Factors Affecting Ion Spin-Up in the Translation, Confinement and Sustainment Upgrade Experiment

The Translation, Confinement, and Sustainment Upgrade device (TCSU) makes use of an ultra high vacuum system in the study of the field reversed configuration (FRC). This differs from the TCS system, which was radiation limited due to high impurity content. In TCSU the conditions have changed greatly in that a wall conditioning method was applied, there are fewer impurities, and a higher plasma temperature regime was achieved. The aims of this research are to understand the forces acting on the ion rotational frequency, namely viscous drag, charge-exchange with neutrals, end-shorting, and particle loss.