CESIUM PLASMA STUDIES FOR THERMIONIC ENERGY CONVERSION
Abstract
A study of the conditions of sheath formation on the surface of the thermal cesium plasma generators used for recombination measurements was performed. Results obtained with two-emitter plasma generators lead to intriguing, though tentative, conclusions, i.e., that the rates of both electron loss and ion loss from the plasma back to the emitters are surprisingly low. These results are tentatively explained by speculating that electron trapping takes place in the plasma, whose potential would be positive with respect to the emitters; in addition, the probability of neutralization of ions returning to the emitter may be lower than predicted by the Saha-Langmuir equation. Low-frequency oscillations in a cesium plasma column with a plasma emitter at one end and a collector at the other were studied in the collector circuit of the movable probe tube. These oscillations were conclusively related to the existence of a negative resistance characteristic in the emitter-collector circuit. This negative resistance characteristic was caused by changes in plasma density with collector voltage. A preliminary theory accounting for these phenomen as b en evolved. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0275015
Entities
People
- J.y. Wada
- R.c. Knechtli