Ion heating mechanism in a modified penning discharge / by J. Reece Roth.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Roth, J. Reece, author.

Contributor:

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, issuing body.

Lewis Research Center

Series:

NASA technical note ; D-6985.

NASA/TN ; D-6985

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ions--Migration and velocity.

Ions.

Plasma heating.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (iv, 83 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Aeronautics and Space Administration, September 1972.

Summary:

Ions with Maxwellian energy distributions and kinetic temperatures ranging from 20 eV to 7 keV have been observed in a modified Penning discharge operating in the steady state. Investigation of the plasma revealed two distinct spoke-like concentrations of charge rotating with different velocities in the sheath between the plasma and the anode ring. The faster spoke consists of electrons rotating with the E/B drift velocity, where E is the electric field and B is the magnetic field strength. The slow spoke consists of ions, the thermal velocity of which is observed to be proportional to the spoke velocity. The experimental data are consistent with a model whereby the ion drift velocity in this spoke, corresponding to kilovolt ion energies, is Maxwellianized by strong electrostatic turbulence in the sheath. Theoretical expressions are derived for the frequency of the electron and ion spoke rotation, for the ion kinetic temperature, and for the ion heating efficiency as functions of the discharge parameters. These expressions are shown to be consistent with extensive experimental data.

Notes:

"September 1972."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-83).

Description based on online resource, PDF version; title from title page (NASA, viewed on June 8, 2021).

OCLC:

23097796