Refine
Year of publication
- 2020 (15) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (11)
- Article (4)
Has Fulltext
- yes (15)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (15)
Keywords
- Plasma (3)
- Wendelstein 7-X (3)
- - (2)
- Dissertation (2)
- Plasmaphysik (2)
- Stellarator (2)
- stellarator (2)
- Beschichtung (1)
- Bootstrap current (1)
- Coil Optimization (1)
- Connection length (1)
- Divertor (1)
- Dünne Filme (1)
- Electric Propulsion (1)
- Festkörperphysik (1)
- Floquet (1)
- Fusion (1)
- Impurities (1)
- Infrarot (1)
- Ion Thruster (1)
- Ionentriebwerk (1)
- Kernfusion (1)
- Laserspektroskopie (1)
- MR-ToF MS (1)
- Metalle (1)
- Modellierung (1)
- Neoclassical transport (1)
- Particle-in-Cell (1)
- Plasma Modeling (1)
- Plasma Physics (1)
- Plasma physics (1)
- Plasma-wall interaction (1)
- Plasmachemie (1)
- Plasmadiagnostik (1)
- Plasmarandschicht (1)
- Plasmasimulation (1)
- Power decay (1)
- Robust (1)
- Scrape-off layer width (1)
- Spectroscopy (1)
- Spektroskopie (1)
- Stochstic Programming (1)
- Symmetrie (1)
- Thermografie (1)
- W7-X (1)
- amino polymer (1)
- atomic clusters (1)
- barrier corona (BC) (1)
- calcium ion signaling (1)
- correlation analysis (1)
- dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) (1)
- divertor (1)
- electric propulsion (1)
- electron cyclotron emission (1)
- human osteoblasts (1)
- low‐temperature plasma (1)
- magneto-hydrodynamic equilibrium (1)
- multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry (1)
- nicht-Hermitizität (1)
- non-Hermitian (1)
- partial discharge (PD) (1)
- partial mutual information (1)
- phototdissociation (1)
- polyelectrolyte multilayer (1)
- scrape-off layer (1)
- similarity laws (1)
- simulation (1)
- surface charge (1)
- symmetry (1)
- thermography (1)
- time-correlated single photon counting (TC-SPC) (1)
- titanium surface modification (1)
- topological insulators (1)
- topologische Isolatoren (1)
- transient spark (1)
- wettability (1)
- wetted area (1)
- zeta potential (1)
Institute
- Institut für Physik (15) (remove)
Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS) (1)
- Frontiers Media S.A. (1)
- IOP Publishing (1)
- Wiley (1)
AbstractFluctuations of electron cyclotron emission (ECE) signals are analyzed for differently heated Wendelstein 7-X plasmas. The fluctuations appear to travel predominantly on flux surfaces and are used as ‘tracers’ in multivariate time series. Different statistical techniques are assessed to reveal the coupling and information entropy-based coupling analysis are conducted. All these techniques provide evidence that the fluctuation analysis allows one to check the consistency of magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium calculations. Expanding the suite of techniques applied in fusion data analysis, partial mutual information (PMI) analysis is introduced. PMI generalizes traditional partial correlation (Frenzel and Pompe Phys. Rev. Lett.
99 204101) and also Schreiber’s transfer entropy (Schreiber 2000 Phys. Rev. Lett.
85 461). The main additional capability of PMI is to allow one to discount for specific spurious data. Since PMI analysis allows one to study the effect of common drivers, the influence of the electron cyclotron resonance heating on the mutual dependencies of simultaneous ECE measurements was assessed. Additionally, MHD mode activity was found to be coupled in a limited volume in the plasma core for different plasmas. The study reveals an experimental test for equilibrium calculations and ECE radiation transport.
