The Maryland Centrifugal Experiment : status and plans

The Maryland Centrifugal Experiment (MCX) studies supersonic rotation of plasma produced by the application of a steady state electric field perpendicular to a linear confining magnetic field. MCX has achieved high density ($n_{e }>$ 10$^{20}$ m$^{-3}$ ) fully ionized plasmas rotating supersonically with azimuthal velocities $v_{\phi }$ in the range of 100 - 250 km/sec with ion temperatures typically 30 eV and sonic Mach numbers ($v_{\phi }$/$v_{ti})$ in the range of 1 to 3 and Alfv\`{e}n Mach numbers ($v_{\phi }$/$v_{A}$ ) of somewhat less than unity. Plasmas remain stationary for milliseconds, much longer than MHD instability timescales. MCX has implemented extensive new diagnostics including a multi-chord ion Doppler spectrometer, arrays of magnetic probes, an H$_{\alpha }$ emission array of detectors, and a two color interferometer. Results will be reported on velocity profiles and related MHD activity. A higher voltage (20 kV) discharge capacitor bank is being tested and results on velocity limits will also be reported. The major upgrade plans include increasing the midplane magnetic field to 1 T and installing extensive surface conditioning. Work supported by USDOE.