794 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 36, NO.

3, JUNE 2008

Pinched Plasma Study in a Filippov-Type

Plasma Focus “Dena”
Ahmad Talaei, S. M. Sadat Kiai, and Shirin Adlparvar

Abstract—A characteristic feature of physical processes occur-

ring in pinched plasma is their tendency to generate thermal and
nonthermal emissions. In this case, the roles played by plasma
compression dynamics such as pinch formation, pinch disruption,
expansion, etc., are predominant. In this paper, first, we present
some of the experimental results concerning the thermal and
nonthermal neutron emissions. Then, a new approach based on
some theoretical assumptions and the experimental data for which
the pinched plasma density evolution was studied are introduced.
In the new approach, the compression dynamics are divided into
two phases: plasma compression (thermal) and plasma expansion
(nonthermal). For each phase, electron distribution functions such
as a parabolic and a hyperbolic are attributed, respectively. As-
suming a maximum electron density for each phase and an Abel
integral equation (used in laser interferometry method), the fringe
density maps in a new Filippov-type plasma focus “Dena” (25 kV, Fig. 1. Schematic diagram showing the PF electrodes and diagnostics.
288 µF, and 90 kJ) operating in deuterium gas were obtained in (1) Upper flange of the vacuum chamber. (2) Capacitor bank. (3) Porcelain
the approximation of low collision frequencies. insulator. (4) Anode. (5) Ringlike spark gap switch. (6) Collector plate. (7) In-
sulation. (8) Matching induction. (9) Liner. (10) Rogowski coil. (11) Magnetic
Index Terms—Filippov-type plasma focus, fringe shift density, probe. (12) Pinhole camera. (13) SXR detector (SPPD type). (14) Detector
laser interferometry, neutron production mechanisms, pinched monitor. (15) HXR detector (plastic scintillater detector). (16) Detector of
plasma. integral neutron. (17) Plasma-current sheath. (18) Conic insert anode.

