Thesis (M.S.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "December, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-64). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-188).

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This thesis presents results on the description of plasma waves in terms of wavepackets. The wave field is decomposed into a distribution of wavepackets in a space of position, wavevector, time, and frequency. A complex structure joining each pair of Fourier conjugate variables into a single complex coordinate allows the efficient derivation of equations of motion for the phase space distribution by exploiting its analytic properties. The Wick symbol calculus, a mathematical tool generalizing many convenient properties of the Fourier transform to a local setting, is used to derive new exact phase space equations which maintain full information on the phase of the waves and include effects nonlocal in phase space such as harmonic generation. A general purpose asymptotic expansion of the Wick symbol product formula is used to treat dispersion, refraction, photon acceleration, and ponderomotive forces. Examples studied include the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, mode conversion, and the Vlasov equation. The structure of partially coherent wave fields is understood in terms of zeros in the phase space distribution caused by dislocations in its complex phase which are shown to be correlated with the field entropy. Simulations of plasma heating by crossing electron beams are understood by representing the resulting plasma waves in phase space. The local coherence properties of the beam driven Langmuir waves are studied numerically.

abstract: The goal is to provide accurate measurement of the channel between a ground source and a receiving satellite. The effects of the the ionosphere for ground to space propagation for radio waves in the 3-30 MHz HF band is an unstudied subject. The effects of the ionosphere on radio propagation is a long studied subject, the primary focus has been ground to ground by means of ionospheric reflection and space to ground corrections of ionospheric distortions of GPS. Because of the plasma properties of the ionosphere there is a strong dependence on the frequency of use. GPS L1 1575.42 MHz and L2 1227.60 MHz are much less effected than the 3-30 MHz HF band used for skywave propagation. The channel between the ground transmitter and the satellite receiver is characterized by 2 unique polarization modes with respective delays and Dopplers. Accurate estimates of delay and Doppler are done using polynomial fit functions. The application of polarimetric separation of the two propagating polarizations allows improved estimate quality of delay and Doppler of the respective mode. These methods yield good channel models and an effective channel estimation method well suited for the ground to space propagation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2017

The destabilization of plasma waves upon their interaction with fast ions is studied using a kinetic framework. The work consists of two parts: (I) a study of the applicability of quasilinear theory using a pertubative, early-time nonlinear evolution of a mode and its prediction with respect to chirping oscillations, and (II) the resonance-broadened quasilinear formulation of the evolution of unstable modes. In part I, we have developed predictive capabilities for the type of fast-ion-induced transport by means of a criterion for the likelihood of a mode to oscillate at a constant frequency or to evolve to a bifurcation consisting of nonlinear chirping oscillations. The proposed criterion is derived and evaluated using the linear codes NOVA and NOVA-K. The criterion was shown to be in agreement with experimentally observed modes in the tokamaks DIII-D and NSTX. The analysis reveals that micro-turbulence is a key mediator for suppressing chirping and therefore allowing quasilinear theory to be applicable. In part II, a system of resonance-broadened quasilinear equations (RBQ) was derived using action and angle variables, which takes advantage of system symmetries by using the invariants of the unperturbed motion as variables when accounting for the effects of perturbations due to modes. The equations capture information on mode structures and on resonances that are spread over phase space. We then expressed them in terms of NOVA code notation. The RBQ model is presented, along with the finite-difference scheme used for numerical integration. Numerical results and future developments are also described. / A desestabilização de ondas em plasmas quando de sua interação com íons rápidos é estudada utilizando a abordagem cinética. Este trabalho consiste em duas partes: (I) um estudo sobre a aplicabilidade da teoria quase-linear, utilizando a evolução não linear perturbada em seu estágio inicial de um modo e sua previsão com respeito às oscilações do tipo gorjeio (chirping), e (II) a formulação quase-linear de ressonâncias alargadas da evolução de modos instáveis. Na parte I, desenvolvemos capacidades preditivas em relação ao tipo de transporte in- duzido por íons rápidos por meio de um critério a respeito da probabilidade de um modo oscilar com uma frequência constante ou evoluir para uma bifurcação que consista de os- cilações de gorjeio não lineares. O critério proposto é derivado e calculado utilizando os códigos lineares NOVA e NOVA-K. Mostramos que o critério obtido concorda com modos observados experimentalmente nos tokamaks DIII-D e NSTX. A análise revela que a mi- croturbulência é um mediador-chave na supressão dos gorjeios e que, portanto, permite que a teoria quase-linear seja aplicável. Na parte II, um sistema de equações quase-lineares com ressonâncias alargadas (RBQ) foi derivado utilizando variáveis de ângulo e ação, tirando-se proveito das simetrias do sistema ao se tomar como variáveis os invariantes do movimento não perturbado quando consideramos os efeitos das perturbações aos modos. As equações capturam as informações sobre a estrutura dos modos e sobre as ressonâncias que se espalham sobre o espaço de fase. Expressamo-las, então, em termos da notação do código NOVA. O modelo RBQ é apresentado, juntamente com um esquema de diferenças finitas, utilizado para a integração numérica. Resultados numéricos e desenvolvimentos futuros também são descritos.

