Overview of Reconnection Scaling Experiment at LANL and first experimental results
Abstract
The Reconnection Scaling eXperiment (RSX), a new linear device for the investigation of magnetic reconnection in laboratory plasmas, was constructed over the past two years and recently came on line at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). RSX relies on plasma gun technology to generate high density (10^14cm^3), high current (J200 A/cm^2) ohmically heated (T_e15eV) plasma channels. The 4m vacuum vessel is surrounded by a set of 12 magnet coils which can generate an axial field of up to 1kG. The flexibility of RSX allows to scale directly and independently many key plasma parameters to access collisional and non-collisional regimes in which both the electrons and the ions are magnetized. The machine design is reviewed together with the main diagnostics and control system. The first experimental results on the interaction of two current channels are presented.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- November 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002APS..DPPKP1008F