This thesis describes recent developments in multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MR-ToF MS) with ions exhibiting large masses and mass differences at an MR-ToF setup at the University of Greifswald. A series of in-trap manipulation techniques to selectively retain or eject ion bunches of multiple species with disparate mass-to-charge ratios is investigated. These highlight the possibility to correct long-term flight-time drifts using a reference ion species far away in mass from the species of interest and also the ability to use such a pair to perform single-reference precision mass determinations. In both cases, the results obtained with disparate-mass ion pairs are comparable to those known from operation with isobaric species.
In addition, an in-trap photoexcitation technique is developed and applied to study the dissociation behavior of atomic bismuth clusters (systems of some number of bismuth atoms). Compared to previous works by other groups, the probed cluster-size range is expanded for both ion polarities, resulting in a more comprehensive picture of the underlying dissociation pathways. The known significance of neutral-tetramer breakoff is confirmed, however, evidence is also found for the loss of larger neutral fragments.
Lastly, the principle of tandem high-resolution MR-ToF MS is introduced. This new method allows the study of the change in dissociation behavior of the cationic bismuth octamer resulting from substituting one of its atoms for lead. It is found that the lead-doping opens new preferential fragmentation pathways that outstrip the dominant tetramer breakoff for this specific precursor cluster size. As a first proof-of-principle experiment, the case of the cationic octamer shows that tandem MR-ToF MS is well-suited for the investigation of compound clusters.
Indium-cluster anions In−nare probed for delayed dissociation by photoexcitation in a multi-reflection time-of-flight device. In addition to prompt dissociation with below-microsecond decay constants, we observe reactionson timescales of several tens to hundreds of microseconds. These time-resolved decay-rate measurements reveala power-law behavior in time which can be traced back to the clusters’ energy distribution due to their productionby laser ablation in high vacuum. Modeling energy distributions from such a production allows us to connect thecluster-specific dissociation energy with the ensemble temperature through experimentally determined power-law exponents.
Electrostatic forces at the cell interface affect the nature of cell adhesion and function; but there is still limited knowledge about the impact of positive or negative surface charges on cell-material interactions in regenerative medicine. Titanium surfaces with a variety of zeta potentials between −90 mV and +50 mV were generated by functionalizing them with amino polymers, extracellular matrix proteins/peptide motifs and polyelectrolyte multilayers. A significant enhancement of intracellular calcium mobilization was achieved on surfaces with a moderately positive (+1 to +10 mV) compared with a negative zeta potential (−90 to −3 mV). Dramatic losses of cell activity (membrane integrity, viability, proliferation, calcium mobilization) were observed on surfaces with a highly positive zeta potential (+50 mV). This systematic study indicates that cells do not prefer positive charges in general, merely moderately positive ones. The cell behavior of MG-63s could be correlated with the materials’ zeta potential; but not with water contact angle or surface free energy. Our findings present new insights and provide an essential knowledge for future applications in dental and orthopedic surgery.
This thesis contains studies on a special class of topological insulators, so called anomalous Floquet topological insulators, which exclusively occur in periodically driven systems. At the boundary of an anomalous Floquet topological insulator, topologically protected transport occurs even though all of the Floquet bands are topologically trivial. This is in stark contrast to ordinary topological insulators of both static and Floquet type, where the topological invariants of the bulk bands completely determine the chiral boundary states via the bulk-boundary correspondence. In anomalous Floquet topological insulators, the boundary states are instead characterized by bulk invariants that account for the full dynamical evolution of the Floquet system.
Here, we explore the interplay between topology, symmetry, and non-Hermiticity in two-dimensional anomalous Floquet topological insulators. The central results of this exploration are (i) new expressions for the topological invariants of symmetry-protected anomalous Floquet topological phases which can be efficiently computed numerically, (ii) the construction of a universal driving protocol for symmetry-protected anomalous Floquet topological phases and its experimental implementation in photonic waveguide lattices, (iii) the discovery of non-Hermitian boundary state engineering which provides unprecedented possibilities to control and manipulate the topological transport of anomalous Floquet topological insulators.
