High frequency instability of a magnetized spherical electron sheath

Stenzel, R. L.

doi:10.1063/1.3437398

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…More recent work has also explored high-frequency instabilities near the electron sheath of spherical electrodes in magnetized plasmas [177]. These instabilities were observed to propagate with the average E × B drift and to form toroidal eigenmodes.…”

Section: High Frequency (Electron) Instabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction of biased electrodes and plasmas: sheaths, double layers, and fireballs

Baalrud

Scheiner

Yee

et al. 2020

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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Biased electrodes are common components of plasma sources and diagnostics. The plasma-electrode interaction is mediated by an intervening sheath structure that influences properties of the electrons and ions contacting the electrode surface, as well as how the electrode influences properties of the bulk plasma. A rich variety of sheath structures have been observed, including ion sheaths, electron sheaths, double sheaths, double layers, anode glow, and fireballs. These represent complex self-organized responses of the plasma that depend not only on the local influence of the electrode, but also on the global properties of the plasma and the other boundaries that it is in contact with. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding the conditions under which each type of sheath forms, what the basic stability criteria and steady-state properties of each are, and the ways in which each can influence plasma-boundary interactions and bulk plasma properties. These results may be of interest to a number of application areas where biased electrodes are used, including diagnostics, plasma modification of materials, plasma sources, electric propulsion, and the interaction of plasmas with objects in space.

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Section: High Frequency (Electron) Instabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction of biased electrodes and plasmas: sheaths, double layers, and fireballs

Baalrud

Scheiner

Yee

et al. 2020

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…8,9 Electron-rich sheaths in magnetized plasmas can destabilize electron drift waves. 10 In the presence of neutrals, electronrich sheaths can produce ionization instabilities 11 which can expand into pulsating discharge phenomena with ionization double layers. [12][13][14][15][16][17] In the present work, the properties of an enclosed plasma within an ambient plasma have been investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oscillating plasma bubbles. II. Pulsed experiments

Stenzel

Urrutia

2012

Physics of Plasmas

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Time-dependent phenomena have been investigated in plasma bubbles which are created by inserting spherical grids into an ambient plasma and letting electrons and ions form a plasma of different parameters than the ambient one. There are no plasma sources inside the bubble. The grid bias controls the particle flux. There are sheaths on both sides of the grid, each of which passes particle flows in both directions. The inner sheath or plasma potential develops self consistently to establish charge neutrality and divergence free charge and mass flows. When the electron supply is restricted, the inner sheath exhibits oscillations near the ion plasma frequency. When all electrons are excluded, a virtual anode forms on the inside sheath, reflects all ions such that the bubble is empty. By pulsing the ambient plasma, the lifetime of the bubble plasma has been measured. In an afterglow, plasma electrons are trapped inside the bubble and the bubble decays as slow as the ambient plasma. Pulsing the grid voltage yields the time scale for filling and emptying the bubble. Probes have been shown to modify the plasma potential. Using pulsed probes, transient ringing on the time scale of ion transit times through the bubble has been observed. The start of sheath oscillations has been investigated. The instability mechanism has been qualitatively explained. The dependence of the oscillation frequency on electrons in the sheath has been clarified. V C 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.

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“…In a uniform magnetic field B 0 the electron-rich sheath differs from the direction of E and B 0 [19].…”

Section: Rotating Electron-rich Sheath With Electron Drift Wave mentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2021

J. Technol. Space Plasmas

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The properties of sheaths and associated potential structures and instabilities cover a broad field which even a review cannot cover everything. Thus, the focus will be on about a dozen examples, describe their observations and focus on the basic physical explanations for the effects, while further details are found in the references. Due to familiarity the review focuses mainly on the authors work but compared and referenced related work. The topics start with a high frequency oscillation near the electron plasma frequency. Low frequency instabilities also occur at the ion plasma frequency. The injection of ions into an electron-rich sheath widens the sheath and forms a double layer. Likewise, the injection of electrons into an ion rich sheath widens and establishes a double layer which occurs in free plasma injection into vacuum. The sheath widens and forms a double layer by ionization in an electron rich sheath. When particle fluxes in "fireballs" gets out of balance the double layer performs relaxation instabilities which has been studied extensively. Fireballs inside spherical electrodes create a new instability due to the transit time of trapped electrons. On cylindrical and spherical electrodes the electron rich sheath rotates in magnetized plasmas. Electrons rotate due to E × B 0 which excites electron drift waves with azimuthal eigenmodes. Conversely a permanent magnetic dipole has been used as a negative electrode. The impact of energetic ions produces secondary electron emission, forming a ring of plasma around the magnetic equator. Such "magnetrons" are subject to various instabilities. Finally, the current to a positively biased electrode in a uniformly magnetized plasma is unstable to relaxation oscillations, which shows an example of global effects. The sheath at the electrode raises the potential in the flux tube of the electrode thereby creating a radial sheath which moves unmagnetized ions radially. The ion motion creates a density perturbation which affects the electrode current. If the electrode draws large currents the current disruptions create large inductive voltages on the electrode, which again produce double layers. This phenomenon has been seen in reconnection currents. Many examples of sheath properties will be explained. Although the focus is on the physics some examples of applications will be suggested such as neutral gas heating and accelerating, sputtering of plasma magnetrons and rf oscillators.

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High frequency instability of a magnetized spherical electron sheath

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Interaction of biased electrodes and plasmas: sheaths, double layers, and fireballs

Interaction of biased electrodes and plasmas: sheaths, double layers, and fireballs

Oscillating plasma bubbles. II. Pulsed experiments

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