78 results about "Plasma confinement" patented technology

An example method includes directing gas, via one or more first valves, from within an inner electrode to an acceleration region between the inner electrode and an outer electrode that substantially surrounds the inner electrode, directing gas, via two or more second valves, from outside the outer electrode to the acceleration region, and applying, via a power supply, a voltage between the inner electrode and the outer electrode, thereby converting at least a portion of the directed gas into a plasma having a substantially annular cross section, the plasma flowing axially within the acceleration region toward a first end of the inner electrode and a first end of the outer electrode and, thereafter, establishing a Z-pinch plasma that flows between the first end of the outer electrode and the first end of the inner electrode. Related plasma confinement systems and methods are also disclosed herein.

An EUV light source includes a chamber that defines a plasma confinement region. A magnetic core is positioned around the chamber and is configured to generate a plasma in the plasma generation region so that the plasma converges in the plasma confinement region. A power delivery section is positioned around the magnetic core. A power supply includes a charging circuit, a pre-ionization circuit, and a solid state switching circuit having an output coupled to the magnetic core. The power supply is configured to isolate the charging circuit from the power delivery section and to generate a pre-ionization pulse through inductive coupling that causes ionization of gas in the plasma generation region. The solid state switching circuit is configured to discharge a capacitance through inductive coupling to form a plasma in the plasma generation region.

A plasma chamber for a UV light source includes a plasma generation region that defines a plasma confinement region. A port is positioned adjacent to a side of the plasma generation region that allows generated light to pass out of the chamber. A high voltage region is coupled to the plasma generation region. A grounded region is coupled to the high voltage region that defines an outer surface configured to be coupled to the ground and is dimensioned for receiving a surrounding inductive core. A width of the high voltage region is greater than the width of the grounded region.

The invention discloses a multi-mode magnetic field intelligent closed-loop plasma confinement system and method. The system comprises a multi-mode magnetic field generation module, a multi-dimensional plasma diagnosis module and a layered intelligent closed-loop control module. The multi-mode magnetic field generation module generates a steady-state, pulse and alternating composite magnetic field to realize adjustable space gradient; the multi-dimensional diagnosis module synchronously acquires electrical, optical and particle parameters, and ensures the accuracy through data fusion; and the hierarchical intelligent closed-loop control module generates an adjusting instruction to realize closed-loop optimization based on dynamic threshold and multi-algorithm scheduling. According to the method, the constraint performance is improved through the steps of initialization, data acquisition, state evaluation and closed-loop adjustment in combination with parameter self-optimization and three-level fault protection. According to the scheme, the plasma constraint time exceeds 300 s, the escape rate is lower than 5%, the adjustment response is smaller than or equal to 10 ms, the method adapts to multiple working conditions and can be popularized to the fields of nuclear fusion experiments and plasma processing, and the problems that a traditional system is poor in stability and lags in response are solved.

Methods and systems are provided for increasing energy output from Z-pinch and other plasma confinement systems. In one example, a system may include memory storing instructions that, if executed by one or more processors, cause the system to adjust one or more parameters to generate a magnetic field which is sufficiently strong to axially compress a fuel gas to induce thermonuclear fusion and increase a fusion energy gain factor greater than a fusion energy gain factor limit attainable by the thermonuclear fusion. In certain examples, adjusting the one or more parameters may include adjusting a duty cycle of a discharge current applied to the fuel gas based, at least in part, on an amount of thermal collisions between fusion byproducts and the fuel gas. In certain examples, by adjusting the duty cycle, the magnetic field may be adjusted to induce or increase the thermal collisions.

An EUV light source includes a chamber that defines a plasma confinement region. A magnetic core is positioned around the chamber and is configured to generate a plasma in the plasma generation region so that the plasma converges in the plasma confinement region. A power delivery section is positioned around the magnetic core. A power supply includes a charging circuit, a pre-ionization circuit, and a solid state switching circuit having an output coupled to the magnetic core. The power supply is configured to isolate the charging circuit from the power delivery section and to generate a pre-ionization pulse through inductive coupling that causes ionization of gas in the plasma generation region. The solid state switching circuit is configured to discharge a capacitance through inductive coupling to form a plasma in the plasma generation region.

