In applicant's U.S. application Ser. No. 201,544 which is a division of application Ser. No. 21,115, now abandoned, an atomic fusion process and systems are disclosed wherein two oppositely directed steams of ions are forced to follow the same helical paths in a cylindrical reaction zone for promoting fusion producing collisions between particles of one stream and particles of the other stream. As one of several examples, one stream may comprise deuterium and the other stream, helium 3 ions.
The reaction zone comprises an annulus between an inner cylindrical electrode and an outer cylindrical electrode. A radial electric field is established in the annulus to control and maintain the streams in the helical paths.
Where two such beams of positively charged particles move in opposite directions along such paths, a high ion density is desired in order to be able to promote collisions sufficient to produce a net power gain from the system. The present invention is directed to the creation of conditions in a reactor such that desired high ion densities are periodically achieved.