I. I NTRODUCTION mechanism for the fusion reactions is characterized by the

interactions of deuterons after Raleigh–Taylor instability. The
I N PLASMA focus (PF) devices, dense and hot plasma is
produced due to the radial compression and electromagnetic
acceleration. When the device works in proper operational
interactions may happen between deuterons or deuterons and
ambient deuterium gas atoms. The instabilities in the plasma
column are the major causes of electron and ion accelerations
conditions, an axially symmetric current sheath is formed,
and the production of hard X-ray and neutrons.
which, after a radial displacement, moves along the axis of
The current and electron density are the basic parameters
the device. After a weak process of turbulence, which is the
of the plasma, and the implosion dynamics physics of the
final stage of the current sheath, a short-lived, dense, and hot
plasma require their measurements [1]. In this paper, some
plasma called “pinch” is formed. Through a short period of
experimental results concerning pinched plasma in thermal and
time, typically a few tens of nanoseconds, the pinch will expand
nonthermal phases of “Dena” PF are presented. This is followed
and decay by passing through a disruptive m = 0 instability
by a new approach for the determination of the fringe shift
phase. The high energy density pinches generate a considerable
density concerning the thermal and nonthermal phases. The
amount of radiation, including radio waves, X-rays, gamma
results obtained in the thermal phase are compared with the
rays, and neutrons, when the filling gas is deuterium (D). In
available data provided by motion equation for plasma electrons
a conventional PF device, the neutron is mainly produced by
in the approximation of low collision frequencies.
the thermal and nonthermal (beam-target) mechanisms. The
thermal mechanism is developed at the plasma thermal equi-
librium by the interaction of deuterons (when D−D reaction
II. F ILIPPOV -T YPE PF D ENA F ACILITY
is considered) in the pinched plasma focus. The nonthermal
The Dena PF has an energy source with total capacitance and
inductance of the bank at 288 µF and 1.7 nH, respectively:
Manuscript received September 26, 2007; revised February 4, 2008. These values are provided by 24 capacitors in parallel, each
A. Talaei is with Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran 15875-4413, of them has 12 µF capacitance and 40 nH inductance. The
Iran (e-mail: ahmad.talaei@gmail.com).
S. M. Sadat Kiai and S. Adlparvar are with the Nuclear Science Research, maximum operating voltage is 25 kV (90 kJ), which delivers a
Nuclear Science & Technology Research Institute (NSTR), A.E.O.I., Tehran peak discharge current of about 2.8 MA into a short circuit with
14155-1339, Iran (e-mail: sadatkiai@yahoo.com). a rise time of 4 µs. The experiment with Dena PF discharge is
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. normally at low pressure, which is approximately about 1 torr
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPS.2008.922498 as shown in Fig. 1.
0093-3813/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE
TALAEI et al.: PINCHED PLASMA STUDY IN FILIPPOV-TYPE PLASMA FOCUS “DENA”
Fig. 2. Oscilloscope display showing (1) the current derivative, (2) the soft
X-ray signal from the PIN diode, (3) the hard X-ray signal, and (4) the discharge
current in typical signals registered by a Tektronix 500-MHz oscilloscope for a
shot in deuterium filling pressure of 0.65 torr at an operating voltage of 16 kV.
Dena has an anode in the center, which is a disk with a
48 cm diameter and 15.5 cm length. The aluminum cathode
is 65 cm in diameter. The anode is made of copper, and
at its center, a conic insert anode made of copper tungsten
alloy can easily be replaced. The discharge current signal
and its derivative are measured by Rogowski coil and mag-
netic probe. A PIN diode (SPPD II-02 type) filtered with a
10 µm-thick Beryllium window measures the time-resolved
soft X-ray signal. The time-resolved and time-integrated hard
X-ray intensity measurements are registered by using NaI and
NE-102 plastic scintillaters coupled to a photo element coaxial
and photomultiplier, respectively.
III. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULT AND C OMMENTS
Typical signals registered by a Tektronix 500-MHz oscillo-
scope for a shot in deuterium filling pressure of 0.65 torr at
an operating voltage of 16 kV are shown in Fig. 2. It displays
four simultaneous diagnostics from top to bottom, the current
derivative, current, and time-integrated soft and hard X-rays.
For the experiments, the hard and soft X-ray detector places
are constant (see Fig. 1). The neutron and the hard X-ray
detectors are placed at 10 m far from the PF device. The dip
negative spike in the current derivative signal associated with
the pinched plasma formation of high density and temperature.
In considering the delay made by transmission lines, the
maximum compression of the plasma occurs at 2 µs after the
peak current of about 4 µs.
A. Thermal and Nonthermal Pinched Plasma
Form the starting time of about 6 µs of the negative spike
amplitude in the current derivative signal up to where the
current derivative signal is minimum, which corresponds to the
maximum compression, is the thermal emission of the pinched
plasma column. The emission time is found to be approximately
60 ns. There are some times, some thermal emissions just after
maximum compression (expansion phase), when this can be
795
Fig. 3. (1) Current derivative and (2) hard X-ray and neutron signals. The
experimental conditions are 0.65-torr deuterium filling gas and 16 kV with
conic insert anode.
attributed to the hot spots. From the minimum current derivative
signal up to where the current derivative signal starts deviating
from its normal shape is the nonthermal emission or beam-
target mechanism.
In Fig. 3, we show the current derivative, with the hard
