THE STUDY OF PROCESSES IN GASEOUS PLASMAS WITH THE AID OF A DRIFT-VELOCITY SPECTROMETER
Abstract
The construction of a drift-velocity spectrometer developed for the measurement of the mobility of positive ions produced in steady state and pulsed gaseous discharges is described. The ions are extracted from the gaseous plasma via a gating system and the time needed to traverse the drift region under the influence of a known electric field is measured. A short survey of the various methods used for the calculation of the ion mobility values is included. Preliminary measurements in helium of the value of the mobility of atomic and molecular helium ions gave the following results: (a) The value for the mobility of He(+) in helium is in excellent agreement with that obtained by other research groups. (b) The value for the mobility of He2(+) in helium is considerably smaller at low E/Po (electric-field-gas pressure ratio) than found by others and seems to be close to the value derived from microwave studies of disintegrating gaseous plasmas. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0265228
Entities
People
- H.j. Oskam
- J.m. Madson
Organizations
- University of Minnesota