The invention discloses plasma processing equipment and a plasma confinement ring thereof, the plasma confinement ring is arranged between the periphery of a base and the side wall of a vacuum reaction cavity in a surrounding manner, the plasma confinement ring comprises an inner ring assembly, an outer ring assembly and an exhaust channel assembly connected with the inner ring assembly and the outer ring assembly respectively, the inner ring assembly is in contact with the periphery of the base, and the outer ring assembly is in contact with the side wall of the vacuum reaction cavity; the top of the inner ring assembly is flush with the top of the base, the outer ring assembly makes contact with the side wall of the vacuum reaction cavity, and the top surface of the exhaust channel assembly is lower than the top surface of the inner ring assembly. According to the invention, the risk of plasma leakage is reduced, the risk of arc discharge under high power is reduced, the corrosion of plasma to the protective coating coated on the surface of the plasma confinement ring is also reduced, and the equipment reliability is improved.

The invention discloses a preparation method of a micron-sized metal thin film array, and belongs to the technical field of thin film deposition processes. A micron-sized metal thin film array is prepared by adopting an unbalanced magnetic field cathode and using a vertical sputtering mode, the thickness of a metal thin film is 100-500nm, and a thin film grain growth mode is a nano columnar crystal. The preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) through combination of a magnetron sputtering method and a mask layer, a circular metal film array with the diameter consistent with that of holes in the surface of the mask layer can be precisely prepared on a large scale; (2) a non-equilibrium magnetic field cathode is used, plasma can be restrained on the surface of the target material, the utilization rate of the target material is improved, and meanwhile, sputtered target material atoms are restrained, so that the target material atoms can vertically pass through holes of the mask layer and are deposited on the surface of the substrate; and (3) the metal film array with uniform size and consistent thickness can be obtained by adjusting the technological parameters during magnetron sputtering, such as air pressure, power, target-substrate distance and rotating speed, so that the preparation difficulty of the film array is effectively reduced, and meanwhile, the film quality is improved.

A computer-implemented method is disclosed for designing magnetic field geometries in magnetically confined plasmas, such as stellarators, to minimize energy or particle transport due to plasma turbulence. The method utilizes machine learning (ML) models trained on datasets of gyrokinetic simulations. These models predict turbulent transport based on geometric features derived from the magnetic configuration, which influence solutions of the gyrokinetic equation in ballooning representation. The input features include both raw geometrical quantities-such as field strength, curvature drifts, and perpendicular wavenumbers-and engineered features derived therefrom. The models may incorporate translational invariance and be implemented as convolutional neural networks or via solutions to parameterized differential equations. The resulting ML-driven target functions are computationally efficient and suitable for use in optimization algorithms to identify magnetic geometries that enhance plasma confinement.

A computer-implemented method is disclosed for designing magnetic field geometries in magnetically confined plasmas, such as stellarators, to minimize energy or particle transport due to plasma turbulence. The method utilizes machine learning (ML) models trained on datasets of gyrokinetic simulations. These models predict turbulent transport based on geometric features derived from the magnetic configuration, which influence solutions of the gyrokinetic equation in ballooning representation. The input features include both raw geometrical quantities—such as field strength, curvature drifts, and perpendicular wavenumbers—and engineered features derived therefrom. The models may incorporate translational invariance and be implemented as convolutional neural networks or via solutions to parameterized differential equations. The resulting ML-driven target functions are computationally efficient and suitable for use in optimization algorithms to identify magnetic geometries that enhance plasma confinement.

The present invention relates to a spacecraft electric thruster particularly suitable for both propellant-fed and air-breathing electric space propulsion comprising an ionization chamber (11) for plasma generation which develops along a central development axis (X), wherein the ionization chamber (11) has a chamber inlet (12) configured to allow gas inflow and a chamber outlet (13) configured to allow extraction of ionized gas particles; a power injection assembly (30) configured to perform electron heating for plasma generation inside the ionization chamber (11); a magnetic assembly (20) configured to generate a magnetic field for plasma confinement in the ionization chamber (11); and an ion extraction and acceleration assembly (40) configured to extract ionized gas particles from the ionization chamber (11) through the chamber outlet (13) and accelerate them along an ion acceleration direction (Z), wherein the power injection assembly (30) comprises a microwave power delivery system (31) configured to deliver an electric field oscillating at a selected microwave frequency (f) and to inject the generated oscillating electric field in the ionization chamber (11), and wherein the ionization chamber (11) comprises a plurality of walls (11a, 15,16,41) closed to the passage of microwaves apart from a portion of at least one lateral wall (11a) of the plurality of walls (11a, 15,16,41) at which the power delivery system (31) is coupled to inject the generated oscillating electric field in the ionization chamber (11), and is resonant for electromagnetic fields oscillating at the selected microwave frequency.

