Electron-beam heating and ionization in a Knudsen arc
Abstract
The paper reports on experiments on short Knudsen arcs at low plasma density where anomalously high ionization rates dn/dt are observed to lead to a rapid density increase. Attention is given to the problem that ionization by an electron beam with an energy of 10 eV, accelerated in the cathode Langmuir sheath, does not explain the ionization rate. Calculations are presented which show that the mechanism of energy transfer to thermal electrons by means of plasma waves explains the stationary Knudsen arc at low density values and high auxiliary voltage.
- Publication:
-
Pisma v Zhurnal Tekhnischeskoi Fiziki
- Pub Date:
- August 1979
- Bibcode:
- 1979PZhTF...5..905B
- Keywords:
-
- Arc Heating;
- Electron Beams;
- Gas Ionization;
- Knudsen Flow;
- Plasma Heating;
- Rarefied Plasmas;
- Distribution Functions;
- Electron Distribution;
- Plasma Density;
- Plasma Electrodes;
- Plasma Waves;
- Plasma Physics