X-ray and neutron pulses for shot in deuterium filling gas at
0.65 torr and 16 kV. The maximum of the neutron pulses
appears at approximately 650 ns after the negative spike of the
current derivative. From the figure, the thermal and nonthermal
neutron signals are superimposed on each other.
A large number of measurements show that the neutron and
electromagnetic radiation emission spectra from PF devices are
characterized by a marked anisotropy. The neutron emission
anisotropic factor A = Φn (0◦ )/Φn (90◦ ), in which Φn (0◦ ) and
Φn (90◦ ) are the neutron fluxes in the axial and radial directions
with respect to the anode axis, respectively, is about two for the
operational conditions of the Dena PF [2].
There are essentially two causes of the neutron emission
anisotropy. The first is because the velocity of the mass center
of colliding deuterons is preferentially in the electrodes’ axial
direction and causes the anisotropy in the laboratory system.
The other reason for the anisotropy is because of the differ-
ential cross section in the mass-center system for the nuclear
fusion reaction D + D →3 He + n [3]. Therefore, anisotropy
is approximately related to nonthermal reactions (produced
by axially accelerated deuterons colliding with the thermal
deuterons in the plasma bulk and the neutral gas atoms outside
the plasma).
A double neutron pulse structure is registered about 10 m far
from the PF device and is shown in Fig. 4 [2]. The experimental
conditions are the same as before. The measurement is made
by stopping the signal of the hard X-ray emission by the Pb,
Cu, and Al filters. This result is interesting as it shows the
process of the compression phase (thermal) appearing as the
first pulse then followed by the expansion phase (nonthermal)
as the second pulse. The experimental results of the time-
dependent neuron energy spectrum by a new time-of-flight
method indicate that the ratio between neutrons emitted in
nonthermal and thermal mechanisms follow the same structure
[4]. The thermal neutron pulse appears about 460 ns far from
the reference time (the hard X-ray pulse) and lasts about
796
Fig. 4. Structure of double neutron pulses obtained by time-of-flight mea-
surements. Each division is 400 ns. The experimental conditions are 0.65-torr
deuterium filling gas and 16 kV with conic insert anode.
60–70 ns and then followed by the nonthermal neutron pulse
at approximately 720 ns far from the hard X-ray pulse and
lasts about 170–190 ns. The exponential decay of the neutron
signal (tail in the signal) is due to neutron scattering by the
walls surrounding the laboratory. Also, the multipeak structure
of nonthermal pulse is due to few minor disruptions before
the major disruption that occurs in the current negative spike.
The times of the appearances of the signals indicated here are
considered without taking into account the delay time caused
by transmission lines (each meter of transmission line produces
a delay of approximately 5 ns). Therefore, the real time of the
appearance of the first pulse must be at about 510 ns.
The double neutron pulses presented here indicate that two
types of mechanisms, thermal and nonthermal, are responsible
for neutron production in the Dena PF device. The soft X-ray
(electron Bremsstrahlung in the thermal plasma) and the hard
X-ray (which belong to the nonthermal interaction of the elec-
tron beam with the anode surface) are the signatures of these
two mechanisms. However, at low pressure (less than 1 torr)
and/or low discharge energies (less than 20 kJ), the nonthermal
interaction mechanism plays an important role in the neutron
production for the Dena PF [2]. This behavior may be explained
by the well-known acceleration of the deuterons in the axial
direction at low pressure due to the lower electron and gas
densities in the plasma and in the surroundings, respectively.
B. Target Limiter Experiment
At the center of the cathode, just above the anode surface
and at a distance of about 12 cm, there is a replicable target
limiter. The main purpose of employing this target limiter is
to stop those energetic deuterons that are not participating in
the fusion reactions. Therefore, the actual cathode material is
not damaged. However, we have used this target limiter inter-
action to know the maximum divergence angle of the energetic
deuteron beam (the energy of deuterons obtained is in the range
of 50–120 KeV for the Dena PF). After several hundred shots,
the target limiter looks like what is shown in Fig. 5. Equally, for
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 36, NO. 3, JUNE 2008
Fig. 5. (a) Aluminum target limiter with 20-cm diameter and 3-mm thickness
were placed in the window of the center of the cathode before bombardment.
(b) Aluminum target limiter etched about 1.5 cm in central points of target by
energetic deuteron bombardment.
the same purpose, experiments with other filling gases such as
Ne and Ar were carried out.
From experiments, it is concluded that the high energy
deuterons (axially accelerated deuterons) are the main cause
of the material etching. Also, those deuterons escape from the
process of the plasma sheath compression and other hot neutral
particles from the shock wave are equally participating in the
etching process, but effects of them are almost minor. However,
it should be remembered that the sputtered impurities, either
the interaction of plasma sheath with the surrounding electrodes
or the beam interactions with the target limiter, will negatively
affect the exclusive parameters of the PF device, such as
X-rays and neutron emissions [5]. If the bombardment of
material limiters is controlled with the appropriate ions, the
final product of the ion implantation makes the material useful
for the insert anode part in the PF machines.
The etched aluminum target limiter has a 1.5 cm radius, and
the minimum effects of collision are observed at the radius
of 5 cm. The maximum beam divergence angle of energetic
