POTENTIAL PROFILE MEASUREMENTS USING A COLLIMATED PROTON DETECTOR IN SPHERICAL INERTIAL-ELECTROSTATIC PLASMA-CONFINEMENT

A collimated proton detector has been developed for spatial resolved proton measurements in inertial-electrostatic plasma confinement (IEC) fusion experiments. These are the first proton measurements used to infer potential well profiles on an IEC device. This paper describes a new technique for investigating the existence of multiple potential wells inside IEC devices. Analysis of the observed proton energy and source profile indicates that (for a 12-mA cathode current, a 30-kV cathode voltage in a 4-mTorr D2 background) predominantly beam-background fusion occurs. Computer simulation suggests that a positive space charge potential approximately half that of the applied voltage is formed inside the cathode. These results establish the first measurement of a positive potential well structure inside an ion-injected IEC device.