The concept of plasma mass separation of substances in a configuration with a potential well implies the creation of specialized plasma sources that comply with a number of requirements. The following can be distinguished as the main ones: a high degree of ionization of the plasma flow, single ionization, the possibility of working with a complex mixture of oxides and metals as a working substance, high productivity rate (up to 1 kg/h), kinetic energy at the level of several tens of electron-volts. One possible application of this concept is the separation of spent nuclear fuel. The conversion of condensed matter into a low-temperature plasma flow and its further injection into the separation chamber is the initial stage of the concept and it largely determines the efficiency of the technological process. This paper presents the results of studies of the energy distribution of lead ions in the plasma jet of a plasma source created on the basis of a non-self-sustained arc discharge with a hot cathode in a magnetic field. The influence of this distribution on the separation process was analyzed.

The paper present results of an experimental study of a plasma flow parameters generated by a vacuum arc discharge with heated cathode made of mixture of ceramic and metal powders. The discharge existed in a diffuse mode of cathode current attachment. The diffuse mode was characterized by relatively low values of cathode current density (10–100 A/cm 2 ), absence of significant voltage oscillations and stable glow of plasma formation. The data on mean charge of the arc plasma flux, ion energies and ion composition measured by time-of-flight mass spectroscopy method were obtained. It was shown that chromium is a main source of the plasma forming medium when cerium dioxide is a main source of electrons of thermionic emission. Obtained results can be useful in designing of stable plasma sources of multi-component condensed substances for wide range of applications from deposition of composite coatings to plasma mass separation.

The concept of plasma mass separation of substances in a configuration with a potential well implies the development of specialized plasma sources. The conversion of condensed matter into a low- temperature plasma flow and its further injection into the separation chamber is a crucial stage that largely determines the efficiency of the technological process. It is especially important if the aim of the concept is the separation of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The energy distribution of charged particles at the starting point determines the trajectories of the separated elements in crossed E×B fields. In real experiments on the separation of substances, it is possible to use a plasma source in a fairly wide range of magnetic induction values up to 1400 G. In this paper, we present the results of studying the energy distributions of ions behind the anode plasma of a non-self-sustained arc discharge with a hot LaB 6 cathode and independent lead vapor injection.