The effect of collisions in maintaining a non-Maxwellian plasma distribution in a spherically convergent ion focus
Abstract
It is shown that, for a moderately long time scale, two-body collisions can actually help in maintaining a non-Maxwellian ion velocity distribution in a plasma. This effect occurs when the ions have orbits large enough to transit spatial regions with different physical parameters in a single collision time. The effect is applied to ions confined in a spherically convergent ion focus (SCIF), where collisions at the edge of a spherical potential well help maintain convergent non-Maxwellian flow in the rest of the device.
- Publication:
-
Physics of Fluids B
- Pub Date:
- July 1992
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.860034
- Bibcode:
- 1992PhFlB...4.1788R