Studies of anomalous potential drops due to ion density inhomogeneities

The dynamic response of a 1-dimensional plasma diode to an applied step voltage is studied during a few electron transit times by numerical simulations when the initial state has an ion density minimum (an ion density cavity). Depending on the cavity depth and the applied voltage the potential drop distributes over the cavity or concentrates in a cathode sheath. The transistion between the two states as well as the cavity potential profiles are predicted by an analytical model. Simulations with periodic cavities as initial state show that the applied voltage can be shared between the cavities. A double layer, steady on the ion time scale, is created by introducing a steady cavity by ion losses.     

磁重联区Alfven波及新生离子的加速

利用二维混合数值模拟研究了有速度驱动、低等离子体β值情况下的磁场重联过程，结果表明磁重联过程可以产生Alfven波，该Alfven波动对重新区中的新生离子作用，使得新生离子经历投掷角散射方程，具有球壳分布特征，部分新生离子得到加速，其获得的最大能量约为4（miVA0^2/2)，此加速过程所需的加速时间在100／Ωi量级，是一个极快的加速机制，加速粒子能谱为双幂律谱。     

小型化电子回旋谐振微波离子推进器研究

常规的电推进技术是针对大卫星应用而研制的，体积大、功耗高，不能满足小卫星飞速发展的实际需要。针对小卫星对电推进器的要求，提出了利用电子回旋谐振微波放电技术，采用微波同轴放电腔体的小型化离子推进器。由于同轴传输线不存在截止波长，放电腔体的直径选择非常灵活，可以适应小卫星的低供电能力和对体积重量的要求。实验样机的直径为50mm，在微波功率为30W，加速电压1．2kV，减速电压0．2kV的条件下，等离子体的电子密度达到了4．6×10^16／m^3，推进器的离子束流也达到6mA。实验样机的体积大大低于常规波导谐振腔微波离子推进器，实现了小型化，基本满足了小卫星对电推进器的体积重量要求。     

离子推力器羽流场模拟以及Mo+CEX沉积分析

离子推力器工作产生的羽流会对航天器产生影响,严重时甚至会造成航天器无法正常工作,为了精确评估离子推力器羽流特性及其对航天器的作用,采用基于粒子轨道理论(PIC,Particle-In-Cell)的模型对复杂的航天器的离子推力器羽流进行了数值模拟,并结合最近几年发展起来的浸入式有限元(IFE,Immersed Finite Ele-ment),采用结构网格准确计算复杂边界电场。通过模拟,获得了Mo+CEX离子在卫星表面的最大可能沉积分布,定量分析了卫星表面Mo+CEX离子的最大可能沉积率,表明在垂直于推力器主束流方向的卫星组件的表面上容易产生较大的Mo+CEX离子污染沉积率,而平行于推力器主束流方向上Mo+CEX离子污染沉积率相对较小。     

考虑电荷交换的三维离子发动机栅极粒子模拟

为了对离子发动机光学系统进行数值分析，开发了考虑电荷交换的三维离子发动机栅极粒子模拟程序。模拟程序采用单元内粒子（PIC）方法，光学系统为双栅极结构，推进剂采用氙，总加速电压为1600V，栅极间距为1mm，粒子之间的电荷交换碰撞模型采用蒙特卡洛方法。采用链式存储结构存储粒子信息，可以实现数组式存储方法所不能实现的功能。使用粒子模拟程序对离子发动机光学系统进行了粒子模拟，模拟得到了栅极间的电场分布和氙离子空间分布。模拟结果表明，在所取工作参数下氙离子全部通过了栅极孔，未撞击到栅极上，验证了参数的合理性。     

The primordial Helium-4 abundance determination: systematic effects

By extrapolating to O/H = N/H = 0 the empirical correlations Y–O/H and Y–N/H defined by a relatively large sample of 45 Blue Compact Dwarfs (BCDs), we have obtained a primordial ⁴Helium mass fraction Y _p=0.2443±0.0015 with dY/dZ=2.4±1.0. This result is in excellent agreement with the average Y _p=0.2452±0.0015 determined in the two most metal-deficient BCDs known, I Zw 18 (Z /50) and SBS 0335–052 (Z /41), where the correction for He production is smallest. The quoted error (1) of 1% is statistical and does not include systematic effects. We examine various systematic effects including collisional excitation of hydrogen lines, ionization structure and temperature fluctuation effects, and underlying stellar Hei absorption, and conclude that combining all systematic effects, our Y _p may be underestimated by 2–4%. Taken at face value, our Y _p implies a baryon-to-photon number ratio =(4.7^+1.0 _–0.8)×10^–10 and a baryon mass fraction _b h ² ₁₀₀=0.017±0.005 (2), consistent with the values obtained from deuterium and Cosmic Microwave Background measurements. Correcting Y _p upward by 2–4% would make the agreement even better.     