deuterons is found to be about 8◦ . This result clearly indicates
that the most deuteron intensity is in the direction of the device
axis. This is a good sign of efficient emissions for Dena PF. The
beam deviation from the device axis has also been observed in
some experiments; the asymmetry of pinch column formation
could be arisen due to the presence of impurities in the current
sheath [6].
C. Pinched Energy Density
According to the experimental results carried out with the
optical diagnostics [7] and scaling law [8] in the optimum
neutron production conditions, the final pinched plasma radius
and the maximum length (previous to appearance of instability)
are on the order of 0.12aM and 0.8aM , respectively, where aM
is the anode radius in the Mather-type PF device [8], [9]. In
general, the radius of the pinch can be related to the anode
radius of the PF devices. The main difference of Mather- and
Filippov-type PF devices is in what is called the aspect ratio,
which is defined as the ratio of the height and the diameter of
the anode. The Mather-type has a longer anode size, but the
Filippov type has a large anode diameter size. These conditions
allow an aspect ratio that is less than one for Filippov-type
TALAEI et al.: PINCHED PLASMA STUDY IN FILIPPOV-TYPE PLASMA FOCUS “DENA”
TABLE I
PARAMETERS, ENERGY DENSITIES FOR BOTH THE THERMAL AND NONTHERMAL PHASES, AND NEUTRON YIELD FOR VARIOUS PFs
PFs and higher than one for Mather-type PFs. The difference
aspect ratio for these PFs permits the axial and radial phases
to last longer for the Mather type (few microseconds to 10 µs)
than the Filippov type, which has a very short axial phase, but
the magnitude of the pinch dimensions has the same value in
both Mather- and Filippov-type PF devices [10]. Concerning
the energy density measurements in the Filippov-type Dena
PF, the final pinched plasma radius and the maximum length
(pervious to the appearance of instability) in the optimum
neutron production conditions are on the orders of 0.018a
and 0.056a, respectively (using the aspect ratios). Here, a is
the anode radius. The plasma volume in the pinched plasma
compression phase is as follows:
VP = π(0.018a)2 × (0.056a) = 5.7 × 10−5 a3 . (1)
Then, the plasma energy density at the pinch moment in the
Filippov-type Dena PF is proportional to the following:
E ξU0
≈ 1.75 × 104 3 (J/m3 ) (2)
VP a
where ξ is the coefficient of the initial energy stored in the
capacitor bank (U0 ), which is transferred to the pinched plasma
(ξ = 0.5−1). Using the Dena’s anode radius and the following
working conditions: 16 kV, 288 µF, and ξ = 0.75, the energy
density in the thermal phase is about 3.51 × 1010 (J/m3 ). Also,
it is demonstrated by Soto et al. [9] that the plasma energy
density at the pinch moment for the Mather-type PF is propor-
tional to E/VP ≈ 28ξU0 /a3M (J/m3 ). In general, the energy
density at the pinch in various Mather-type PF devices has
values on the order of (1 − 10) × 1010 (J/m3 ) [11]. After the
maximum compression or minimum pinch radial, the pinched
plasma volume will expand and the plasma decays by m = 0
instability mode. This is the start of the expanding phase called
nonthermal process. In this case, the deuterons scatter to a cone
shape and pierce the limiter to a radius of 1.5 cm and the
angle of maximum deviation of the energetic deuterons is about
8◦ (see Fig. 5). Therefore, the volume of the conic plasma in
the expansion phase is as follows: Vexp = πr2 L/3, where r
is the pierced radius of the limiter and L is the distance between
the pinched plasma and the replicable target limiter. The energy
density of the nonthermal phase is about
E ξU0
≈ 0.95 2 (J/m3 ). (3)
Vexp r L
797
In the Dena PF, the distance between the anode and the
aluminum limiter is 12 cm; therefore, L is almost 10 cm
(the maximum pinch length must be included). For the same
operating conditions, the energy density of the nonthermal
phase in the Filippov-type Dena PF is about 1.18 × 109 (J/m3 ).
Although the plasma energy density for the expansion phase is
less than the case of the compression phase, nevertheless, the
neutron emissions in the latter are higher. This may be due to
the presence of hot spots in the nonthermal phase [5].
In low-pressure plasma, the neutron anisotropy and yield
have lower values but the soft X-ray production is higher [12].
The energy density parameters for both thermal and nonthermal
phases and the neutron yield are compared in Table I.
IV. N EW A PPROACH FOR THE F RINGE S HIFT D ENSITY
IN T HERMAL AND N ONTHERMAL P HASES
To investigate the plasma behavior in PF devices, one
requires special diagnostic techniques. For example, the
Mach–Zehnder interferometer is used to study the plasma den-
sity evolution in thermal and nonthermal phases. Incidentally,
if we do not have access to such diagnostics, an alternative
study can be carried out using a theoretical new approach. In
the new approach, the electron distribution functions in the
two stages of the plasma phases together with some laser and
plasma parameters are assumed to determine the fringe shift
density evolutions.
A. Electron Distribution Function
For Dena PF, past experience suggests that a harmonic and
parabolic function for electron density in the thermal phase
(compression phase) and an inharmonic and hyperbolic func-
tion in the nonthermal phase (expansion phase) are needed for
a good pinch structure [see (13) and (14)]. In the new approach,
the use of electron distribution functions allows one to measure
the fringe shift density in the low plasma pressure.
B. Method of Fringe Shift Density Measurement
There are several techniques for the plasma parameter
measurements [13]–[17]. Among all the common diagnostic
techniques used, the laser interferometry has especial features
because of fast, direct, and high-resolution measurements. In
the laser interferometry, the plasma medium will be located
798 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 36, NO. 3, JUNE 2008

