抄録
Fast-flowing plasmas in supersonic and super-Alfvénic regime are generated in combined experiments of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) and acceleration in a magnetic nozzle. During radio-frequency (RF) wave excitation in a fast-flowing plasma produced by a magnet-plasma-dynamic arcjet (MPDA), strong ion cyclotron heating is clearly observed. Thermal energy in the heated plasma is converted into flow energy in a diverging magnetic nozzle, where the magnetic moment μ is nearly kept constant. Plasma flow energy can be controlled by changing the input RF power and/or modifying the magnetic nozzle configuration. In a strongly diverging magnetic nozzle, an Alfvén Mach number as well as ion acoustic Mach number are more than unity, that is, supersonic and super-Alfvénic plasma flow is realized.
