Patent ID: 6667487
Filing Date: 2003-12-23
Classification: G21K

Abstract:
A containment apparatus for containing a cloud of particles, each of said particles having an electrical charge, comprising:a vacuum chamber having a longitudinal axis, and an outer surface, said vacuum chamber containing said cloud of particles within a containment region internal to said vacuum chamber; a magnetic field aligned with said longitudinal axis of said vacuum chamber, said magnetic field time invariant and uniform over said containment region; a first ring, a second ring, and a third ring; said first ring, said second ring, and said third ring disposed in sequence along said longitudinal axis of said vacuum chamber, electrically insulated from each other, perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and centered about said longitudinal axis, and enveloping said cloud of particles to be contained within said vacuum chamber over said containment region; said first ring having four or more first segments, said first segments electrically insulated from each other and mechanically separate, said first segments energized at a first time invariant voltage; said second ring disposed between said first ring and said third ring along said longitudinal axis, said second ring mechanically separate from said first ring and from said third ring along said longitudinal axis, said second ring energized at a second time invariant voltage; and said third ring disposed next to said second ring along said longitudinal axis, said third ring mechanically separate from said second ring along said longitudinal axis, said third ring having four or more second segments said second segments electrically insulated from each other, said second segments energized at a third time invariant voltage, wherein said first ring, said second ring and said third ring create a time invariant first electric field aligned with said longitudinal axis, said first electric field forming a well around said containment region.