Nanophase metallic materials show a maximum in strength as grain size decreases to the nano scale, indicating a break down of the Hall-Petch relation. Grain boundary sliding, as a possible accommodation mechanisms, is often the picture that explain computer simulations results and real experiments. In a recent paper, Bringa et al. Science 309, 1838 (2005), we report on the observation of an ultra-hard behavior in nanophase Cu under shock loading, explained in terms of a reduction of grain boundary sliding under the influence of the shock pressure. In this work we perform a detailed study of the effects of hydrostatic pressure on nanophase Cu plasticity and find that it can be understood in terms of pressure dependent grain boundary sliding controlled by a Mohr-Coulomb law.

Intense ion beams are an extreme example of, and difficult to maintain as, a non-neutral plasma. Experiments and simulations are used to study the complex interactions between beam ions and (unwanted) electrons. Such ''electron clouds'' limit the performance of many accelerators. To characterize electron clouds, a number of parameters are measured including: total and local electron production and loss for each of three major sources, beam potential versus time, electron line-charge density, and gas pressure within the beam. Electron control methods include surface treatments to reduce electron and gas emission, and techniques to remove, or block, electrons from the beam. Detailed, self-consistent simulations include beam-transport fields, and electron and gas generation and consistent transport, to compute unexpectedly rich behavior, much of which is confirmed experimentally. For example, in a quadrupole magnetic field, ion and dense electron plasmas interact to produce multi-kV oscillations in the electron plasma and distortions of the beam velocity space distribution, without becoming homogenous or locally neutral.

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Trace {sup 13}CH{sub 4} injection experiments into the main scrape-off layer of low density L-mode and high-density H-mode plasmas have been performed in the DIII-D tokamak [Luxon{_}NF02] to mimic the transport and deposition of carbon arising from a main chamber sputtering source. These experiments indicated entrainment of the injected carbon in plasma flow in the main SOL, and transport toward the inner divertor. Ex-situ surface analysis showed enhanced {sup 13}C surface concentration at the corner formed by the divertor floor and the angled target plate of the inner divertor in L-mode; in H-mode, both at the corner and along the surface bounding the private flux region inboard of the outer strike point. Interpretative modeling was made consistent with these experimental results by imposing a parallel carbon ion flow in the main SOL toward the inner target, and a radial pinch toward the separatrix. Predictive modeling carried out to better understand the underlying plasma transport processes suggests that the deuterium flow in the main SOL is related to the degree of detachment of the inner divertor leg. These simulations show that carbon ions are entrained with the deuteron flow in the main SOL via frictional coupling, but higher charge state carbon …

Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) efforts are based on calculations showing that the addition of a closed magnetic field reduces the driver pressure and rise time requirements for inertial confinement fusion by reducing thermal conductivity. Instabilities that result in convective bulk transport at the Alphen time scale are of particular concern since they are much faster than the implosion time. Such instabilities may occur during compression due to, for example, an increase in the plasma-magnetic pressure ratio {beta} or, in the case of a rotating plasma, spin-up due to angular momentum conservation. Details depend on the magnetic field topology and compression geometry. A hard core z pinch with purely azimuthal magnetic field can theoretically be made that relaxes into a wall supported diffuse profile satisfying the Kadomtsev criterion for the stability of m = 0 modes, which is theoretically preserved during cylindrical outer wall compression. The center conductor radius and current must also be large enough to keep the {beta} below stability limits to stabilize modes with m > 0. The stability of m > 0 modes actually improves during compression. A disadvantage of this geometry, though, is plasma contact with the solid boundaries. In addition to the risk of high …