Preliminary Findings from Efforts to Model Pulsed Inductive Theta-Pinch Plasmas Via Particle-In-Cell

A method is pursued to approximately model the electron energy distribution of pulsed inductive plasma devices with Particle-In-Cell code to elucidate formation physics during early times (t \u3c 1 µs). Specifically, reported results from AFRL-Kirtland\u27s pulsed inductive device, FRCHX, are used as a test case to validate results. An r-z slab approximation is outlined and gyro-frequency, Larmor radius, and E×B guiding center drift are verified against theory to within 1% difference. The analyses presented, using both single electron and Particle-In-Cell modeling, agree with FRCHX reported results by showing that average electron kinetic energy does not exceed the ionization threshold of 15.47 eV for gaseous deuterium until after the first ¼ cycle of the ringing pre-ionization stage (when net magnetic field is approximately nullified). These results provide supportive evidence for the concept that bias field actually inhibits ionization if improperly implemente