USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

The United States of America

Wallace M Manheimer

Niels K Winsor

Edward Ott

Joel M Schnur

Paul E Schoen

Phillip A Sprangle

Ronald R Price

Douglas A Kirkpatrick

Frederick M Mako

Robert A Meger

Anthony E Robson

Anders Bondeson

Adam T Drobot

Barrett H Ripin

Martin Lampe

Baruch Levush

Frederick Sandel

Christos A Kapetanokos

John M Burke

Richard F Fensler

Robert A Neger

The large area plasma processing system (LAPPS) is a system wherein an elron beam is used to produce a plasma. A large area uniform plasma is produced where length and width can be comparable (10's-100's of cm) and very much larger than the plasma thickness (.about.1 cm). The plasma distribution is created independent of the surface to be processed and the bias applied to the surface. The beam-produced plasma has a low intrinsic electron and excitation temperature plasma, allowing the process to be conducted with better control of free radical production. A material, such as a substrate, being processed may be placed in close proximity to plasma with controlled ion bombardment or without substantial bombardment by energetic ions. The system also offers a large available area for gas inflow and removal from the processing chamber and cathode chamber so as not to contaminate the material being processed or damage the cathode.

Large area plasma processing system (LAPPS)

A method and apparatus for forming plasma sheets of preselected planar curvature, which can be used as mirrors for X-Band microwaves and above. A plasma is created using a shaped cathode. Confining magnetic fields maintains the plasma in the shape of the cathode. Additional magnetic fields can provide additional curvature to the plasma sheet.

Method and apparatus for forming an agile plasma mirror effective as a

A field emitter array comprises an array of aligned metallic, conductive rotubules extending from a conductive base. The array is typically made by cutting a matrix comprising the aligned microtubules into sections, usually normal to the tubule alignment axis. One end surface of a section is etched or otherwise treated to remove the matrix, but not the tubules. That end surface is then provided with a conductive coating and fixed to a contact. The other end surface of that section is then also treated to remove the matrix material and leave the tubules extending from the conductive metal base. Field emitter arrays made according to the present invention provide a greater brightness than conventional field emitter arrays.

Electron beam source formed with biologically derived tubule materials

A plasma-filled waveguide acts as a dispersive element for pulse compression or power multiplication of a frequency chirped microwave signal. In one embodiment, the frequency of the source is chirped near a plasma resonance while the plasma waveguide is held contant in time. In a second embodiment, the source frequency is held fixed while the plasma filled waveguide parameters are varied in time in the vicinity of a plasma resonance.

Microwave pulse compression in dispersive plasmas

An apparatus and method for generating high power electro magnetic radiation in the millimeter or submillimeter range axial injection and adiabatic compression of an electron beam using large electric fields in an evacuated AXIOM (Axial Injection Orbitron Maser).

Axial injection orbitron

In a modified Betatron a low density background plasma is maintained in the vacuum chamber causing image charges in response thereto to form in the chamber wall. These image charges cause the self forces of the electron beam being accelerated in the betatron to be directed inward in the polodial plane thus eliminating injection problems, the diamagnetic to paramagnetic transition, and the l=2 resistive wall instability.

Plasma assisted modified betatron

A tapered z-pinch for externally introducing an electron beam into a parte accelerator that causes only a small development of perpendicular velocity in the electrons of the electron beam, and that causes only a small disturbance to the magnetic field lines of the particle accelerator.

