PRODUCTION AND APPLICATION OF DENSE PENNING TRAP PLASMAS

A new paradigm for producing well-confined, dense-thermonuclear plasmas is described. The convergence of a radial beam distribution of a Penning-trap-confined plasma produces a dense inertially confined non-neutral plasma. The equilibrium, stability, classical transport, and particle-handling properties of such a concept are developed. The application of this approach to controlled fusion using a pure electron plasma to form a central virtual cathode in which ions are electrostatically confined is discussed. On one hand, extreme plasma control is required, placing the major uncertainty on issues of machine precision. On the other hand, development is characterized by the manufacture and testing of extremely small and inexpensive systems. Thus, it would seem that a timely experimental test of this concept would be ineluctable. Success at such experiments might indicate an alternate path to practical fusion applications.