The details of the charged particle separation by mass in the configuration with axial magnetic and radial electric fields are studied. The radial electric field, oriented to the discharge axis, is induced in a background reflex discharge with a hot cathode (−550 V, 8–14 A). The plasma source is based on a hot cathode arc discharge with independent metal vapor injection (18–21 V, 30 A) was situated at 18 cm from the axis. It was shown that the separated Ag + Pb mixture is transported across the magnetic field under the background discharge electric field. Effective separation is possible in such a system, while the separation coefficient increases from 4.9 to 6.2–8.4 when the mixture injection point is moved away from the background discharge axis from 18 to 23 cm. The effect of mixture injection on the plasma potential distribution is examined. It was shown that the presence of a plasma source of separated substances can cause a local (1–2 cm) distortion of the background plasma potential profile. Such distortion, as well as fluctuations of the background plasma potential, can significantly affect the width of the deposited spots of separated substances.

The possibility of controlling the electrostatic field distribution in plasma has yielded wide prospects for modern technologies. As a magnetic field primarily allows for creating electric fields in plasma, it serves as an additional obstacle for the current flow through a medium. In the present paper, an axially symmetric system is considered in which the magnetic field is directed along the axis and concentric electrodes are located at the ends. The electrodes are negatively biased. A model which solves the problem of the radial distribution of the plasma potential inside the cylindrical plasma column supported by the end electrodes is proposed. The most commonly encountered configurations of the electrical connection for the end electrodes are considered, and the particular solutions to the problem of the radial distribution are presented. The contribution of ions and electrons to the transverse conductivity is evaluated in detail. The influence of a thermionic element on the radial profile of the plasma potential is considered. To verify the proposed model, an experimental study of the reflex discharge is carried out with both cold electrodes and a thermionic element on the axis. A comparison of the computational model results with experimental data is given. The presented model makes it possible to solve the problem concerning the plasma potential distribution in the case of an arbitrary number of end electrodes, and also to take into account the inhomogeneity of the distribution of plasma density, neutral gas pressure and electron temperature along the radius.