RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer
First Claim
1. An RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer that produces a quiescent plasma having a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA from a primary plasma, comprising:
- an RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout the primary plasma, an RF source reactively coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure with a coupling device, said RF source produces an RF voltage within said accelerator/homogenizer structure that causes said plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces to absorb thermal electrons from the primary plasma; and
a containment assembly coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure, said containment assembly comprises an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>
AG, said containment assembly holds the quiescent plasma at the generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA.
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Abstract
The RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer produces a quiescent plasma having a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA and a space-charge neutralized plasma beam. The plasma accelerator/homogenizer includes an RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure (17) having a plurality of dielectric-coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces (619) with total surface area ARF and a containment assembly that includes an RF-grounded structure (112) with a total ground surface area AG, where ARF>AG. The accelerator/homogenizer structure is reactively coupled to an RF source using various approaches for direct or stray capacitive coupling (16). The RF voltage induced on the accelerator/homogenizer surfaces oscillates around a positive offset voltage determined by (ARF/AG)x, where x is not greater than 4, and causes the surfaces to absorb thermal electrons from the diffusing primary plasma, producing a homogenous quiescent plasma at preselected plasma potential VPA, which is approximately equal to the positive value of the offset RF voltage.
38 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer that produces a quiescent plasma having a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA from a primary plasma, comprising:
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an RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout the primary plasma, an RF source reactively coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure with a coupling device, said RF source produces an RF voltage within said accelerator/homogenizer structure that causes said plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces to absorb thermal electrons from the primary plasma; and
a containment assembly coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure, said containment assembly comprises an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>
AG, said containment assembly holds the quiescent plasma at the generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA.- View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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2. An RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer system that produces a quiescent plasma having a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA from a primary plasma, comprising:
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an RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout the primary plasma, an RF source reactively coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure with a coupling device, said RF source produces an RF voltage within said accelerator/homogenizer structure that causes said plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces to absorb thermal electrons from the primary plasma; and
a containment assembly coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure, said containment assembly comprises an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>
AG, said containment assembly holds the quiescent plasma at the generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA.
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3. A method to manufacture an RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer that produces a quiescent plasma having a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA from a primary plasma, comprising:
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providing an RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout the primary plasma;
reactively coupling an RF source to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure using a coupling device, said RF source produces an RF voltage within said accelerator/homogenizer structure that causes said plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces to absorb thermal electrons from the primary plasma; and
coupling a containment assembly to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure, said containment assembly comprises an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>
AG, said containment assembly holds the quiescent plasma at the generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA.
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4. A method that produces a quiescent plasma having a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA from a primary plasma using an RF-powered plasma accelerator/homogenizer, comprising:
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quasi-uniformly dispersing a plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces having a total surface area ARF throughout the primary plasma, wherein said plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces couple together to form an RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure;
producing an RF voltage within said accelerator/homogenizer structure that causes said plurality of dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces to absorb thermal electrons from the primary plasma by reactively coupling an RF source to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure using a coupling device; and
holding the quiescent plasma at the generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA using a containment assembly coupled to said RF-conductive accelerator/homogenizer structure, said containment assembly comprises an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>
AG.
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Specification