Application of the Hybrid Particle-In-Cell code: PRO++OMG to simulate plasmas in open magnetic geometries

In this work, the hybrid PIC code: PRO++OMG is applied to study plasma transport in two different open magnetic geometries. The analyses include the effects of: (1) finite fully-absorbing boundaries for the particles, (2) volumetric particle sources, (3) Fokker-Plank Collision operator and (4) Radio-Frequency (RF) heating. RF heating on a divertor simulator: Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) is studied to understand ion heating using fundamental ion cyclotron resonance and its associated parallel transport. It is found that RF heating can lead to anisotropic ion distributions at the target. Furthermore, the effect of Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) on the parallel electric field and plasma confinement in an Axisymmetric Magnetic mirror geometry has been investigated. It is found that the presence of NBI enhances the confinement of warm ions in a mirror plasma system.