ABSTRACT
We study 10 years (1995-2004 inclusive) of auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) radio emission data from the Wind spacecraft to examine the link between AKR and terrestrial substorms. We use substorm lists based on parameters including ground magnetometer signatures and geosynchronous particle injections as a basis for superposed epoch analyses of the AKR data. The results for each list show a similar, clear response of the AKR power around substorm onset. For nearly all event lists, the average response shows that the AKR power begins to increase around 20 min prior to expansion phase onset, as defined by the respective lists. The analysis of the spectral parameters of AKR bursts show that this increase in power is due to an extension of the source region to higher altitudes, which also precedes expansion phase onset by 20 min. Our observations show that the minimum frequency channel that observes AKR at this time, on average, is 60 kHz. AKR visibility is highly sensitive to observing spacecraft location, and the biggest radio response to substorm onset is seen in the 21:00-03:00 hr local time sector.
ABSTRACT
Power exhaust from the bulk plasma is significantly altered by symmetry breaking magnetic perturbation fields, because these create direct connections (perturbed field lines) from the confined high temperature plasma to solid surfaces. The same amount of power is distributed among those new exhaust channels as for a symmetric magnetic configuration, which reduces the local upstream heat flux flowing down the perturbed field lines, thereby making access to detachment easier (i.e., at lower upstream density) for the divertor plasma near the location corresponding to the symmetric magnetic separatrix. However, the divertor plasma regions with connection to the bulk plasma are extended nonaxisymmetrically further outside, where significant heat loads occur, unlike in the symmetric configuration. The temperature remains high at those locations, which reduces the divertor plasma dissipation capacity, making the mitigation of heat loads more difficult to achieve.
ABSTRACT
The unique properties of CVD diamond make it a compelling choice for high power electronics. In order to achieve industrial use of CVD diamond, one must simultaneously obtain an excellent control of the film purity, very low defect content and a sufficiently rapid growth rate. Currently, only microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (MPACVD) processes making use of resonant cavity systems provide enough atomic hydrogen to satisfy these requirements. We show in this paper that the use of high microwave power density (MWPD) plasmas is necessary to promote atomic hydrogen concentrations that are high enough to ensure the deposition of high purity diamond films at large growth rates. Moreover, the deposition of homogeneous films on large surfaces calls for the production of plasma with appropriate shapes and large volumes. The production of such plasmas needs generating a fairly high electric field over extended regions and requires a careful design of the MW coupling system, especially the cavity. As far as MW coupling efficiency is concerned, the presence of a plasma load represents a mismatching perturbation to the cavity. This perturbation is especially important at high MWPD where the reflected fraction of the input power may be quite high. This mismatch can lead to a pronounced heating of the reactor walls. It must therefore be taken into account from the very beginning of the reactor design. This requires the implementation of plasma modelling tools coupled to detailed electromagnetic simulations. This is discussed in section 3. We also briefly discuss the operating principles of the main commercial plasma reactors before introducing the reactor design methodology we have developed. Modelling results for a new generation of reactors developed at LIMHP, working at very high power density, will be presented. Lastly, we show that scaling up this type of reactor to lower frequencies (915 MHz) can result in high density plasmas allowing for fast and homogeneous diamond deposition on up to 160 mm diameter surfaces.