O trabalho apresentado aqui visou estudar a implantação de elementos em superfícies metálicas (particularmente cobre) de maneira controlada, investigando-se as alterações que tal implante causou na estrutura da superfície, objetivando uma possível melhoria no comportamento desses metais a serem utilizados como catodos em tochas de plasma ou para várias outras aplicações, tais como em catálise, micro eletrônica, oxidação e corrosão de metais e outros. Filmes finos de cobre policristalino foram implantados com íond (energia de 20KeV até 50KeV; doses da ordem de 10 15íons/cm2) de metais alcalinos (Li, Na, K, Rb e Cs) bem como de O e Cl. Foram realizadas diversas análises de superfície visando determinar as alterações ocorridas no cobre quando da implantação dos íons, tais como: composição de superfície (Auger Electron Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), estrutura de superfícies em termos de topografia e do potencial de superfície (Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy), composição volumétrica X-ray Fluorescence, Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy e Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), concentração de oxigênio (Elastic non-Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy) e estrutura cristalina (X-ray Diffraction). Modelos teóricos foram utilizados para se obter uma compreensão melhor das alterações estruturais que ocorrem durante a implantação iônica em uma superfície metálica (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter e Tight-Binding Linear Muffin-Tin Orbital Atomic Sphere Approximation (Coherent Potential Approximation)). As análises de composição superficial mostraram que as concentrações dos elementos C, N, Cl e S dos substratos de cobre não implantados e implantados foram similares e que a única alteração na composição superficial, causada pelo processo da implantação iônica, foi a introdução dos íons desejados nos filmes de cobre. Observou-se que mesmo as pequenas doses de íons podem causar uma grande diminuição da função de trabalho (2-30%) em relação ao cubro puro; já a implantação de O e Cl gerou um aumento na função de trabalho de 300mV e 900MV, respectivamente. As concentrações detectadas de íons implantados de metais alcalinos podem ser consideradas altas (tendo em vista as doses de implantação relativamente pequenas, da ordem de 10.15ions/cm2) diminuindo rápido na direção do bulk das amostras; esta distribuição se deve provavelmente a um processo de migração de íons na direção da superfície. Os resultados de EBS e KPFM indicam que uma maior dose não necessariamente gera uma concentração maior de íons implantados na primeira camada superficial. Observou-se também que somente uma parte da dose total dos íons é efetivamente implantada, devido ao processo de sputtering, que ocorre durante a implantação iônica. A implantação iônica de diferentes íons alcalinos influencia diferentemente os processos de oxidação das amostras. A principal influência no aumento da oxidação é a estrutura topográfica das amostras; porém, a presença de íons implantados nas superfícies das amostras parece influenciar as etapas iniciais de oxidação, aumentando ou diminuindo a absorção de oxigênio. Para o caso da implantação dos íons de O e Cl, a concentração desses íons parece aumentar com a profundidade até um certo nível, o que, por sua vez, indica que não houve um processo de migração durante a implantação. Isto se deve provavelmente ao fato de que estes íons criam ligações com os elementos de substrato. As alterações da função de trabalho de dois casos distintos de deposição de metais (Ag e Cs) sobre Cu (111), foi estudada com o programa TB-LMTO-ASA (CPA), utilizando-se, nas simulações, valores diferentes para o raio de Wigner-Seitz para esferas vazias (WSES); os resultados das alterações da função de trabalho durante a deposição foram aproximadamente 20% menores em comparação com os valores experimentais da literatura. O efeito de WSES, que é, em princípio, um artefato computacional, sobre o valor da função de trabalho do sistema é normalmente interpretado como uma não confiabilidade dos modelos baseados nos conceitos de ASA. Porém, os resultados obtidos durante este trabalho indicam a existência de uma relação entre WSES e a rigorosidade da superfície; portanto, o sentido físico de esferas vazias pode ser visto como uma medida da rugosidade superficial. / In this work, the controlled implantation of the different elements in the metallic surfaces (particularly copper) was performed, in order to study the changes that the implantation causes on the surface structure, aiming to improve the behaviour of those metals for their use as cathodes in plasma torches or other applications, such as: catalysis, microelectronics, oxidation and corrosion of metals and others. Thin polycrystalline copper films were implanted with ions (energy 20-50keV; doses of order of \'10 POT. 15\' ions/\'cm POT. 2\') of alkaline metals (\'LI\', \'NA\', \'K\', \'RB\', and \'CS\') as well as of \'O\' and \'CL\'. Different surface analyses were performed in order to determine the changes on copper due to the ion implantation, in terms of: surface composition (Auger Electron Spectroscopy, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy), topographic and surface potential structure (Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy), bulk composition (X-ray Fluorescence, Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy e Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy), oxygen concentration (Elastic non-Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy) and crystalline structure (X-ray Diffraction). Theoretical models were used to understand better the structural changes which occur on the metallic surface during the ion implantation process (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter e Tight-Binding Linear Muffin-Tin Orbital Atomic Sphere Approximation (Coherent Potential Approximation)). The surface composition analyses of implanted and non-implanted copper substrates showed similar concentration of \'C\', \'N\', \'CL\' and \'S\' and that the only change in surface concentration, due to the ion implantation process, was the introduction of the desired ions in the surface of copper films. It was observed that even small ion doses can cause relatively large decrease of work function (2-30%) in relation to the pure copper value; the implantation of O and CL caused an increase in work function of 300m V and 900mV, respectively. The detected concentration of implanted alkali metal ions was relatively high (taking into consideration relatively small implantation doses, of the order of \'10 POT. 15\' ions/\'cm POT. 2\'), decreasing fast towards bulk of the samples; this distribution were probably caused by a migration process of implanted ions towards the surface. The EBS and KPFM results indicate that not always the largest dose produces the largest implanted ion concentration in the surface layer. It was also observed that only a part of the total ion dose is effectively implanted, due to the sputtering during the ion implantation process. Implantation of different alkali ions influences the sample oxidation process in a different way. The principal influence in the increase of oxidation is the topographic structure of the samples; however, the presence of the implanted ions on the samples surface seems to influence the initial stages of the oxidation, increasing or decreasing the oxygen adsorption. Of the cases of the O and CL implantation, the concentration of these ions seems to increase with depth, which indicates that there were no migration process involved. This is probably due to the fact that these ions create bonds with the substrate elements. The changes in the work function for two distinct cases of metal (AG and CS) deposition on CU (111) was studied with the computational programme TB-LMTO-ASA (CPA), using, in the simulations, different values for the Wigner-Seitz radius for Empty Spheres (\'WS IND. ES\'); the results on the work function changes during the deposition were approximately 20% lower in comparison with the experimental data from the literature. The effect of \'WS IND. ES\', which is, in principle, a computation artefact, on the work function value of the studied systems is normally interpreted as the non-reliability of the models based on the ASA concepts. However, the results obtained during this work indicate that there is a relation between the \'WS IND. ES\' and the surface roughness; therefore, physical meaning of the empty spheres can be understood as a \"measure\" of surface roughness.

