Magnetic insulation at finite temperatures
- Physics Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003 and Raytheon Missile Systems, 1151 E. Hermans Road, Tucson, Arizona 85706 (United States)
A finite-temperature non-neutral plasma (FTNNP) theory of magnetically insulated (MI) electron flows in crossed-field vacuum devices is developed and applied in planar geometry. It is shown that, in contrast to the single type of MI flow predicted by traditional cold-plasma treatments, the nonlinear FTNNP equations admit five types of steady flow, of which three types are MI flows, including flows in which the electric field and/or the tangential velocity at the cathode may be zero or nonzero. It is also shown that finite-temperature Vlasov-Poisson treatments yield solutions for electron number densities and electrostatic potentials that are a subset of the FTNNP solutions. The algorithms that are used to solve the FTNNP equations numerically are discussed, and the numerical results are presented for several examples of the three types of MI flow. Results include prediction of the existence, boundaries, number density profiles, and other properties of sheaths of electrons in the anode-cathode gap.
- OSTI ID:
- 20860204
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2244529; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALGORITHMS
ANODES
BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION
CATHODES
COLD PLASMA
CROSSED FIELDS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
GEOMETRY
ION TEMPERATURE
MAGNETIC INSULATION
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA POTENTIAL
PLASMA SHEATH
POISSON EQUATION
RADIATION TRANSPORT
STEADY FLOW