A plasma confinement device comprising an arrangement of electromagnetic coils on the faces of a polyhedron with alternating polarity. Each coil is connected to a coil of opposing polarity via a lobe comprising a loop of more electromagnetic coils. The lobe coils connect the field lines such that the entire configuration has only closed field lines. The coils of each lobe are graded in size, such that the field lines converge to their densest at the apex of the lobe. In the central region plasma is confined by magnetic mirror reflection from the converging field lines in the lobes and stabilised by the convexity of the field lines between coils. The device may form the basis of a magnetically confined thermonuclear fusion reactor.

The invention relates to the technical field of electric propulsion, in particular to a plasma parameter diagnosis system in a vacuum chamber, which comprises a vacuum chamber, a plasma confinement acceleration device, a laser emitting device, a laser receiving device, a probe array, a microwave horn antenna array and a fixed bracket guide rail, wherein the plasma confinement acceleration device is arranged in the vacuum chamber; the laser emitting device is arranged on the fixed bracket guide rail on one side through a first adjusting bracket; the laser receiving device is arranged on the fixed support guide rail on the other side through a second adjusting support. The probe array is arranged in front of the plasma confinement acceleration device through the movable bracket; and the microwave horn antenna array is arranged on the side of the plasma confinement acceleration device. According to the invention, the synchronous measurement of the plasma state in multiple diagnosis modes can be realized, the plasma diagnosis time can be effectively saved, and the plasma performance can be measured and analyzed through multiple dimensions.

The invention discloses an ultra-low temperature vacuum system of a Tokamak or star imitator adaptive to nuclear fusion, and relates to the technical field of nuclear fusion equipment, the ultra-low temperature vacuum system comprises a vacuum chamber, a plasma state sensor is embedded in the inner wall of the vacuum chamber, the outer end of the vacuum chamber is provided with a sealing interface, the outer end of the sealing interface is provided with a primary filter, and the primary filter is provided with a secondary filter. A getter bin is installed at the outer end of the primary filter, an auxiliary pump is installed at the outer end of the getter bin, a stop valve is installed at the outer end of the auxiliary pump, a cold trap is installed at the outer end of the stop valve, the side wall of the cold trap is connected with a refrigerating machine through a pipeline, and a main pump is installed at the outer end of the cold trap. By arranging a series of structures, the pain point of decoupling of a traditional system and plasma operation is thoroughly solved, all the components cooperate to guarantee the ultrahigh vacuum environment, interference of impurity gas on plasma constraint is greatly reduced, and the stability and success rate of a nuclear fusion experiment are remarkably improved.

A system and method for forming a film that includes generating a plasma in a processing volume of a processing chamber to form the film on a substrate. The processing chamber includes a plasma confinement system. The plasma confinement system includes a chamber wall liner having a ring shaped body. The chamber wall liner has an inner wall, a slit opening formed through the inner wall and sized for a substrate to pass therethrough the slit opening, and a first cavity having a back wall. The plasma confinement system includes a plasma confinement assembly. The plasma confinement assembly has a first magnet disposed in the first cavity adjacent the back wall, and a first window disposed in the first cavity between the first magnet and the inner wall, wherein the first window seals the first magnet from an outside environment.

A method for depositing at least one material on a substrate is described. The method comprises a first deposition, wherein the first deposition comprises sputtering from a first rotating target and a second rotating target through an aperture, the aperture being adjustable and having a size smaller than a first size. The first rotating target has a first magnet assembly providing plasma confinement in a first direction toward a second rotating target. The second rotating target has a second magnet assembly providing plasma confinement in a second direction toward a first rotating target. The first direction and the second direction deviate from being parallel to the substrate plane of the substrate by an angle less than a first value. The method comprises a second deposition on the top of the first deposition. The second deposition comprises sputtering from a first rotating target and a second rotating target through an aperture, the aperture having at least a second size, the second size being larger than the first size. The first magnet assembly provides plasma confinement in a third direction. The second magnet assembly provides plasma confinement in a fourth direction. At least one of the third or fourth directions deviates from being parallel to the substrate plane by at least an angle of the second value, and the second value is greater than the first value.

