Plasma flow and instabilities in the magnetic mirror with ion recycling and neutral back-flow

Abstract

Magnetic mirror configurations are observed in natural settings and have various applications in laboratory plasmas, such as a magnetic expander of the open mirror fusion devices. The axial plasma flow in open mirror systems is significantly influenced by atomic processes involving neutrals, such as ionization and charge-exchange collisions. A quasi-two-dimensional computational model was developed to study these effects on accelerated plasma flow in magnetic mirror configurations. This model includes an emitting wall, a quasineutral flow/acceleration region with a magnetic expander, and a recycling/absorbing wall. Implemented in a hybrid quasineutral code, the model incorporates drift-kinetic ions, fluid electrons, and fully kinetic neutral atoms with collision processes simulated using the direct simulation Monte Carlo approach. Ion recycling on the wall is accounted for using empirical methods. The model demonstrates that slow atoms with short mean free paths create a dense plasma layer near the wall, modifying the plasma potential which can lead to large-scale perturbations due to ion–ion streaming instabilities.