Patent ID: 6664740
Filing Date: 2003-12-16
Classification: G21B,G21D,H05H,Y02E

Abstract:
A method of forming a magnetic field of field reverse topology comprising the steps ofinjecting a plasma into a chamber, applying a magnetic field to form a first magnetic field in the chamber having unidirectional field lines, injecting ion beams into the chamber substantially transverse to the first magnetic field, trapping the ion beams in betatron orbits within the first magnetic field, forming a rotating plasma beam within the chamber having a current and an internal magnetic field due to the first magnetic field, forming a poloidal second magnetic field about the rotating plasma having external field lines outside the rotating plasma extending in a same direction as the field lines of the first magnetic field and internal field lines extending in an opposite direction to the field lines of the first magnetic field, injecting a current through a betatron flux coil in the chamber, inducing an azimuthal electric field inside the chamber, increasing the rotating plasma beam's rotational velocity, increasing the second magnetic field's magnitude beyond the magnitude of the first magnetic field, and reversing the direction of the internal field within the rotating plasma and forming a combined magnetic field of field reverse topology (FRC).