Plasma window characterization

Parameters of an arc Ar plasma discharge used as a plasma window with a discharge current of ∼50A and a voltage of ∼58V are presented. It is shown that this arc discharge allows one to decrease the pressure at the low pressure end of the plasma window almost 380 times using relatively low pumping at the low pressure end of the plasma window. Calculations of the plasma parameters and their spatial distribution using a simple wall-stabilized arc model showed a satisfactory agreement with the experimentally obtained data. It is shown that a significant decrease in gas flow through the plasma window occurs due to the increase in plasma viscosity. An improvement of the plasma window ignition and some of its design aspects are described as well.