends on their relative phases, their amplitudes, and the distance between them. On the other hand, the radiation pattern at the plasma-vacuum interface was characterized, and the evolution of the diameter of different waves was computed and compared with the ''snow plow'' model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Plasma-based Accelerator with Magnetic Compression

Electron dephasing is a major gain-inhibiting effect in plasma-based accelerators. A novel method is proposed to overcome dephasing, in which the modulation of a modest (~$\mathcal{O}$(10 kG)), axial, uniform magnetic field in the acceleration channel leads to densification of the plasma through magnetic compression, enabling direct, time-resolved control of the plasma wave properties. The methodology is broadly applicable and can be optimized to improve the leading acceleration approaches, including plasma beat-wave, plasma wakefield, and laser wakefield acceleration. The advantages of magnetic compression compared to other proposed schemes to overcome dephasing are identified.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Cherenkov radiation of shear Alfven waves in plasmas with two ion species

A calculation is presented of the radiation pattern of shear Alfven waves generated by a burst of charged particles in a charge-neutral plasma with two-ions of differing charge-to-mass ratios. The wake pattern is obtained for the inertial and kinetic regimes of wave propagation. Due to the presence of two ion-species, the Alfven waves propagate within two different frequency bands separated by a gap. One band is restricted to frequencies below the cyclotron frequency of the heavier species and the other to frequencies between the ion-ion hybrid frequency and the cyclotron frequency of the lighter species. The radiation pattern in the lower frequency band is found to exhibit essentially the same properties reported in a previous study [Van Compernolle et al., Phys. Plasmas 15, 082101 (2008)] of a single species plasma. However, the upper frequency band differs from the lower one in that it always allows for the Cherenkov radiation condition to be met. The methodology is extended to examine the Alfvenic wake of point-charges in the inertial and adiabatic regimes. The adiabatic regime is illustrated for conditions applicable to fusion-born alpha particles in ITER.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Laser acceleration of electrons in two-dimensionally inhomogeneous plasma at the boundary of a metal foil

The electron acceleration mechanism associated with the generation of a plasma wave due to self-modulation instability of laser radiation in a subcritical plasma produced by a laser prepulse coming 10 ns before the arrival of the main intense femtosecond pulse is considered. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the interaction of laser radiation with two-dimensionally inhomogeneous subcritical plasma have shown that, for a sufficiently strong plasma inhomogeneity and a sharp front of the laser pulse, efficient plasma wave excitation, electron trapping, and generation of collimated electron beams with energies on the order of 0.2–0.5 MeV can occur. The simulation results agree with experiments on the generation of collimated beams of accelerated electrons from metal targets irradiated by intense femtosecond laser pulses.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2007

Interplanetary Dust Clouds Near 1AU Detected by STEREO

For a 21 day interval beginning on Jan 28, 2007, the radio and plasma wave instruments (S/WAVES) on the twin STEREO spacecraft detected intense impulse-like emissions in both the time-domain receivers and the low end of the frequency-domain receivers. These emissions were much more intense on the STEREO Ahead instrument, but were detected by both. During that interval, the two STEREO spacecraft were only separated by about 0.1deg in heliocentric longitude. All attempts to understand the emissions in terms of electrical disturbances onboard the spacecraft were unsuccessful and, since the impulsive events essentially ceased on Feb 18,2007, the entire study was put on lower priority. However, beginning abruptly on July 20, 2007, a very similar and more intense episode of impulses was detected exclusively by S/WAVES on the STEREO Ahead spacecraft, now separated from Behind by more than 20deg of heliocentric longitude. This new episode lasted nearly as long as the Jan-Feb episode, some 20 days, ending on Aug. 9. On Aug. 13,2007, the STEREO Behind spacecraft arrived at the same heliocentric longitude as the Ahead spacecraft was at on July 20 and the S/WAVES instrument abruptly started detecting impulsive events, although at lower intensities than those on Ahead. The individual waveform of the detected impulses is very similar to signals recorded by the Voyager plasma wave (PWS) and radio astronomy (PRA) instruments and more recently by the Cassini radio and plasma wave science (RPWS) instrument when those spacecraft plunged through Saturn's rings. Those Saturnian signals are attributed to micron-sized dust particle impacts on the spacecraft which creates a temporary plasma cloud which, in turn, induces an electrical signal on the antennas. We reanalyzed the STEREO episodes along the lines of the Saturnian ring plane analyses and have concluded that the STEREO impulses are very likely due to similar dust impacts with bands or clouds of dust of cometary or, more generally, zodiacal light material near 1 AU. The distribution of these clouds of small dust particles is significantly different than theoretical models of interplanetary dust distribution

Kaiser↗
DOE OSTI2016

Wavenumber shift due to nonlinear plasma and wave interaction

Wavenumber shift of the ion Bernstein wave has been observed in the particle-in-cell simulations when the input power of the injected wave is sufficiently large. It is demonstrated that the increase of the total kinetic energy of ions, including both the thermal energy related to the random thermal motion and the oscillation energy due to the coherent motion with the wave, gives rise to such change of the wavenumber. However, the velocity distribution function of the ions can approximately be fitted as a Maxwellian distribution function, and thus, the linear dispersion relation still holds, provided that the initial ion temperature is replaced by the effective temperature measured in the simulation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Design study for a compact, two-stage, laser-plasma-based source of positron beams

Owing to their large accelerating gradients, plasma-based accelerators have attracted considerable interest as potential drivers for future, compact electron–positron colliders. Despite great progress achieved in plasma-based electron acceleration, positron acceleration still remains a challenging task, with an efficient positron source being the prerequisite for such acceleration. Here a concept for a compact, two-stage plasma-based positron source is discussed. In the first stage the positrons are created by a multi GeV electron beam produced by a laser-plasma accelerator interacting with a solid density foil. In the second stage the positrons are captured and accelerated in a plasma wave driven by either an electron beam or a laser pulse. Three potential configurations of such a source are considered: (i) a single electron beam is used for both the creation of positrons in the foil and for driving the wakefield in the second stage; (ii) a train of two electron beams is used: the positrons produced by the trailing beam in the foil are captured and accelerated in the second stage by the plasma wave generated by the leading beam; and (iii) a single electron beam is used to produce positrons in the foil and an independent laser pulse is coupled to the second stage to drive the plasma wave. In conclusion, these three configurations show different degrees of effectiveness with positron capture efficiency, varying from less than a percent to almost half of all produced positrons.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Modulational instability of a Langmuir wave in plasmas with energetic tails of superthermal electrons

The impact of superthermal electrons on dispersion properties of isotropic plasmas and on the modulational instability of a monochromatic Langmuir wave is studied for the case when the power-law tail of the electron distribution function extends to relativistic velocities and contains most of the plasma kinetic energy. Such an energetic tail of electrons is shown to increase the thermal correction to the Langmuir wave frequency, which is equivalent to the increase of the effective electron temperature in the fluid approach, and has almost no impact on the dispersion of ion-acoustic waves, in which the role of temperature is played by the thermal spread of low-energy core electrons. It is also found that the spectrum of modulational instability in the non-maxwellian plasma narrows significantly, as compared to the equilibrium case, without change of the maximum growth rate and the corresponding wavenumber.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