1. On collisionless ion and electron populations in the magnetic nozzle experiment (MNX)
- Author
-
Samuel A. Cohen, Earl Scime, Nathaniel Ferraro, Nicholas S. Siefert, Mahmood Miah, Robert Boivin, S. Stange, and Xuan Sun
- Subjects
Physics ,Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Magnetic confinement fusion ,Plasma ,Electron ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Ion ,Magnetic field ,symbols.namesake ,Physics::Plasma Physics ,symbols ,Langmuir probe ,Electron temperature ,Plasma diagnostics ,Atomic physics - Abstract
The Magnetic Nozzle Experiment (MNX) is a linear magnetized helicon-heated plasma device, with applications to advanced spacecraft-propulsion methods and solar-corona physics. This paper reviews ion and electron energy distributions measured in MNX with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and probes, respectively. Ions, cold and highly collisional in the main MNX region, are accelerated along a uniform magnetic field to sonic then supersonic speeds as they exit the main region through either mechanical or magnetic apertures. A sharp decrease in density downstream of the aperture(s) helps effect a transition from collisional to collisionless plasma. The electrons in the downstream region have an average energy somewhat higher than that in the main region. From LIF ion-velocity measurements, we find upstream of the aperture a presheath of strength Deltaphips=mrTe, where mrTe is the electron temperature in the main region, and length ~3 cm, comparable to the ion-neutral mean-free-path; immediately downstream of the aperture is an electrostatic double layer of strength DeltaphiDL=3-10 mrTe and length 0.3-0.6 cm, 30-600lambdaD. The existence of a small, ca. 0.1%, superthermal electron population with average energy ~10 mrTe is inferred from considerations of spectroscopic line ratios, floating potentials, and Langmuir probe data. The superthermal electrons are suggested to be the source for the large DeltaphiDL
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
- View/download PDF