Kinetic Simulations of Ion Beam Neutralization
- Astronautical Engineering Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1192 (United States)
Full particle PIC simulations are performed to study the neutralization of an ion beam in the cohesionless, mesothermal regime. Simulations further confirmed that neutralization is achieved through interactions between the trapped electrons and the potential well established by the propagation of the beam front along the beam direction and is not through plasma instabilities as previous studies suggested. In the transverse direction, the process is similar to that of the expansion of mesothermal plasma into vacuum. Parametric simulations are also performed to investigate the effects of beam radius and domain boundary condition on the neutralization process. The results suggests that, while the qualitative behavior may be similar in ground tests, quantitative parameters such as the beam potential will be affected significantly by the vacuum chamber because of the limits imposed on the expansion process by the finite chamber space.
- OSTI ID:
- 21511572
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1333, Issue 1; Conference: 27. international symposium on rarefied gas dynamics, Pacific Grove, CA (United States), 10-15 Jul 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3562787; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Simulations of ion beam neutralization in support of theneutralized transport experiment
The Center for Momentum Transport and Flow Organization in Plasmas - Final Scientific Report