Effects of Pre-ionization and Bias Field on Plasmoid Formation and Acceleration

The Plasmoid Thruster Experiment inductively forms and accelerates compact toroid plasmas in a single-turn theta pinch coil. The experiment has been recently moved to a new facility at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The current experiment is focused on using a pre-ionized plasma and varying the bias magnetic field to discover the effect on the plasma exhaust. The plasma formation and the exhaust velocity and density profile have been investigated for a zero bias field case, and work has begun on investigating non-zero bias field cases.