
The first Q-machine constructed at Iowa, IQ-1 was in service for approximately 15 years. IQ-1 was a single-ended Q-machine (only one hot plate), which produced a plasma column six centimeters in diameter, and 80 centimeters long. The column was confined radially by a 3-5 kG magnetic field, dependent on coil placement. IQ-1 was used in many basic plasma studies, most recently, the study of low-frequency electrostatic waves in dusty plasmas. To study dusty plasmas, a cylindrical rotating dust chamber was constructed. The dust (usually Kaolin powder) fell through the plasma column, absorbing electrons from the ambient plasma. Trapping of dust did not occur in the plasma column, however. Dust was later trapped within the column by an anode double layer, which provided the first measurements of the Dust-Acoustic wave mode.IQ-1 completed its service in the fall of 1995, and was dismantled in the summer of 1996. Power systems and support facilities will be used in the new Q-machine (IQ-3) being constructed in the B01 lab.