in one of the Mach–Zehnder interferometer arms, and then,

the optical path difference between the two arms of the
interferometer constitutes fringe shifts. For the PF devices,
energetic short pulses with an appropriate laser wavelength are
needed for the measurements.
At low collisionality plasma, the plasma phase difference
between the two arms of interferometer is a measure of the
plasma density. At low pressure discharges, where the wave
frequency w = 2πc/λ is much greater than plasma frequency
wP = (ne e2 /εo me )1/2 and the effective number of collisions
per second that an electron makes with heavy particles (ion or
atom) veff , waves can travel through the plasma. In this case, the Fig. 6. Laser beam is passed through the element of plasma density. We
following linear relationship exists between the plasma density assume a harmonic and parabolic function upon the anode surface for electron
and the phase change [18]: distribution f (r) in thermal phase. Pressure of the plasma constitutes interfer-
ometry fringes.
f ∆Φ
ne = 2.073 . (4)
d working gas, we have ∆µ(r) = µelectron (r) − µ0 . By using
(7), we have the following:
Here, the plasma density ne is in per cubic centimeters, the
phase change ∆Φ is in degrees, the anode diameter d is in ne max
∆µ(r) = − f (r). (9)
centimeters, and the wave frequency f is in per seconds. If 2nc
wP ≥ w in low collisionality plasma, the ordinary wave mode
(zero mode) is in cutoff situation and there are no data obtained When the ruby laser with λ = 694 nm, pulse duration of
from the interferometer. about 1 ns, and pulse energy of 100 mJ is passing through the
For the determination of fringe shift density by hypothetical plasma, the optical path difference between the two arms of the
electron density function, one should solve the equation of the interferometer caused by the pressure of the plasma in one of its
propagation of the electromagnetic wave in plasma medium. arms constitutes interferometry fringes. In the majority of the
This is done by solving the wave equation for a plane wave simple case of fully ionized plasma, the refractive index can be
in the small amplitude approximation, and then, the refractive approximated in (7). This formula shows that the propagation
index of plasma follows the following relationship: of an electromagnetic wave is possible only if w > wP . There-

 12 fore, the wavelength of the laser should satisfy the following
wP2 condition to prevent intense absorption and reflection:
µ= 1− 2  . (5)
w 1 ± wwe ) 1 − iveff w) 1.12 × 1013
λ2  (cm2 ) (10)
The effect of static applied magnetic field Bo is expressed by ne
the electron cyclotron frequency we = eB◦ /me c. In the special where ne is in per cubic centimeters. The fringe shift K(y) for
case when the magnetic field is negligible and the plasma is a given change in refractive index (∆µ) follows an integration
in low pressure (collisionless medium), the plasma refractive over the whole line of sight
index is written as follows:
 x2
w2 ne 1
µelectron = 1 − P2 ≈ 1 − (6) K(y) = ∆µ(r)dx (11)
w 2nc λ
x1
where nc = 4π 2 c2 ε◦ me /e2 λ2 is the plasma cutoff density.
where x1,2 are the boundary positions of the plasma (see Fig. 6).
As we know, the electron density of plasma follows ne (r) =
Using (9) and because the plasma compression phase has a
ne max f (r), where ne max is the maximum electron density
cylindrical symmetry, (11) can be expressed as an Abel integral
and f (r) is the electron distribution function in plasma (0 ≤
equation [19]:
f (r) ≤ 1). If cutoff density is more than plasma density, then
the plasma refractive index is as follows: 
 dK(y) = − λne max13 dS(y)
dy 2.23×10 dy
ne max R(cm) (12)
µelectron = 1 − f (r). (7)  S(y) = y(cm) √
f (r)rdr
.
2nc 2 2 r −y

