Observation of collisionless thermalization of a plasmoid with a field-reversed configuration in a magnetic mirror

A systematic translation study of field-reversed configurations (FRCs) has been conducted on the FRC Injection Experiment (FIX) machine [Okada et al., in Fusion Energy 1996 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1997), Vol. 2, p. 229]. Plasma density and temperature of a translated FRC moving at supersonic speed are measured in the downstream magnetic mirror of FIX to verify a shock jump there when the FRC is reflected. A significant jump is observed. Moreover, the time evolution of the Carbon V Doppler profile is measured both quasi-parallel and perpendicular to the direction of FRC motion. Distinct transitions from Gaussian to non-Gaussian shapes are clearly seen in both profiles before and after the shock jump. Also, the ion mean-free path in the downstream magnetic mirror is calculated to be much longer than the characteristic width of the shock jump. These results indicate that the thermalization of flow energy in the translated FRC in the mirror is produced by a collisionless process, implying that this heating mechanism can be realized even in a reactor regime. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(98)00212-2].