Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-82). / The Versatile Toroidal Facility (VTF) at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center provides a laboratory environment for studying ionospheric plasmas. Various plasma diagnostic devices have been created and used to study the VTF plasma since 1991. An accurate method for measuring VTF's ion characteristics has never been designed or installed in the laboratory facility. Gridded Energy Analyzers (GEA) are useful diagnostic tools for determining plasma ion energy distributions and ion temperature. Research was done on the theory behind Gridded Energy Analyzers and their applicability for use in the Versatile Toroidal Facility. A design and method for constructing a miniaturized GEA for VTF was developed and documented. The construction method covers material selection, machining, and assembly of VTF's miniature GEA. The miniature GEA is a non-perturbing probe used in VTF's plasma, which is approximately 3 cm in diameter. The GEA was constructed and preliminary experimental data was obtained. From this data VTF's ion temperature was found to be approximately 8eV and an ion distribution function was determined to be roughly Maxwellian in nature. / by Shaun L. Meredith. / S.M.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/50545 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Meredith, Shaun Lee |
| Contributors | Min-Chang Lee., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Engineering., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 93 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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