Simulation of ion cyclotron heating in the auroral current region in the VASIMR
Abstract
Plasma physics has found an increasing range of practical industrial applications including the development of electric spacecraft propulsion systems One of these systems the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket VASIMR engine both applies and can be used to simulate several important physical processes occurring in the magnetosphere These processes include the mechanisms involved in the ion acceleration and heating that occur in the Birkeland currents of an auroral arc system Auroral current region processes that are simulated in VASIMR include lower hybrid heating parallel electric field acceleration and ion cyclotron acceleration This paper will focus on using a physics demonstration model VASIMR to study ion cyclotron heating ICRH similar to auroral zone processes The production of upward moving ion conics and ion heating are significant features in auroral processes It is believed that ion cyclotron heating plays a role in these processes but laboratory simulation of these auroral effects is difficult owing to the fact that the ions involved only pass through the acceleration region once In the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket VASIMR we have successfully simulated these effects The current configuration of the VASIMR uses a helicon antenna with up to 20 kW of power to generate plasma then uses an RF booster stage that uses left hand polarized slow mode waves launched from the high field side of the resonance The current setup for the booster uses 2 to 4 MHz waves with up to 20 kW of power This is
- Publication:
-
36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006cosp...36.2518B