Magnetic Field Curves and Magnetic Equipotential Surfaces around Crossing Electrical Wires Replacing Classical Magnetic Field Lines

This article is based on a recent model specifically defining magnetic field values around electrical wires. With this model, calculations of field around parallel wires were obtained. Now, this model is extended with the new concept of magnetic equipotential surface to magnetic field curves around crossing wires. Cases of single, double, and triple wires are described. Subsequent article will be conducted for more general scenarios where wires are neither infinite nor parallel.

Modeling Density and Anisotropy of Energetic Electrons Along Magnetic Field Lines

The electromagnetic wave growth or damping depends basically on the number density and anisotropy of energetic particles as the resonant interaction takes place between the particles and waves in the magnetosphere. The variance of both the number density and anisotropy along the magnetic field line is evaluated systematically by modeling four typically prescribed distribution functions. It is shown that in the case of ＂the positive anisotropy＂ （namely, the perpendicular temperature T⊥ exceeds the parallel temperature T｜｜）, the number density of energetic electrons always decreases with the magnetic latitude for a regular increasing magnetic field and the maximum wave growth is therefore generally confined to the equator where the resonant energy is minimum, and the number density is the largest. However, the ＂loss-cone＂ anisotropy of the electrons with a ＂pancake＂ distribution or kappa distribution keeps invariant or nearly invariant, whereas the ＂temperature＂ anisotropy with a pure bi-Maxwellian distribution or Ashour-Abdalla and Kennel＇s distributions decreases with the magnetic latitude. The results may provide a useful approach to evaluating the number density and anisotropy of the energetic electrons at latitudes where the observation information is not available.

Investigation of an X-band magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator

An X-band magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator （MILO） is designed and investigated numerically and experimentally for the first time. The X-band MILO is optimized in detail with KARAT code. In simulation, the X-band MILO, driven by a 720 kV, 53 kA electron beam, comes to a nonlinear steady state in 4.0 ns. High-power microwaves （HPM） of TEM mode is generated with an average power of 4.1 GW, a frequency of 9.3 GHz, and power conversion efficiency of 10.870 in durations of 0-40 ns. The device is fabricated according to the simulation results. In experiments, when the voltage is 400 kV and the current is 50 kA, the radiated microwave power reaches about 110 MW and the dominating frequency is 9.7GHz. Because the surfaces of the cathode end and the beam dump are destroyed, the diode voltage cannot increase continuously. However, when the diode voltage is 400 kV, the average power output is obtained to be 700 MW in simulation. The impedance of the device is clearly smaller than the simulation prediction. Moreover, the duration of the microwave pulse is obviously shorter than that of the current pulse. The experimental results are greatly different from the simulation predictions. The preliminary analyses show that the generations of the anode plasma, the cathode flare and the anode flare are the essential cause for the remarkable deviation of the experimental results from the simulation predictions.

Experimental Study of Current Loss of Stainless Steel Magnetically Insulated Transmission Line with Current Density at MA/cm Level

A magnetically insulated transmission line （MITL） is used to transmit high power electric pulses in large pulse power systems. However, current loss is unavoidable, especially when the current density is up to 1 MA/cm. In the paper, the current loss of an MITL made of stainless steel, which is usually used in large pulse power generators, is experimentally studied, and possible mechanisms to explain the current loss of the MITL are analyzed and discussed. From the experimental results, the relationship between loss current density and input current density follows approximately a power law. The loss is also related to the configuration of the MITL.

Magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator oscillated in a modified HEM_(11) mode

This paper puts forward a novel magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator （MILO） for the first time which takes a modified HEM11 mode as its main interaction mode. The excitation of the oscillation mode is made possible by carefully adjusting the arrangements of each resonant cavity in a two-dimensional （2-D） slow wave structure. The high frequency characteristics are analyzed and a PIC simulation is carried out; the detailed results are discussed to get a better understanding of this new MILO. Employing an electron beam of about 441 kV and 39.7 kA, it finds that the modified HEM11 mode MILO generates a high power microwave output of about 1.47 GW at 1.45 GHz. The power conversion efficiency is about 8.4% and the generated microwave is in a TEll-like circularly polarized mode; its polarization direction is decided by the rotation direction of the SWS.

HEM_(11) mode magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator:Simulation and experiment

A novel magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator （MILO） in which a modified HEM11 mode is taken as its main interaction mode （HEM11 mode MILO） is simulated and experimented in this paper. The excitation of the oscillation mode is made possible by carefully adjusting the arrangement of each resonant cavity in a two-dimensional slow wave structure. The special feature of such a device is that in the slow-wave-structure region, the interaction mode is HEM11 mode which is a TM-like one that could interact with electron beams effectively; and in the coaxial output region, the microwave mode is TE11 mode which has a favourable field density pattern to be directly radiated. Employing an electron beam of about 441 kV and 39.7 kA, the HEM11 mode MILO generates a high power microwave output of about 1.47 GW at 1.45 GHz in particle-in-cell simulation. The power conversion efficiency is about 8.4 % and the generated microwave is in a TEll-like circular polarization mode. In a preliminary experiment investigation, high power microwave is detected from the device with a frequency of 1.46 GHz, an output energy of 43 J 47 J, and a pulse duration of 44 ns-49 ns when the input voltage is 430 kV450 kV, and the diode current is 37 kA-39 kA.