The present disclosure relates to a stellarator (1) comprising: a plurality of non-planar, superconducting coils, for generating a magnetic field for confining a plasma inside a plasma vessel; and a coil support structure (30, 40, 50) comprising: a first structural arrangement (30) arranged between a center (20) of the stellarator and the plasma vessel and configured to balance a radial force exerted by the magnetic field on the plurality of coils; a second structural arrangement (40, 50) configured to balance local forces exerted by the magnetic field on one or more coil segments of the plurality of coils; wherein the local forces cause at least a toroidal motion and / or a toroidal deformation of the one or more segments of the plurality of coils.

The present invention addresses a problem in which a metal is easily corroded by rust when water is used as a plasma confinement layer in a laser peening method utilized as a metal surface modification method.　This laser processing method comprises a step of applying or affixing a gel-like substance to a processing region of an object to be processed, and a step of repeatedly irradiating the processing region with a laser. Because the laser processing method allows use of a gel-like substance containing no water as the plasma confinement layer, corrosion of the metal, which is the object to be processed, due to rust can be avoided. The gel-like substance is suitably used as a physical gel.

This invention relates to the field of intelligent welding simulation and control, and particularly to a method for constructing an AI welding composite energy field model based on a dynamic coupling mechanism. The method includes: firstly, constructing an asymmetric rotating-tilted body laser energy field model, an arc energy field model considering plasma constraints, and a dynamically coupled enhanced energy field model; simultaneously acquiring multimodal sensor data including current and voltage signals and molten pool images; then, using a pre-trained AI deep inversion network, mapping the extracted multimodal feature vectors and process parameters to accurate plasma compressibility factors and synergistic effect coupling coefficients; finally, updating the heat flux density distribution through back substitution and superimposing it to construct the overall composite energy field distribution, which is then input into a multiphysics solver for transient hydrodynamic calculations. This invention achieves the inversion and real-time dynamic coupling of key heat source parameters, improving the simulation optimization efficiency of the composite welding energy field model and the accuracy of weld morphology prediction.

The invention provides a showerhead unit and a substrate processing apparatus including the showerhead unit. The showerhead unit controls plasma confinement by using an upper ground ring. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a chamber housing providing a space in which a substrate is processed; the substrate supporting unit is arranged in the chamber shell and is used for supporting the substrate; a showerhead unit provided inside the chamber housing and providing a process gas; and a plasma generation unit that generates plasma for processing the substrate by using the processing gas, wherein the showerhead unit includes: a showerhead body including a plurality of gas supply holes to supply the process gas; and an upper ring assembly surrounding the showerhead body, and including a portion extending in a direction in which the substrate support unit is positioned.

A plasma lining structure is used in a process chamber to block direct line-of-sight for plasma generated within to grounded surface. The plasma lining structure includes a plurality of sections to cover at least one or more portions of an inside surface of a plasma confinement structure disposed in the process chamber. The sections of the plasma lining structure are positioned between a plasma region and the sidewall of the plasma confinement structure, when the plasma lining structure and the plasma confinement structure are disposed in the plasma chamber, such that the sections directly face the plasma region.

A closed-field magnetic confinement device for plasma with a polyhedral central chamber surrounded by electromagnetic coils on the faces of the polyhedron, such that edge-adjacent coils have different

An intelligent plasma stabilization system for a fusion reactor, consisting of: a plasma diagnostic acquisition module for acquiring real-time plasma operating data from a variety of reactor sensors; a real-time plasma state analysis module for generating dynamic plasma state models based on the acquired operating data; an AI-based instability prediction module for predicting plasma instability events using machine learning algorithms; a dynamic magnetic field optimization module for autonomously adjusting the magnetic confinement parameters in response to predicted plasma instability events; and a central intelligent fusion control module for coordinating the operation of the plasma stabilization system to maintain plasma confinement stability in the fusion reactor.

The application discloses a machining method of a high-depth-diameter-ratio micro-hole structure and application thereof. The machining method of the high-depth-diameter-ratio micro-hole structure comprises the following steps: forming a prefabricated micro-hole on a sample surface; forming a reflecting structure on the sample surface, the reflecting structure being adjacent to the prefabricated micro-hole, and the reflecting structure being capable of reflecting incident light and preventing the micro-hole entrance from being ablated; forming an absorbing structure on the bottom of the prefabricated micro-hole, and forming a light-transmitting constraint structure on the absorbing structure; and irradiating the constraint structure with laser, the laser irradiating on the absorbing structure through the constraint structure, the absorbing structure being capable of absorbing the energy of the laser and instantaneously expanding and exploding to generate plasma, and the constraint structure being capable of constraining the plasma to etch the sample in the longitudinal direction of the prefabricated micro-hole downwards until the target micro-hole is obtained. The application realizes the machining of the diamond jet micro-hole without taper and with large depth-diameter ratio, guarantees that the jet micro-hole entrance will not generate surface defects due to excessive ablation when machining at a large depth, and ensures that the micro-jet port can withstand high-pressure jet.

