Direct Measurement of Nonclassical Particle Losses in a Linear Quadrupole

Abstract

In a linear quadrupole plasma containment device, lacking internal supports for the current conductors, the flux of charged particles from the main plasma volume is measured directly. With rf‐produced plasmas ${\mathrm{(n}}_e{\text{between 10}}^{10}{\text{− 10}}^{12}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\text{−3}}{\mathrm{,\; T}}_e{\text{̃ 10 eV, T}}_i\text{< 1 eV)}$ , the end losses are only a small fraction of the total losses. Most of the plasma is lost outwards in a direction perpendicular to the current conductors (radial loss). With gun‐injected plasmas, the radial loss is usually smaller than the end loss but is still nonclassical.