Simulational Investigation of a High-Efficiency X-Band Magnetically Insulated Line Oscillator

Abstract The magnetically insulated line oscillator （MILO） is a gigawatt-class, coaxial crossed-field microwave tube, which is at present a major hotspot in the field of high-power mi- crowaves （HPM） research. In order to improve the power conversion efficiency and eliminate or at least minimize anode plasma formation in the load region and radio frequency （RF） breakdown in the slow wave structure （SWS） section, an X-band MILO is presented and inyestigated nu- merically with KARAT code. The design idea is briefly presented and the simulation results are given and discussed. In the simulation, HPM is generated with peak power of 3.4 GW, maximum electric field of about 1 MV/cm, and peak power conversion efficiency of 14.0%, when the voltage is 559.1 kV and the current is 43.2 kA. The microwave frequency is pure and falls in the X-band of 9.0 GHz. The theoretical investigation and the simulation results are given to prove that the anode plasma formation and the RF breakdown can be effectively avoided or at least minimized, respectively.

A tunable magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator

A tunable magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator（MILO） is put forward and simulated. When the MILO is driven by a 430 k V, 40.6 k A electron beam, high-power microwave is generated with a peak output power of 3.0 GW and frequency of 1.51 GHz, and the relevant power conversion efficiency is 17.2%. The 3-d B tunable frequency range（the relative output power is above half of the peak output power） is 2.25–0.825 GHz when the outer radius of the slow-wave structure（SWS） vanes ranges from 77 mm to 155 mm, and the 3-d B tuning bandwidth is 92%, which is sufficient for the aim of large-scale tuning and high power output.

Effect of Anode Magnetic Shield on Magnetic Field and Ion Beam in Cylindrical Hall Thruster

Numerical simulation of the effect of the anode magnetic shielding on the magnetic field and ion beam in a cylindrical Hall thruster is presented. The results show that after the anode is shielded by the magnetic shield, the magnetic field lines near the anode surface are obviously convex curved, the ratio of the magnetic mirror is enhanced, the width of the positive magnetic field gradient becomes larger than that without the anode magnetic shielding, the radial magnetic field component is enhanced, and the discharge plasma turbulence is reduced as a result of keeping the original saddle field profile and the important role the other two saddle field profiles play in restricting electrons. The results of the particle in cell （PIC） numerical simulation show that both the ion number and the energy of the ion beam increase after the anode is shielded by the magnetic shield. In other words, the specific impulse of the cylindrical Hall thruster is enhanced.

Matching characteristics of magnetic field configuration and chamfered channel wall in a magnetically shielded Hall thruster

To date, the selection of the magnetic field line used to match the chamfered inner and outer channel walls in a magnetically shielded Hall thruster has not been quantitatively studied. Hence, an experimental study was conducted on a 1.35 k W magnetically shielded Hall thruster with a xenon propellant. Different magnetic field lines were chosen, and corresponding tangentially matched channel walls were manufactured and utilized. The results demonstrate that high performance and a qualified anti-sputtering effect cannot be achieved simultaneously. When the magnetic field lines that match the chamfered wall have a strength at the channel centerline of less than 12% of the maximum field strength, the channel wall can be adequately protected from ion sputtering. When the magnetic field lines have a strength ratio of 12%–20%, the thruster performance is high. These findings provide the first significant quantitative design reference for the match between the magnetic field line and chamfered channel wall in magnetically shielded Hall thrusters.

Control of vacuum arc source cathode spots contraction motion by changing electromagnetic field

This paper investigates the magnetic field component impact on cathode spots motion trajectory and the mechanism of periodic contraction.Electromagnetic coils and permanent magnets were installed at the different sides of cathode surface,the photographs of cathode spots motion trajectory were captured by a camera.Increasing the number of magnets and decreasing the distance between magnets and cathode both lead to enhancing cathode spots motion velocity.Radii of cathode spots trajectory decrease gradually with the increasing of electromagnetic coil＇s current,from 40 mm at 0 A to 10 mm at 2.7 A.Parallel magnetic field component intensity influence the speed of cathode spots rotate motion,and perpendicular magnetic field component drives spots drift in the radial direction.Cathode spot＇s radial drift is controlled by changing the location of the ‘zero line＇ where perpendicular magnetic component shifts direction and the radius of cathode spots trajectory almost equal to ‘zero line＇.

