US 12,262,462 B2
High-energy plasma generator using radio-frequency and neutral beam power
Cary Brett Forest, Madison, WI (US); Jay Keith Anderson, Madison, WI (US); John Philip Wallace, Madison, WI (US); Robert W. Harvey, Oceanside, CA (US); and Yuri V. Petrov, Cypress, TX (US)
Assigned to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Madison, WI (US)
Appl. No. 17/995,349
Filed by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Madison, WI (US)
PCT Filed Mar. 16, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/022554
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 3, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/202100, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 7, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0345612 A1, Oct. 26, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H05H 1/00 (2006.01); G21B 1/05 (2006.01); G21B 1/23 (2006.01); H05H 1/46 (2006.01); G21B 1/15 (2006.01)
CPC H05H 1/46 (2013.01) [G21B 1/05 (2013.01); G21B 1/23 (2013.01); G21B 1/15 (2013.01); H05H 2242/20 (2021.05)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for producing high-energy plasma comprising:
magnets providing a magnetic mirror containment field with axially-extending magnetic flux lines converging at opposed first and second ends of a containment volume holding a plasma;
a neutral beam generator directing a neutral beam of particles into the containment volume at an energy less than 50 keV into a plasma of plasma ions in the containment volume; and
a radiofrequency generator producing an electrical field to selectively accelerate plasma ions in the containment volume with higher energies to an energy sufficient for fusion of the plasma ions.