The advent of the 4th generation X-ray sources paves the way for a new phase of experimental investigation of Hot-Dense plasmas. At the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), pulses of keV X-rays, shorter than 100 fs, and with intensities up to 10¹⁸ W·cm^-2, are routinely produced, allowing for the production of uniform samples of solid-density plasmas. The simple single-photon X-ray absorption mechanism can be easily modelled, so that the plasma conditions can be accurately retrieved, without relying on diagnostic techniques that are not benchmarked in this high density regime. The work presented here describes the results of the first experiment where the LCLS interacts with a solid Al target, isochorically heating it at temperatures up to 190 eV. The system is described by the SCFLY non-LTE model, where the density and temperature are computed self consistently, as a consequence of the detailed atomic processes, rather than imposed by the user. The approximations affecting the simulations are discussed in detail. The code is first validated, by modelling the charge state distribution measured in a previous experiment (L. Young et. al), where the LCLS interacts with a Ne gas, a simplified (collisionless) problem. Then it is used to model the K-alpha spectroscopic data obtained for Al. The plasma evolution, explained by SCFLY simulations, is found to be primarily determined by collisions, whose visible effects on the experimental spectra are discussed. By varying the wavelength of the laser and observing the change in the K-alpha fluorescence, the K-edges for different ions in the plasma were determined, leading to a charge resolved measurement of continuum lowering in the HDM system. The results disagree with the widely used Stewart-Pyatt model, with the disagreement increasing for higher charge states, but are consistent with the older Ecker-Kroell model. These results have profound implications for dense plasma modelling.