Investigation on current loss of high-power vacuum transmission lines with coaxial-disk transitions by particle-in-cell simulations

Coaxial-disk transitions can generate non-uniform magnetic fields and abrupt impedance variations in magnetically insulated transmission lines(MITLs),resulting in disturbed electron flow and non-negligible current loss.In this paper,3 D particle-in-cell simulations are conducted with UNPIC-3 d to investigate the current loss mechanism and the influence of the input parameters of the coaxial-disk transition on current loss in an MITL system.The results reveal that the magnetic field non-uniformity causes major current loss in the MITL after the coaxialdisk transition,and the non-uniformity decreases with the distance away from the transition.The uniformity of the magnetic field is improved when increasing the number of feed lines of a linear transformer driver-based accelerator with coaxial-disk transitions.The number of input feed lines should be no less than four in the azimuthal distribution to obtain acceptable uniformity of the magnetic field.To make the ratio of the current loss to the total current of the accelerator less than 2%at peak anode current,the ratio of the current in each feed line to the total current should be no less than 8%.

Dynamic Model for the Z Accelerator Vacuum Section Based on Transmission Line Code

The transmission-line-circuit model of the Z accelerator, developed originally by W. A. STYGAR, P. A. CORCORAN, et al., is revised. The revised model uses different calculations for the electron loss and flow impedance in the magnetically insulated transmission line system of the Z accelerator before and after magnetic insulation is established. By including electron pressure and zero electric field at the cathode, a closed set of equations is obtained at each time step, and dynamic shunt resistance （used to represent any electron loss to the anode） and flow impedance are solved, which have been incorporated into the transmission line code for simulations of the vacuum section in the Z accelerator. Finally, the results are discussed in comparison with earlier findings to show the effectiveness and limitations of the model.

Analysis of Temperature Rise Characteristics and Fatigue Damage Degree of ACSR Broken Strand

In this paper,the research on ACSR temperature of broken strand and fatigue damage after broken strand is carried out.Conduct modeling and Analysis on the conductor through AnsoftMaxwell software.The distribution of magnetic force lines in the cross section of the conductor after strand breaking and the temperature change law of the conductor with the number of broken strands are analyzed.A model based on electromagnetic theory is established to analyze the distribution of magnetic lines of force in the cross section of the conductor after strand breaking and the temperature variation law of the conductor with the number of broken strands.The finite element analysis results show that with the increase in the number of broken strands,the cross-sectional area of the conductor decreases,the magnetic line of force of the inner conductor at the broken strand becomes denser and denser,and the electromagnetic loss of the conductor becomes larger and larger.Therefore,the temperature of the conductor at the broken strand becomes higher and higher.Then,the current carrying experiment of conductor is carried out for LGJ-240/30 conductor.It is found that the temperature rise at the junction of inner and outer layers at the broken strand is particularly obvious,and the temperature of inner aluminumconductor at the broken strand also increases with the increase of broken strand.According to the analysis of experimental data,with the increase of broken strands,the antivibration ability and service life of the conductor decrease.At the same time,under certain conditions of broken strand,the fatigue life of conductor increases with the increase of temperature.

Research progresses on Cherenkov and transit-time high-power microwave sources at NUDT

Research progresses on Cherenkov and transit-time high-power microwave(HPM)sources in National University of Defense Technology(NUDT)of China are presented.The research issues are focused on the following aspects.The pulse-shortening phenomenon in O-type Cerenkov HPM devices is suppressed.The compact coaxial relativistic backward-wave oscillators(RBWOs)at low bands are developed.The power efficiency in M-Type HPM tubes without guiding magnetic field increased.The power capacities and power efficiencies in the triaxial klystron amplifier(TKA)and relativistic transit-time oscillator(TTO)at higher frequencies increased.In experiments,some exciting results were obtained.The X-band source generated 2 GW microwave power with a pulse duration of 110 ns in 30 Hz repetition mode.Both L-and P-band compact RBWOs generated over 2 GW microwave power with a power efficiency of over 30%.There is approximately a 75% decline of the volume compared with that of conventional RBWO under the same power capacity conditions.A 1.755 GHz MILO produced 3.1 GW microwave power with power efficiency of 10.4%.A 9.37 GHz TKA produced the 240 MW microwave power with the gain of 34 dB.A 14.3 GHz TTO produced 1 GW microwave power with power efficiency of 20%.

