The POSEIDON Electron Beam Generator.

The POSEIDON electron beam generator was designed to perform a series of experiments to produce a closed field line plasma confinement system with two rotating relativistic electron beams. Previous experimental studies have shown that a single rotating beam generated by the TRITON electron beam generator can produce a plasma in a reversed field configuration inside an initially field free metal tube. The magnetic fields were maintained with induced plasma currents rather than the beam electrons themselves. However, because the beam was injected from one end of the system, a net axial current persisted which precluded axial containment. To eliminate this current, it was proposed to inject a second rotating beam from the opposite end of the system.