New experimental results on beam-plasma interaction in solenoids

Abstract

New results are presented on studying the beam-plasma interaction and plasma heating dynamics at the INAR device. The specific features of the generation of 'hot' (E>approximately 1keV) plasma electrons containing the main part of the plasma energy are studied. In the case of a beam with a small initial angular spread, the 'hot' electrons are mainly generated near the point where the beam is injected into the plasma. Also reported are the results of the experiments in which the magnetic field in the beam-plasma interaction region was increased up to 70 kOe. In this case, at the plasma length of 75 cm, the total beam energy losses exceed 40%. The growth of the plasma energy content at higher magnetic field is observed. The first stage of the GOL-3 experiment is described which is aimed at the study of the plasma heating of a solenoid by a 100 kJ microsecond electron beam. This experimental device is ready for operation.