Method of Measuring the Velocity of a Continuously Flowing Plasma

Abstract

A method of measuring the mean velocity of a flowing plasma is described. In this method ``blobs'' of plasma are extracted from the body of the flow by an electrostatic gating technique. Then the time of flight of the ``blob'' for a given distance is measured. Measurements of plasma velocities of 2×105 cm/sec have been made at total particle densities of 1012/cm3.