Abstract: A system for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor providing steady-state generation of the thermonuclear power. A dense, hot toroidal plasma is initially prepared with a confining magnetic field with toroidal and poloidal components. Continuous wave RF energy is injected into said plasma to estalish a spectrum of traveling waves in the plasma, where the traveling waves have momentum components substantially either all parallel, or all anti-parallel to the confining magnetic field. The injected RF energy is phased to couple to said traveling waves with both a phase velocity component and a wave momentum component in the direction of the plasma traveling wave components. The injected RF energy has a predetermined spectrum selected so that said traveling waves couple to plasma electrons having velocities in a predetermined range .DELTA.. The velocities in the range are substantially greater than the thermal electron velocity of the plasma.

Abstract: A surface acoustic wave device utilizing a piezoelectric substrate capable of propagating traveling acoustic waves along a surface thereof and a semiconductive substrate positioned adjacent such surface, the latter substrate having an array of diodes, preferably Schottky diodes, disposed in the surface thereof opposite the piezoelectric substrate to form an interaction region. Application of a signal uniformly over the interaction region will charge the diodes uniformly and a traveling acoustic wave will interact with the uniformly applied signal to alter the charging pattern of the array in accordance with the acoustic wave amplitude to produce a corresponding altered conductivity pattern in the semiconductor substrate representing the interaction of the uniformly applied signal and the traveling wave signal.

Abstract: A continuously programmable matched filter device using a piezoelectric substrate capable of propagating acoustic wave signals on a selected surface thereof and a semiconductor substrate mounted adjacent and spaced from such surface. Means are provided for altering the conductivity pattern in the semiconductor substrate in accordance with the wave form of a reference wave signal so that a representation of the reference wave is effectively stored therein. Storage of the reference is achieved with electrostatic charge by supplying a plurality of electrons in the spatial region between the substrates or by manipulating the carriers in the semiconductor material into trapping states in order to produce such altered conductivity pattern. A second signal can thereupon be propagated along the piezoelectric substrate to interact with the stored reference conductivity pattern to provide either correlation or convolution operation depending on the direction of propagation thereof along the piezoelectric surface.