Diagnostics of Ellerman bombs with high-resolution spectral data

Ellerman bombs （EBs） are tiny brightenings often observed near sunspots. The most impressive characteristic of EB spectra is the two emission bumps in both wings of the Hα and Ca II 8542 A lines. High-resolution spectral data of three small EBs were obtained on 2013 June 6 with the largest solar telescope, the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The characteristics of these EBs are analyzed. The sizes of the EBs are in the range of 0.3＂ - 0.8＂ and their durations are only 3-5 min. Our semi-empirical atmospheric models indicate that the heating occurs around the temperature minimum region with a temperature increase of 2700- 3000 K, which is surprisingly higher than previously thought. The radiative and kinetic energies are estimated to be as high as 5 × 1025 - 3.0 × 10^26 erg despite the small size of these EBs. Observations of the magnetic field show that the EBs just appeared in a parasitic region with mixed polarities and were accompanied by mass motions. Nonlinear force-free field extrapolation reveals that the three EBs are connected with a series of magnetic field lines associated with bald patches, which strongly implies that these EBs should be produced by magnetic reconnection in the solar lower atmosphere. According to the lightcurves and the estimated magnetic reconnection rate, we propose that there is a three phase process in EBs： pre-heating, flaring and cooling phases.

Frequency Tunability and Slow-Wave Characteristics of a High-Efficiency Ridged MILO

A high-efficiency ridged magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (RMILO) is proposed and investigated theoretically and numerically in this paper. In the RMILO, ridge-disk vanes are introduced to enhance the power efficiency. Theoretical investigation shows that the ridge-disk can enhance the coupling impedance of the slow-wave structure (SWS), and so enhance the power efficiency. Moreover, the ridge has a weak influence on frequency, so, it influences little on the tunability of the MILO. In simulation, when the applied voltage is increased to 807 kV, the RMILO can get the 3 dB tunable frequency range with 7.6 - 13.9 GHz and the 3 dB tuning bandwidth with 58.6% which has an increase of 27.6% compared with the conventional MILO. So, the tuning performance of the RMILO is more superior. Besides, the RMILO gets the maximum output power of 7.1 GW, the corresponding power efficiency is 22.6% and the frequency is 1.400 GHz. Furthermore, when the applied voltage is increased to 807 kV, high-power microwave with a power of 13.5 GW, frequency of 1.400 GHz, and ef?ciency of 24.5% is generated, which has an increase of 20.2% compared with the conventional MILO. The simulation results con?rm the ones predicted by theoretical analysis.

A low-outgassing-rate carbon fiber array cathode

In this paper, a new carbon fiber based cathode — a low-outgassing-rate carbon fiber array cathode — is investigated experimentally, and the experimental results are compared with those of a polymer velvet cathode. The carbon fiber array cathode is constructed by inserting bunches of carbon fibers into the cylindrical surface of the cathode. In experiment, the diode base pressure is maintained at 1×10^（-2） Pa–2×10^（-2） Pa, and the diode is driven by a compact pulsed power system which can provide a diode voltage of about 100 kV and pulse duration of about 30 ns at a repetition rate of tens of Hz.Real-time pressure data are measured by a magnetron gauge. Under the similar conditions, the experimental results show that the outgassing rate of the carbon fiber array cathode is an order smaller than that of the velvet cathode and that this carbon fiber array cathode has better shot-to-shot stability than the velvet cathode. Hence, this carbon fiber array cathode is demonstrated to be a promising cathode for the radial diode, which can be used in magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator（MILO） and relativistic magnetron（RM）.

Joint observations of the large-scale ULF wave activity from space to ground associated with the solar wind dynamic pressure enhancement

This study reports the rare ultralow-frequency(ULF) wave activity associated with the solar wind dynamic pressure enhancement that was successively observed by the GOES-17(Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) in the magnetosphere, the CSES(China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) in the ionosphere, and the THEMIS ground-based observatories(GBO) GAKO and EAGL in the Earth's polar region during the main phase of an intense storm on 4 November 2021. Along with the enhanced-pressure solar wind moving tailward, the geomagnetic field structure experienced a large-scale change. From dawn/dusk sides to midnight, the GAKO, EAGL, and GOES-17 sequentially observed the ULF waves in a frequency range of0.04–0.36 Hz at L shells of ~5.07, 6.29, and 5.67, respectively. CSES also observed the ULF wave event with the same frequency ranges at wide L-shells of 2.52–6.22 in the nightside ionosphere. The analysis results show that the ULF waves at ionospheric altitude were mixed toroidal-poloidal mode waves. Comparing the ULF waves observed in different regions, we infer that the nightside ULF waves were directly or indirectly excited by the solar wind dynamic pressure increase: in the area of L-shells~2.52–6.29, the magnetic field line resonances(FLRs) driven by the solar wind dynamic pressure increase is an essential excitation source;on the other hand, around L~3.29, the ULF waves can also be excited by the outward expansion of the plasmapause owing to the decrease of the magnetospheric convection, and in the region of L-shells ~5.19–6.29, the ULF waves are also likely excited by the ion cyclotron instabilities driven by the solar wind dynamic pressure increase.