The total refractive index is then given by the following:

The integration has to be performed from the position of
µelectron (r) = µ0 + ∆µ(r) (8) interest y to the out radius R of the plasma. For the fringe
shift density in the maximum compression phase (thermal), a
where µ0 is the refractive index of the gas-filled chamber, which
harmonic and parabolic function for the electron distribution is
is determined by the gas pressure, before the plasma in the PF is
defined as follows:
formed. The refractive index change ∆µ(r) is negative for the
contribution from the electrons and positive for the contribution 4 2 4
f (r) = − r + r, 0 ≤ r ≤ R. (13)
from the gas. In the case of the negligible contribution of neutral R2 R
TALAEI et al.: PINCHED PLASMA STUDY IN FILIPPOV-TYPE PLASMA FOCUS “DENA” 799

Fig. 7. We assume an inharmonic and hyperbolic function upon the anode

surface for electron distribution f (r) in nonthermal phase. Also, we can see
the axial current sheaths (electron moving function) in the difference distance y
with radius r.

The electron distribution function related to the compression

phase and boundary positions of the plasma is shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8. Fringe shift density given by the Abel integral equation for the
Just after maximum compression, thus, minimum radius, the parabolic function of the electron distribution and compared with one given
by a motion equation with the maximum density of 2 × 1018 cm−3 for the
plasma column will expand to a larger radius. For this phase, thermal phase. The working conditions are 37 kJ and 0.68 torr with the ruby
the inharmonic and hyperbolic function is defined as follows: laser parameters λ = 694 nm, pulse duration of 1 ns, and pulse energy of

r 2 100 mJ.
0
f (r) = (14)
r
where r0 is the final pinch radius (pervious to appearance of in-
stabilities). The electron distribution function for the expansion
phase is shown in Fig. 7.
The axial current sheath (electron moving function) may
be expressed as r2 = ky 2 + r02 , where r is the radial position
of the current sheath, y is the distance along the axis from
the mid plane, and 0.11 ≤ k ≤ 0.25 is a constant taken from
experiment [20]. A comparison between the experimentally
recorded plasma image and the result taken by MHD numerical
modeling has been made in [21].

