title: Neutral particle analyzer measurements on the SSPX spheromak.
abstract: A neutral particle analyzer is used to measure the time-resolved energy spectrum of neutral hydrogen leaving a spheromak plasma. A gas cell filled with 10-50 mTorr of helium is used to strip electrons from incoming neutral hydrogen, lowering the minimum detectable energy well below that obtained with thin foils. Effective neutral particle temperature is calculated by fitting a Maxwellian energy distribution to the measured energy spectrum above and below approximately 300 eV. A computational model with approximated profiles of plasma density and neutral density is used with the measured neutral hydrogen flux to estimate the ion temperature. Measurement of the power flux due to neutral hydrogen emitted at the measurement location is extended to the whole plasma surface to estimate the total charge exchange power loss from the plasma. The initial results indicate that the charge exchange power loss represents only 2% of the total input gun power during the sustainment phase of the discharge.
authors.affiliation: Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA.
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Mezonlin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roberson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raynor
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Appartaim
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: V I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Afanasyev
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kozlovsky
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Moller
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008280:Magnetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013817:Thermography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014159:Transducers