This master thesis is devoted to the kinetic description in phase space of strongly magnetized plasmas. It addresses the problem of stability near equilibria for magnetically confined plasmas modeled by the relativistic Vlasov Maxwell system. A small physically pertinent parameter ε, with 0 < ε << 1, related to the inverse of a gyrofrequency, governs the strength of a spatially inhomogeneous applied magnetic field given by the function x→ε−1Be(x). Local C1-solutions do exist. But these solutions may blow up in finite time. This phenomenon can only happen at high velocities [14] and, since ε−1is large, standard results predict that this may occur at a time Tε shrinking to zero when ε goes to 0. It has been proved recently in [7] that, in the case of neutral, cold, and dilute plasmas (like in the Earth’s magnetosphere), smooth solutions corresponding to perturbations of equilibria exist on a uniform time interval [0,T], with 0< T independent of ε. We investigate here the hot situation, which is more suitable for the description of fusion devices. A condition is derived for which perturbed W1,∞-solutions with large initial momentum also exist on a uniform time interval, they remain bounded in the sup norm for well-prepared initial data, and moreover they inherit some kind of stability. / Graduate

Particles trapped in the magnetosphere are naturally accelerated by the exchange of electromagnetic and kinetic energy, resulting in relativistic plasma populations. Through a number of processes, these particles can be scattered into the atmosphere and lost to interactions. Such precipitating particles can affect radio communications, ozone chemistry, and thermal structures. For these reasons, it is important to characterize loss mechanisms and quantify precipitation rates. This thesis examines one particular loss mechanism known as current sheet scattering (CSS). If interactions are negligible, charged particles in a magnetic field have approximately conserved quantities that characterize their motion provided the background field changes sufficiently slowly over space and time. The first of these ‘adiabatic invariants,’ the magnetic moment, is related to the particle’s mirror point along its bounce trajectory—the location at which the particle reverses direction in its journey from weaker to stronger B. In the equatorial region of the near-Earth magnetotail, where the radius of field line curvature of the magnetic field can become comparable to the gyroradius of ≈ 100 keV electrons, the homogeneity conditions needed for conservation of the magnetic moment of this population are broken. Upon passing through this location, known as the current sheet, these particles experience a chaotic change in their magnetic moment, and thus an alteration of their mirror point. This is the phenomenon of CSS. If the resulting mirror point lies within the atmosphere, the particle will most likely be lost through interactions. CSS is often investigated for highly relativistic electrons. However, recent observations suggest that this mechanism may account for a significant proportion of precipitating electrons between 100 and 300 keV during the substorm growth phase, a common space weather event wherein magnetic field lines in the near-Earth magnetotail become highly stretched. In this thesis, we test the efficacy of CSS as a loss mechanism for < 300 keV electrons by developing a relativistic charged particle tracer capable of solving complex trajectories in realistic magnetospheric magnetic field models. We then find distributional characteristics through Monte Carlo methods, comparing simulated ratios of loss- to total-flux with observations of the same quantities for a single substorm event. These observations are obtained by comparison of in situ measurements made by THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) with ionospheric energy flux remotely sensed by PFISR (Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar). Given an input distribution from THEMIS satellite measurements, we find agreement between observed and simulated loss- to total-flux ratios within an order of magnitude, with closer agreement for electrons between 100 and 300 keV. This implies CSS can explain a significant proportion of observed precipitation for the event studied and demonstrates its role as a prominent radiation belt loss mechanism. In particular, these findings suggest that the measured loss flux of < 300 keV electrons during such events can be immediately related to the geometry of the near-Earth magnetotail. This is further supported by a parametric study of initially field aligned distributions spawned at various nightside locations, showing a low-energy peak in the loss- to total-flux ratio at the boundary between the outermost radiation belt and the magnetotail. Measurements of particle orientation taken from THEMIS are low resolution, and agreement between simulated and observed loss- to total-flux ratios can be increased by assuming a more field aligned distribution for electrons below 100 keV. This suggests the presence of other physical processes besides CSS that may preferentially structure the pitch angle distributions of low energy electrons to be field aligned. Additional analysis is needed to identify these possible mechanisms. In summary, findings from this work support the role of CSS as an important contributor to < 300 keV electron loss during the substorm growth phase. Though there is an underestimation of loss for < 100 keV electrons, it is known that the empirical magnetic field models employed overestimate the radius of curvature in the current sheet. Furthermore, the dawn-dusk electric field has been neglected, though it has the possibility to produce field aligned electrons through current sheet acceleration. The inclusion of these effects in future studies may further improve agreement between simulation and observations.