STATIC THEORY OF DENSITY AND POTENTIAL DISTRIBU TION IN A BEAM-GENERATED PLASMA,
Abstract
An electron beam passing through a gas will ion ize the gas; and the electrons and ions so pro duced will collect in the vicinity of the beam to form a plasma with a number density that can be much greater than the density of the beam. A one-dimensional static theory for such a system with a beam either partially or completely fil ling the space between two parallel planes that gives the plasma density and potential distribu tion in the space is presented. The theory requires only minor modifications of the Langmuir Tonks free-fall theory of the positive column. A plasma filling the space occupied by the beam is found to be separated by a low potential sheath from a somewhat lower density plasma extending to the walls where a second highential sheath is formed. A comparison is made between the re sults of this theory and some density measure ments on beam-generated plasmas reported in the literature and reasonable agreement is found. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0418683
Entities
People
- D.a. Dunn
- S.a. Self
Organizations
- Stanford University