Numerical modeling of electron confinement in a multicusp magnetic trap

Abstract

A charge-exchange target for neutralizing a negative ion beam with energies up to 10 MeV and higher requires the development of a highly efficient plasma trap which allows plasma to form and be confined with a linear density up to 1017 cm−2 and higher. The magnetic systems in which the condition of magnetohydrodynamic stability of the plasma is satisfied are of most interest when pursuing a high-density plasma. The electron confinement efficiency in a magnetic trap with a quasi-spherically symmetric multicusp magnetic field geometry with a "minimum B" at the center of the system, in which all cusps are point-type cusps is studied using numerical methods. The results of numerical experiments are compared with a collisionless model of particle motion in a trap.