Barrier corona (BC) arrangements are employed in different plasma-based applications such as material surface and exhaust gas treatments. However, a comprehensive study about the discharge behavior and properties in such strongly asymmetric arrangements is still missing. This dissertation is devoted to the detailed investigation of single microdischarges (MDs) in a sinusoidally driven BC discharge in air at atmospheric pressure. The discharge arrangement consist of a sharp metal pin and a dielectric-covered hemispherical electrode. It is the first study of volume BC discharges, in which phasially-resolved spatio-temporal development of the MDs are recorded using a multi-dimensional time-correlated single photon counting (TC-SPC) technique. The morphology of the MDs is recorded using an ICCD camera. A voltage probe and a current probe are employed to measure the applied voltage and current pulses. Furthermore, phase-resolved current measurements and statistical studies of current pulse amplitudes are realized using an oscilloscope.
Due to the asymmetric geometry and material of the electrodes, discharge behavior in the two polarities of the applied sinusoidal voltage is significantly different. For the voltage amplitude being applied, mostly two MDs appear in the anodic pin half-cycles. It is observed that the breakdown mechanism in both MDs is a positive streamer starting near the anode, similar to the single MDs in symmetric dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs). However, the second MDs have different properties, such as longer duration of the bulk plasma and broader current pulses. It is considered that the differences are mainly due to the positive surface charges deposited by the first MDs on the dielectric. It is proposed, for the first time, that the current pulse derivative maximum corresponds to the arrival of the streamer head at the cathode surface. This is used to synchronize the spatio-temporal development of the MDs with their current pulses. The accuracy of the synchronization is limited to the rise-time of the current probe (350 ps). In each cathodic pin half-cycle, only one major MD appears. The appearance and amplitude of the MDs are more erratic compared to the anodic pin polarity. The TC-SPC recordings show that the MDs appearing at low applied voltages have a similar spatio-temporal development to the MDs of the anodic pin polarity. On the other hand, at high applied voltages a development similar to transient sparks, i.e. a double-streamer starting near the tip of the pin (cathode), is observed. The statistical study shows that in DBD-like MDs the current pulse amplitude is not dependent on the appearance phase (or applied voltage), but this is not the case for the transient sparks.
Since BC reactors are also used for air cleaning, a set of experiments is done with 35 ppm toluene additive. It is observed that adding toluene results in 500~V lower breakdown voltage. Hence, the discharge in the presence of toluene is operated under over-voltage condition, resulting in stronger MDs in the anodic pin, and earlier-appearing as well as weaker MDs in the cathodic pin half-cycles.
The results of this dissertation about the spatio-temporal development and statistical behavior of the single MDs are foreseen to be employed in the study and optimization of plasma reactors, such as "Stacked DBD Reactor," which are developed for exhaust gas and material surface treatment. Furthermore, the results are a benchmark for the study of a novel discharge arrangement with a rotating dielectric electrode.
The importance of ion propulsion devices as an option for in-space propulsion of space
crafts and satellites continues to grow. They are more efficient than conventional chemi-
cal thrusters, which rely on burning their propellant, by ionizing the propellant gas in a
discharge channel and emitting the heavy ions at very high velocities. The ion emission
region of a thruster is called the plume and extends several meters axially and radially
downstream from the exit of a thruster. This region is particularly important for the effi-
ciency of a thruster, because it determines energy and angular distribution of the emitted
ions. It also determines the interaction with the carrier space craft by defining the electric
potential shape and the fluxes and energies of the emitted high energy ions, which are the
key parameters for sputter erosion of satellite components such as solar panels. Developing
new ion thrusters is expensive because of the high number of prototypes and testing cycles
required. Numerical modeling can help to reduce the costs in thruster development, but
the vastly differing length and time scales of the system, particularly the large differences of
scales between the discharge chamber and the plume, make a simulation challenging. Often
both regions are considered to be decoupled and are treated with different models to make
their simulation technically feasible. The coupling between channel and plume plasmas and
its influence on each other is disregarded, because there is no interaction between the two
regions. Therefore, this thesis investigates the physical effects which arise from this cou-
pling as well as models suitable for an integrated simulation of the whole coupled problem
of channel and plume plasmas. For this purpose the High Efficiency Multistage Plasma
Thruster (HEMP-T) ion thruster is considered.