V. R ESULT OF THE N EW A PPROACH AND D ISCUSSION

The results of fringe shift density (line per millimeter) deter-
mined by the Abel integral (12) in the thermal phase is shown in
Figs. 8 and 9. The maximum electron densities assumed are 2 ×
1018 (cm−3 ) and 8 × 1017 (cm−3 ) with the out plasma radius
R = 2.5 cm for Dena PF. A comparison between the fringe
shift density obtained by (12) and a phase change obtained by
the motion equation for plasma electrons in the approximation
of low collision frequencies (4) is made, and the results are
shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The following conditions are used
for the calculations: energy of 37 kJ, gas pressure of 0.68 torr
and a ruby laser with λ = 694 nm, pulse duration of 1 ns, and
pulse energy of 100 mJ. The results obtained for the fringe shift
density by the new approach is in fairly good agreement with
that of (4), which is made in [18]. From Fig. 8, the maximum
of the fringe shift density appears at the distance of 1.4 cm
with the maximum electron density of 2 × 1018 (cm−3 ). This
means that the center of the plasma is hotter than the plasma
edge; therefore, higher fringe shift density is presented. For
the nonthermal phase, the results for the fringe shift density
determined by (12) with the maximum electron density of
8 × 1016 (cm−3 ) and 6 × 1016 (cm−3 ) are shown in Figs. 10
and 11 (The maximum electron densities in two phases are
Fig. 9. Fringe shift density given by the Abel integral equation for parabolic
function of the electron distribution and compared with one given by a motion
equation with the maximum density of 8 × 1017 cm−3 for the thermal phase.
The working conditions are 37 kJ and 0.68 torr with the ruby laser parameters
λ = 694 nm, pulse duration of 1 ns, and pulse energy of 100 mJ.
obtained by deferent experiments, and for our calculations,
we have assumed these maximum electron densities. One can
obtain the fringe shift density for each phase of plasma with a
definite value of the maximum electron density).
Concerning the results obtained for the thermal-phase fringe
shift density, they clearly indicate that when the plasma
maximum density decreases from 2 × 1018 (cm−3 ) to 8 ×
1017 (cm−3 ), the fringe shift density decreases from approx-
imately 2.5 to 1 mm−1 at the 1.5 cm distance along the axis
from the midplasma plane. This decrement in the shift density
indicates that the plasma density is diluted. In the case of the
nonthermal phase, the same character was performed. Here, the
situation is different as the maximal plasma density, which has
a minimum radial, has already passed. Thus, it is expected that
one will see a reverse evolution for the fringe shift density as a
800
Fig. 10. Fringe shift density given by the Abel integral equation (12) for
the hyperbolic function of the electron distribution with maximum density of
8 × 1016 cm−3 for the nonthermal phase in working conditions of 37 kJ and
0.68 torr with the ruby laser parameters λ = 694 nm, pulse duration of 1 ns,
and pulse energy of 100 mJ of the Dena PF.
Fig. 11. Fringe shift density given by the Abel integral equation (12) for
the hyperbolic function of the electron distribution with maximum density of
6 × 1016 cm−3 for the nonthermal phase in working conditions of 37 kJ and
0.68 torr with the ruby laser parameters λ = 694 nm, pulse duration of 1 ns,
and pulse energy of 100 mJ of the Dena PF.
steady decreasing manner from maximum fringe shift density
with the increase of the plasma radius is calculated.
VI. C ONCLUSION
The main goal of this paper is to establish an analysis of
pinched plasma in the Dena PF. An attempt is paid to make
the complex processes of the plasma implosion dynamics easy.
The total studies presented here are based on the experimental
fact that there are two phases for the pinched plasma: thermal
and nonthermal. Although the fusion products are based on the
coexistence of both thermal and nonthermal phases, neverthe-
less, for a simple approach, it is fair enough to separate these
two mechanisms.
Finally, we explained the new approach that is capable of
presenting the plasma density evolution in the pinch phase of
the PF device without carrying out any experiments. However,
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 36, NO. 3, JUNE 2008
the results of such analysis can be compared to either theoretical
or experimental methods.
R EFERENCES
[1] N. Qi et al., “Space and time resolved electron density and current mea-
surements in a dense plasma focus Z-pinch,” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.,
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Ahmad Talaei received the B.Sc. degree in nuclear
physics from the Urmia University, Urmia, Iran, in
2005. He is currently working toward the M.Sc. de-
gree in reactor-nuclear engineering at the Amirkabir
University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
His current research interests include plasma di-
agnostics, dense magnetized plasma dynamics, dusty
plasma, fusion, and solar physics.
TALAEI et al.: PINCHED PLASMA STUDY IN FILIPPOV-TYPE PLASMA FOCUS “DENA”
S. M. Sadat Kiai received the O.N.D. degree in
engineering technology from the College of Arts
and Technology, Newcastle, U.K., the B.Sc. de-
gree in physical electronics from Newcastle upon
Tyne Polytechniques, Newcastle, U.K., in 1981, the
M.Sc. degree in physics from the University Lumiy,
Marseille, France, in 1986, and the Ph.D. degree in
charge particle confinement from the University of
Provence, Marseille.
He is currently with the Nuclear Fusion Research
Center, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Tehran,
Iran, where he is working on research on fusion and related topics, particularly
fusion reaction rates for the neutron production.
801
Shirin Adlparvar received the B.Sc. degree in
physics from the University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran,
in 1991 and the M.Sc. degree in atomic physics from
Azad University, Tehran, Iran, in 2001.
For five years, she taught a physics course in high
school. She is currently with the Nuclear Science
& Technology Research Institute, Nuclear Science
Research, A.E.O.I., Tehran, Iran. Currently, her re-
search interest is on studying plasma-focus fusion
products and the mass spectrometry.