Control of the equilibrium of a plasma column in a system with traveling magnetic fields

Experiments were performed to examine the formation of a plasma column instability during plasma confinement by traveling magnetic fields. Magnetic probe signals showed that these plasma oscillations result from loss of equilibrium of the plasma column due to the formation of a drift current of entrainment in the skin layer. By using a transverse magnetic field which interacted with this drift current, it was possible to control the equilibrium of the plasma column and to prevent the oscillations. The displacement of the equilibrium in the plasma column in the field of the traveling wave and the value of the transverse magnetic field, necessary for compensating the displacement, were determined from an analysis of the equations of motion of the plasma column.