Determining Electron Sheath Density Profiles in Collisionless Plasmas*

Details Determining Electron Sheath Density Profiles in Collisionless Plasmas* Determining Electron Sheath Density Profiles in Collisionless Plasmas*

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufmsm13a0335w&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #SM13A-0335

Physics

0609 Antennas, 0654 Plasmas, 0694 Instruments And Techniques, 2794 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

The experimental results, which were obtained with a network analyzer, are measurements of the rf impedance characteristics of a small spherical probe immersed in collisionless laboratory plasma. Theory indicates that for collisionless plasmas, resistance is inversely proportional to the plasma density gradient evaluated at the location where the plasma frequency is equal to the applied frequency. We extend a recently published work2 which uses a simpler derivation than previous authors of plasma collisionless resistance in spherical geometry. This work results in an expression for sheath resistance as a function of applied frequency. Using numerical integration of the measured resistance, we are able to infer the sheath electron density profile. This differs markedly from earlier work in this area in that it does not require the insertion of a separate probe into the sheath region and therefore is largely non-perturbative. Recent results to be shown indicate that the model faithfully matches measured resistance for a 1 cm radius sphere and therefore the electron density profile can be determined. Preliminary results for a second, larger sphere will also be shown. *Work supported by ONR 2Walker, D.N., R.F. Fernsler, D.D. Blackwell, W.A. Amatucci, S.J. Messer, Phys of Plasmas, 13, 032108 (2006)

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