Patent ID: 6899527
Filing Date: 2005-05-31
Classification: H01J,H05H

Abstract:
1. A plasma pump to pump particles from a first region containing a plasma to a second region containing a plasma at a higher pressure, comprising: a toroidal conduit having an inlet end and an outlet end, a longitudinal axis extending between the inlet end and the outlet end and inner and outer peripheries extending between the inlet end and the outlet end; an inner array of magnets, arrayed about the inner periphery of the conduit proximate the inlet end; an outer array of magnets, arrayed about the outer periphery of the conduit proximate the inlet end, the inner and outer arrays cooperating to provide a magnetic field having field lines which extend generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the conduit; a cathode, located within the conduit, further from the inlet end than the arrays of magnets and biasable to an electric potential different from an electric potential present in the conduit proximate the inlet end.