Low perturbation electron injector for cyclic accelerators

A method and apparatus for suppressing lower order cyclotron harmonics in order to permit resonance within a quasi-optical gyrotron/gyroklystron configuration of a desired higher order harmonic. In the gyrotron/gyroklystron configuration at least one open resonator defined by at least two mirrors is positioned downstream from an electron beam source for receiving therethrough the beam of electrons and for exchanging energy therewith. This method includes the steps of choosing a mirror radius size .rho. for the mirrors forming the at least one open resonator which is large enough relative to the spot size of a desired radiation cyclotron harmonic .omega..sub.n so that the harmonic .omega..sub.n oscillates within the at least one resonator, but small enough so that the spot size for the next lower cyclotron harmonic .omega..sub.m is larger than the mirror so that the harmonic .omega..sub.m does not oscillate due to diffraction losses. This method further includes the step of generating an electron beam via the electron beam source with a beam current which is greater than or equal to the starting current I.sub.n for the desired nth cyclotron harmonic, but less than the starting current I.sub.m for the mth cyclotron harmonic. The method also includes the step of extracting radiation energy at the nth cyclotron harmonic from the at least one open resonator. The desired mirror radius size .rho. for a given cyclotron harmonic frequency .omega..sub.n, for a desired diffraction loss Y.sub.n for that harmonic n, a given half length separation L.sub.y between the mirrors, and a given radius of curvature R.sub.M, can be determined by the equation ##EQU1## wherein r.sub.on is the spot size at the mirror for radiation at the nth cyclotron harmonic.

Quasi-optical harmonic gyrotron and gyroklystron

An intense, space-charge-neutralized, pulsed ion beam is used to heat a magnetically-confined plasma, such as tokamak plasma, by injecting the ion beam into the plasma along a trajectory that is generally tangential to the confining magnetic field. The intense ion beam is injected into the tokamak before the plasma is fully formed, the remainder of the plasma is formed around the beam, and the beam transfers its energy to the plasma by classical collisions with the electrons and ions of the plasma. Heating of the plasma can be sufficient to produce breakeven or ignition.

Tokamak plasma heating with intense, pulsed ion beams

A quasioptical gyroklystron for generating high power quasioptical radiation. A mildly relativistic electron beam gyrating in a static magnetic field is passed through a first open mirror resonator where a small change in the transverse electron energy takes place (either an increase or decrease depending on the relative phase between the electron gyration and the resonator wave fields). This small change than leads to slower (or more rapid) gyration of those electrons that have gained (or lost) energy in the first resonator. The length of the drift region between the first and a second open mirror resonator is adjusted so that rapidly gyrating electrons overtake slowly gyrating ones at the entrance to the second resonator. Thus the particles arrive at the second resonator strongly bunched in gyration phase. The fields in the first resonator are generated by feedback of a small amount of energy from the wave mode in the second resonator with a .pi./2 phase lag so that the beam entering the second resonator is bunched at the right phase angle to lose power efficiently to the fields in the second resonator. The lost power is extracted and guided to a utilization device.

Quasioptical gyroklystron

An intense, space-charge-neutralized, pulsed ion beam is used to heat a metically-confined plasma, such as a tokamak plasma, by injecting the ion beam into the plasma along a trajectory that is generally tangential to the confining magnetic field. The ion beam inductively generates a plasma return current so that no net current is produced. As the ion beam drifts in the plasma, the confining magnetic field is transformed into one which can trap the ion beam at the center of the plasma. Once the ion beam is trapped, the plasma return current is cancelled by transformer action to produce a net current which is carried by the ion beam alone. The beam transfers its energy to the plasma by classical collisions with the electrons and ions of the plasma. Heating of the plasma can be sufficient to produce a breakeven condition or ignition.

An electron beam and collective ion-electron beam accelerating apparatus in hich a relativistic electron beam and ions moving with it are accelerated in speed by passing them through a converging waveguide (i.e., a drift tube) of gradually decreasing diameter. The ions are separated from the electrons upon leaving the waveguide.

Charged-particle beam acceleration in a converging waveguide

An intense, space-charge-neutralized, pulsed ion beam is used to heat a magnetically-confined plasma, such as a tokamak plasma, by injecting the ion beam into the plasma along a trajectory that is generally perpendicular to the confining magnetic field. For proper beam parameters, the ion beam will propagate across the magnetic field in the vacuum region, penetrate the confined plasma, and deposit its energy in the interior of the plasma.

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Silver Spring, MD, United States of America

Wallace M Manheimer