For the discharge channel plasma, a fully kinetic model is required and the Particle-in-Cell
(PIC) method is applied. The PIC method requires very high spatial and temporal resolu-
tions which makes it computationally costly. As a result, only the discharge channel and the
near-field plume close to the channel exit can be simulated. In the channel, the results show
that electrons are magnetized and follow the magnetic field lines. The orientation of the
magnetic field there is mostly parallel to the symmetry axis and the channel walls which re-
sults in a high parallel electron transport and leads to a flat electric potential and a reduced
plasma-wall sheath. Only at the magnetic cusps, which are characteristic of HEMP-Ts the
electrons are guided towards the wall, with ions following due to quasineutrality, where a
classical plasma-wall sheath develops. The ion-wall contact is thus limited to the cusp re-
gion. The small radial drop of the potential towards the wall gives rather low energies of
ions impinging at the wall and minimizes erosion in the HEMP-T.
In the near-field plume, which extends from the thruster exit plane to some centimeters
downstream, the ion emission characteristics is defined. The ratio of radial and axial elec-
tric field components in this region determines the ion emission angle which should be
minimized for maximum thruster efficiency. The plasma discharge in the channel produces
high plasma densities and the subsequent drop from plasma to vacuum potential occurs
further downstream for higher densities. This increases the ratio of radial and axial electric
field components because the plasma expands radially outside of the confinement from the
dielectric discharge channel walls. The potential structure in the near-field plume impacts
also the supply of electrons for the channel discharge because the electrons enter the channel
from the plume. An effect which arises from this coupling is the breathing mode oscilla-
tion. It is an oscillation which is observed in all plasma quantities and is located near the
thruster exit. The oscillation frequency measured in the simulation is in good agreement
with a predator-prey estimate which validates this ansatz. However, the electron tempera-
ture, assumed constant in the predator-prey model, correlates inversely with the oscillation,
i.e. it is minimal at the current maximum and vice versa, which contributes to the observed
oscillations. Because of the oscillation of the plasma number density, the potential drop also
oscillates in the exit region and thus the ratio of radial to axial electric field components,
which results in the oscillation of the mean ion emission angle.
Regarding suitable models for a combined simulation of channel and plume plasmas, the
PIC model for channel and near-field plume is explicitly coupled to a hybrid fluid-PIC
model for the plume. The latter treats the electrons as a fluid, hence increasing the effective
spatial and temporal resolutions which can be applied in the plume simulations at the cost
of reduced accuracy of the electron model. Plasma densities decrease by two orders of
magnitude two meters downstream from the channel exit. The explicitly coupled kinetic
and hybrid PIC models are well suited for the computation of a HEMP-T and its plume
expansion, but they disregard the coupling of channel and plume plasmas for which other
methods are necessary. For this purpose a new approach is presented with a proof-of-
principle validation. The limited spatial resolution in the plume can be overcome with the
mesh-coarsening method, which increases the resolution in regions of low plasma density
without numerical artifacts. Sub-cycling for the electrons in the plume can then be used
to increase the temporal resolution in the plume. The combination of both methods, called
the sub-cycling mesh-coarsening (SMC) algorithm in the scope of this work, promises high
savings in computational cost which can make a combined simulation of plume and channel
plasmas feasible.
In this thesis, I present work motivated, in part, by a series of upcoming laboratory experiments (APEX), which seeks to uncover some of the inner workings of turbulence and stability in electron- positron plasmas in closed field-line systems. I present the results of several distinct, but connected, problems addressing the theory of electron-positron plasmas.
