Session GP1 - Poster Session IV.
POSTER session, Tuesday afternoon, October 30
Exhibit Hall B,
As part of the effort of the TCS program to explore the physics of RMF generated FRCs, a start-up experiment has been constructed to operate at much higher RMF and axial magnetic fields. It is hoped that with the RMF alone at higher power density , it will be possible to form plasmas with both high density, and high electron and ion temperatures. To this end the STX experiment with its 2 MW RMF supply was reconfigured to drive a smaller plasma volume (r_p reduced from 18 to 6 cm). In addition an axially remote plasma source was used to supply plasma in a manner that limits neutral contamination and RMF field penetration issues. With axial fields in the kG range, plasma temperatures and densities in a more fusion relevant regime can be studied. Initial results at low RMF power (60 kW) have produced Te = Ti for the first time (T_tot ~ 25 eV). As a result, both ions and electrons are magnetized (ømega\tau >> 1). Unlike previous experiments, the plasma is formed with a fully penetrated RMF field, producing a rigid rotor current profile. The plasma resistivity at low RMF power is consistent with classical (~ 60 \muohm-m). The particle confinement is found to be considerably enhanced by the RMF, with a confinement time several times classical. Results at higher power will be presented as well.