用离子束辅助沉积(IBAD)工艺制备TiCxNy膜的研究

用离子束辅助沉积（ＩＢＡＤ）工艺在９Ｃｒ１８、ＧＣｒ１５钢基体上形成了ＴｉＣｘＮｙ膜。ＴＥＭ观察发现膜均呈多晶结构,都具有（１１１）、（２００）和（２２０）择优取向。ＡＥＳ和ＸＰＳ分析进一步证实,ＴｉＣｘＮｙ膜呈含氧配置。干摩擦表明膜的抗氧化性能优良,其存在能有效抑制基体在摩擦过程中氧化膜的形成。又由于膜的硬度高,润滑性良好,每种基体的磨损特性都得到了显著地改善。但随着基体不同,膜的力学机械性能随     

Helium-3: Status and Prospects

We report on our continuing efforts to determine 3He abundances in H II regions and planetary nebulae. Our detections of 3He in some PNe show that some stars produce large amounts of 3He. However the H II region abundances show no evidence for this production. From our sample of > 40 H II regions, the subsample which should yield the most reliable abundances has 3He/H abundances which scatter between 1-2 × 10-5. There is no trend with either galactocentric distance or metallicity. Even if we do not understand the underlying mechanisms, we see empirically that stars neither produce nor destroy 3He in a major way. We thus suggest that the level of the "3He Plateau" (3He/H = 1.5 _-0.5 ^+1.0 × 10^-5) is a reasonable estimate for the primordial 3He.     

Ion dynamics associated with Alfven wave in the near-Earth magnetotail: Two-dimensional global hybrid simulation

Ion dynamics in the near-Earth magnetotail region is examined during periods of fast Earthward flow with a two-dimensional (2-D) global-scale hybrid simulation. The simulation shows that shear Alfven waves are generated at x ∼ −10R_E, where the strong earthward flow is arrested by the dipole field, and propagate along field lines from the equator to both southern and northern polar ionosphere. Non-gyrotropic ion velocity distributions occur where the large-amplitude Alfven waves are dominant. The simulation indicates that the Alfven waves are generated by interaction of the fast earthward flow with the stationary near-Earth plasma. Beam ions are found to be pitch-angle scattered and trapped in the wave field, leading to the non-gyrotropic ion distributions in the high-latitude plasma sheet boundary. In addition, significant particle heating and acceleration are found to occur behind the dipolarization front due to the effect of wave turbulence.     

A 2-D comparison of ionospheric convection derived from SuperDARN and DMSP measurements

Ion drift vectors measured by the DMSP satellites are compared with plasma convection vectors obtained by the SuperDARN HF radars through the standard Map Potential algorithm of Ruohoniemi and Baker [Ruohoniemi, M., Baker, K.B. Large-scale imaging of high-latitude convection with super dual auroral radar network HF radar observations. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 20797–20811, 1998]. Despite significant data spread, the agreement can be qualified as reasonable for a data set comprising of 149 satellite passes over the Northern Hemisphere at high latitudes. The slope of the best-fit line relating SuperDARN and DMSP velocity magnitudes is of the order of 0.3 with a tendency for the SuperDARN velocities to be smaller. The agreement between the azimuths of the ion drift and convection is better with the slope of the best-fit line being close to 1. It is shown that consistency between the radar and satellite measurements is much better if the SuperDARN line-of-sight velocities are compared with the DMSP cross-track ion drifts for events showing slow spatial and temporal variations of the convection. If areas of strong convection changes are included into comparison, the degree of agreement deteriorates drastically. This result implies that differences in the spatial and temporal resolutions of DMSP and SuperDARN measurements are crucial factors contributing to the observed discrepancies. In addition, some differences are introduced when the SuperDARN line-of-sight velocities are filtered and reprocessed into vectors with the application of a background convection model.