This work is partitioned into several parts, which loosely correspond to different particulars of the APEX experiment and the different theoretical physics problems which reside within.
I begin with the derivation of a kinetic theory for plasmas which are optically thin to cyclotron emission, as indeed, experimental pair plasmas are expected to be. The results of this section include: (1) the derivation of a general kinetic theory of cyclotron radiation in electron-ion plasmas; (2) a calculation showing that cyclotron emission results in strongly anisotropic distribution functions on the radiation timescale; (3) calculation of the evolution of the distribution function under collisional scattering which, in the absence of any radiation terms, acts to drive the plasma towards a Maxwellian; (4) generalisation of this theory to more exotic geometries; (5) specialisation of this theory to pair plasmas of experimental interest; and (6) presentation of the applications and the limitations of this theory.
The second project is primarily concerned with non-neutral plasmas. We begin with gyrokinetic theory and a novel extension of this theoretical framework to plasmas with arbitrary degree of neutrality in straight field-line geometry. I go on to discuss the gyrokinetic stability theory of such plasmas in this simplified geometry. I conclude this project with a discussion of some further
nuances in the theory of singly-charged non-neutral plasmas, this time concerning global features. Namely, I declare an interest in the equilibria such plasmas might be able to attain.
The final project pertains to plasmas which are in state of Maxwellian equilibrium i.e., electron- positron plasmas with sufficiently large number densities of each species to attain a stationary quasineutral plasma. To this end, I present gyrokinetic flux-tube simulations of electron-positron plasmas in complex, and experimentally relevant, magnetic geometries on the road towards a study of gyrokinetic turbulence. The results of this work include: (1) the first simulations of electron- positron plasmas in a stellarator and ring-dipole geometry; (2) an analytic theory of trapped particle modes in electron-positron plasmas, a result which can also be verified numerically; and (3) extension of several important theoretical results in electron-positron plasmas to experimentally relevant geometries. The culmination of this project is the roadmap ahead towards demonstration of the so-called “inward pinch” effect in electron-positron plasmas in a magnetic Z-pinch.
Experience in the construction of optimized stellarators shows the coil system is a significant challenge. The precision necessary allow the generation of accurate flux surfaces in recent experiments affected both cost and schedule negatively. Moreover, recent experiments at Wendelstein 7-X have shown that small field corrections were necessary for the operation of specific desired magnetic configurations. Therefore, robust magnetic configurations in terms of coil geometry and assembly tolerances have a high potential to facilitate swifter and less expensive construction of future, optimized stellarators. We present a new coil optimization technique that is designed to seek out coil configurations that are resilient against 3D coil displacements. This stochastic version of stellarator coil optimization uses the sampling average approach to incorporate an iterative perturbation analysis into the optimization routine. The result is a robust magnetic configuration that simultaneously reproduces the target magnetic field more accurately and leads to a better fusion performing coil configuration.
To suit a wide variety of space mission profiles, different designs of ion thrusters were developed, such as the High‐Efficiency‐Multistage‐Plasma thrusters (HEMP‐T). In the past, the optimization of ion thrusters was a difficult and time‐consuming process and evolved experimentally. Because the construction of new designs is expensive, cheaper methods for optimization were sought‐after. Computer‐based simulations are a cheap and useful method towards predictive modelling. The physics in HEMP‐T requires a kinetic model. The Particle‐in‐Cell (PIC) method delivers self‐consistent solutions for the plasmas of ion thrusters, but it is limited by the high amount of computing time required to study a specific system. Therefore, it is not suited to explore a wide operational and design space. An approach to decrease computing time is self‐similarity scaling schemes, which can be derived from the kinetic equations. One specific self‐similarity scheme is investigated quantitatively in this work for selected HEMP‐Ts, using PIC simulations. The possible application of the scaling is explained and the limits of this approach are derived.