Method and apparatus for controlling charged particles

An apparatus for controlling positively charged particles comprising:

• means for generating a magnetic field within a region, all the cusps of said magnetic field being point cusps;
• means for injecting electrons into the center of said region for forming a negative potential well within said region;
• means for performing at least one of injecting positively charged particles into said region or creating positively charged particles within said region, and using said negative potential well to confine said positively charged particles within said region;
• and
• means for maintaining the number of electrons greater than the number of positively charged particles;
• wherein said magnetic field generating means includes current carrying means for carrying an electric current, said current carrying means so arranged as to lie on at least some faces of a polyhedron and spaced from and adjacent to edges of said polyhedron and spaced apart at each vertex of said polyhedron, said polyhedron having an even number of faces about each vertex;
• wherein said magnetic field generating means generates only point cusps at positions corresponding to the centers of faces of said polyhedron;
• and
• wherein said electron injecting means is arranged to inject said electrons through one of said point cusps along a first line corresponding to an axis of said polyhedron.

A device for producing collisional reactions comprising:

• (a) means for generating a magnetic field within a region, said means including magnetic field coils arranged so as to lie on at least some faces of a polyhedron and positioned spaced from and adjacent to edges of said polyhedron and spaced apart at each vertex of said polyhedron by a spacing distance, each vertex of said polyhedral being surrounded by an even number of faces, said field coils carrying currents such that adjacent faces of said polyhedral have opposing magnetic polarities,
• (b) means for injecting electrons within said region, said electrons having gyro radii effectively smaller than the radius of said region such that said electrons are trapped within said region by said magnetic field, said trapped electrons forming a negative potential well within a volume of said region;
• (c) means for performing at least one of injecting positively charged ions into said region or for producing positively charged ions within said region, said ions having gyro radii effectively larger than a radius of said region when at their maximum energy within the potential well, such that said positively charged ions are not trapped within said region by said magnetic field, said positively charged ions being confined within said region by electric potential gradient forces resulting from said negative potential well, the number of electrons within said region maintained larger than the number of said positively charged ions, and said positively charged ions having energies sufficiently great within said region to produce collisional reactions;
• and
• wherein said field coils are contained within a housing which has a cross sectional shape conformal to the B field produced by said field coils.

A method for producing collisional reactions comprising the steps of:

• (a) generating a magnetic field within a region by passing current through a plurality of magnetic field coils positioned relative to one another so as to lie on at least some faces of a polyhedral structure, said coils positioned adjacent the edges of said polyhedral structure, each vertex of said polyhedral structure being surrounded by an even number of faces,
• (b) injecting electrons within said region, said electrons having gyro radii effectively smaller than a radius of said region such that said electrons are trapped within said region by said magnetic field, said trapped electrons forming a negative potential well within a volume of said region;
• and
• (c) performing at least one of injecting positively charged particles into said region or creating positively charged particles within said region, said ions having gyro radii effectively larger than said radius of said region, when at their maximum energy within the potential well, such that said positively charged ions are not trapped within said region by said magnetic field, said positively charged ions confined within said region by electric potential gradient forces resulting from said negative potential well, the number of electrons within said region maintained larger than the number of said positively charged ions, and said positively charged ions having energies sufficiently great within said region to produce collisional reactions, and
• wherein said plurality of field coils are contained within a corresponding plurality of containers, each of which has a cross sectional shape conformal to the B field produced by said plurality of field coils;
• and
• wherein said plurality of containers are spaced apart by a spacing distance at corners of said polyhedral structure.