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Title: Means to remove electrode contamination effect of Langmuir probe measurement in space

Abstract

Precaution to remove the serious effect of electrode contamination in Langmuir probe experiments has not been taken in many space measurements because the effect is either not understood or ignored. We stress here that one should pay extra attention to the electrode contamination effect to get accurate and reliable plasma measurements so that the long time effort for sounding rocket/satellite missions does not end in vain or becomes less fruitful. In this paper, we describe two main features of voltage-current characteristic curves associated with the contaminated Langmuir probe, which are predicted from the equivalent circuit model, which we proposed in 1970's. We then show that fast sweeping dc Langmuir probes can give reliable results in the steady state regime. The fast sweeping probe can also give reliable results in transient situations such as satellite moves through plasma bubble in the ionosphere where the electron density drastically changes. This fact was first confirmed in our laboratory experiment.

Authors:
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Plasma and Space Science Center, National Cheng Kung University, No.1 Ta-Hsueh Rd., Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22072315
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 83; Journal Issue: 5; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; 46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; BUBBLES; CONTAMINATION; ELECTRIC CURRENTS; ELECTRIC POTENTIAL; ELECTRODES; ELECTRON DENSITY; EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS; IONOSPHERE; LANGMUIR PROBE; PLASMA; SATELLITES; STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS

Citation Formats

Oyama, K -I, Lee, C H, Fang, H K, and Cheng, C Z. Means to remove electrode contamination effect of Langmuir probe measurement in space. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4722167.
Oyama, K -I, Lee, C H, Fang, H K, & Cheng, C Z. Means to remove electrode contamination effect of Langmuir probe measurement in space. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4722167
Oyama, K -I, Lee, C H, Fang, H K, and Cheng, C Z. 2012. "Means to remove electrode contamination effect of Langmuir probe measurement in space". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4722167.
@article{osti_22072315,
title = {Means to remove electrode contamination effect of Langmuir probe measurement in space},
author = {Oyama, K -I and Lee, C H and Fang, H K and Cheng, C Z},
abstractNote = {Precaution to remove the serious effect of electrode contamination in Langmuir probe experiments has not been taken in many space measurements because the effect is either not understood or ignored. We stress here that one should pay extra attention to the electrode contamination effect to get accurate and reliable plasma measurements so that the long time effort for sounding rocket/satellite missions does not end in vain or becomes less fruitful. In this paper, we describe two main features of voltage-current characteristic curves associated with the contaminated Langmuir probe, which are predicted from the equivalent circuit model, which we proposed in 1970's. We then show that fast sweeping dc Langmuir probes can give reliable results in the steady state regime. The fast sweeping probe can also give reliable results in transient situations such as satellite moves through plasma bubble in the ionosphere where the electron density drastically changes. This fact was first confirmed in our laboratory experiment.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4722167},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22072315}, journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
issn = {0034-6748},
number = 5,
volume = 83,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Tue May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}