A plasma confinement ring for a plasma chamber comprises an annular element and a cylindrical element. The annular element surrounds a substrate support assembly in the plasma chamber and is arranged along a plane where a substrate placed on the substrate support assembly in the plasma chamber is located, and the annular element comprises a plurality of holes. The cylindrical element of the plasma confinement ring extends from an outer edge of the annular element in a direction perpendicular to the plane where the substrate placed on the substrate support assembly in the plasma chamber is located. The plasma confinement ring is a single piece.

The application discloses a plasma confinement device and a plasma processing device thereof. The plasma confinement device is arranged between a cavity sidewall of a vacuum reaction cavity and a lower electrode assembly. The plasma confinement device comprises an upper confinement ring and a lower confinement ring below the upper confinement ring. The upper confinement ring comprises a plurality of first spacers surrounding the lower electrode assembly. The lower confinement ring comprises a plurality of second spacers surrounding the lower electrode assembly. Each of the first spacers and each of the second spacers are staggered. A gas passage is formed between the first spacers and the second spacers adjacent to the first spacers. The plasma confinement device has the advantages that the staggered combination of the upper confinement ring and the lower confinement ring can ensure sufficient confinement ability to the plasma, reduce the hindering effect on the gas flow, improve the reaction cavity conductance, and help to realize the synergistic optimal adjustment of process conditions.

A showerhead unit that controls plasma confinement by using an upper ground ring and a substrate treating apparatus including the same are provided. The substrate treating apparatus comprises a chamber housing providing a space in which a substrate is treated; a substrate support unit disposed inside the chamber housing, supporting the substrate; a showerhead unit disposed inside the chamber housing, providing a process gas; and a plasma generating unit generating plasma for treating the substrate by using the process gas, wherein the showerhead unit includes: a showerhead main body that includes a plurality of gas feeding holes to provide the process gas; and an upper ring assembly surrounding the showerhead main body, and the upper ring assembly includes a portion extended in a direction in which the substrate support unit is positioned.

The invention discloses a plasma thruster which comprises a ceramic isolator, an anode coil, an anode discharge cylinder and a cathode. One end of the ceramic isolator is open, and the other end of the ceramic isolator is closed by the cylinder bottom wall; an inclined gas pipeline is arranged on the side wall of the ceramic isolation body; the anode coil is spirally wound on the outer side of the cylinder body of the ceramic isolator; the anode discharge cylinder is fixed at a port at the top end of the ceramic isolator cylinder, and one end of the anode coil is conductively connected with the anode discharge cylinder. According to the invention, plasma is restrained through vortex airflow and an axial magnetic field, and heat dissipation protection is carried out on the ceramic isolator and the anode discharge cylinder; in addition, the magnetic field accelerates the vortex motion of the plasma.

A method of depositing material on a substrate is described. The method includes sputtering at least one component of the material from a first rotating target having a first magnet assembly and a second magnet assembly. The first magnet assembly provides a first plasma confinement region in a first direction facing a second rotating target, at least three poles of the first magnet assembly facing the first plasma confinement region. The second magnet assembly provides a second plasma confinement region in a second direction facing a third rotating target, at least three poles of the second magnet assembly facing the second plasma confinement region.

Methods and systems are provided for Z-pinch plasma and other plasma confinement utilizing various electrode compositions and configurations. In one example, a plasma confinement system includes a plurality of electrodes, each electrode of the plurality of electrodes arranged coaxially with respect to an assembly region of the plasma confinement system and positioned so as to be exposed to the assembly region, wherein one or more electrodes of the plurality of electrodes includes an electrode material which releases hydrogen gas above a threshold temperature. In an additional or alternative example, a plasma confinement system includes an electrode body including a nosecone, and a liquid metal, a portion of the liquid metal forming a protective film between a surface of the nosecone and an exterior of the nosecone during operation of the plasma confinement system.