Toroidal High-Pressure Discharge Experiment

Abstract

A toroidal gas discharge experiment in the pressure range 1 to 400 torr was performed to test the idea of insulating a hot plasma with a high-density magnetized gas. It is found that it is possible to create an electrodeless circular are discharge surrounded by cool gas. The surrounding high-density gas tends to stabilize the plasma ring and protects the plasma from contamination by wall impurities.