Upgrade of a Theta Pinch Plasma Source for Energetic Plasma Flow Generation and Fusion-Related Material Interaction Study*

In order to investigate material erosion by exposure to a burst of high density plasma in a laboratory setting, a theta pinch device called the Divertor Erosion and Vapor Shielding eXperiment facility was built at UIUC. It consists of a theta-pinch coil driven by pulse discharge from 32 $\mu $F capacitor bank to produce high density plasma. Recent measurements have shown that plasma sustains approximately for 100 $\mu $s at each pulse, with 1.0 $\pm $ 0.2(10)21 /m$^{3}$ plasma density and 12.5 $\pm $ 2.5 eV electron temperature. To simulate the extreme condition in magnetic fusion device a higher electron temperature is desired. For this reason, several upgrades have been implemented: (1) the main capacitor bank, for compression and heating was operated in conjunction with RF antenna and a preionization bank. (2) a guide magnetic field was installed to transport the flow minimizing losses in the radial direction and (3) a crow-bar circuit was added to prevent the pinch from ringing and therefore working against the imposed static magnetic field. The results from the upgrades will be presented.