In the axisymmetrized tandem mirror GAMMA 10, thermal-barrier and plug potentials have been formed in the axisymmetric mirror cells at both ends and directly measured with Au neutralbeam probes and end-loss analyzers. Strong end-loss reduction associated with the potential formation results in enhancement of the axial particle confinement time 100 times over the mirror confinement time without plugging, in reasonable agreement with Pastukhov formula. An empirical scaling on nonambipolar radial ion confinement time in the axisymmetrized field configuration is presented.PACS numbers: 52.55.Jd Current tandem mirror researches focus on improvement of confinement properties over the original configuration.

Mirror end loss can be suppressed by applying an rf field at the mirror throat through low impedance coils. This method is verified to be effective for a high density plasma up to 1014 cm−3. Experimental results show that the rf field strength required for the plugging is dependent on the plasma density. The dependence differs according to the geometry of the coil. The mechanism of giving the density dependence is theoretically clarified for each coil. Particularly, it is shown that the electric field induced in the direction of the static magnetic field is intrinsic for the result of type-III coil where its efficiency for rf plugging is insensitive to the plasma density.

A high-density and high-speed flowing helium-plasma is produced quasi-steadily (1 ms) by use of a magneto-plasma-dynamic arcjet (MPDA) in various external magnetic field configurations. In a uniform magnetic field configuration, an ion acoustic Mach number M i of the plasma flow is limited to be nearly unity. In a divergent magnetic nozzle configuration, on the other hand, the Mach number increases up to almost 3. The Mach number increases in proportion to the gradient of the magnetic field. Spatial variations of M i are well predicted by an isentropic model of compressible flow. The Mach number decreases in the downstream region due to charge-exchange collisional processes that are caused by a limited pumping capability of surface-recombined neutral gases.

The characteristics of low frequency waves in the presence of E x B rotation of a tandem mirror plasma are investigated using the Fraunhofer diffraction method. The observed dispersion relations are in good agreement with those of drift waves including a Doppler shift due to the E x B rotation velocity. The effect of the radial electric field on the drift waves is studied quantitatively by applying a bias voltage to the end plates of the tandem mirror. The fluctuation level is observed to depend on the radial electric field E r . The fluctuation has a maximum value when E r = 0 and decreases with increasing E r , regardless of its sign. The radial confinement time estimated from the particle balance equation decreases as the fluctuation level increases. The dependence of the fluctuation level agrees with that evaluated from the quasi-linear theory of drift wave turbulence.

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