Case Study: Research

Plasma Research University of Saskatchewan

Observing plasma spokes that form during a High-Power Impulse Magnetron discharge (HiPIMS) which evolve on a scale of microseconds and require a high-speed camera to capture.

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Challenge: Capturing extremely high speed plasma spoke events

Industry: Engineering R&D at the university of Saskatchewan

Equipment Used: Chronos 1.4 monochrome camera @ 15,941 FPS

Challenge

Observing plasma spokes that form during a High-Power Impulse Magnetron discharge (HiPIMS) which evolve on a scale of microseconds and require a high-speed camera to capture.

The spokes are caused by instability in high-density magnetized plasmas, specifically, Hall effect thrusters and HiPIMS plasmas. It has been experimentally observed that the rate of diffusion of electrons across the magnetic field is higher than predicted, this discrepancy is known as the anomalous electron transport. It is believed that the spokes contribute to this but that they needed to be observed to validate the hypothesis.

Link: Alex Chang’s thesis, University of Saskatchewan

Solution

A Chronos 1.4 monochrome camera running at 15,941 frames per second was used to capture several frames per discharge allowing Alex to capture the extremely fast event.

Due to the extremely fast response of the magnetron discharge a variable delay circuit was developed to trigger the camera to capture thousands of images from different pulses of the magnetron but at the ‘same’ time relative to the start of the discharge. MATLAB was used to programmatically process each frame to identify the spokes.

This process let University of Saskatchewan study the spokes with a high degree of measurement. They were able to identify the number of spokes, the size of each spoke, and track how they evolved over time on average. This could not have been observed without a high-speed camera.

Summary

Scientific research and development, specifically in the areas of physics and engineering require precise measurement during experimentation. Chronos high-speed cameras provide the high-frame rates, resolution, and accessibility required by demanding labs today.

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About

Kron Technologies Inc. is a Canadian high-speed imaging system design and manufacturing company, located in the heart of the Greater Vancouver Area (British Columbia). Kron was founded by owner and visionary Engineer David Kronstein who wanted to make high-speed imaging accessible to everyone.