Potential of a plasma bound between two biased walls

Journal Article · Wed Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4745863· OSTI ID:22086086

Loizu, J; Dominski, J; Ricci, P; Theiler, C ^[1]

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1. Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas-Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Association EURATOM-Confederation Suisse, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

An analytical study is presented for an one-dimensional, steady-state plasma bound between two perfectly absorbing walls that are biased with respect to each other. Starting from a description of the plasma sheaths formed at both walls, an expression relating the bulk plasma potential to the wall currents is derived, showing that the plasma potential undergoes an abrupt transition when currents cross a critical value. This result is confirmed by numerical simulations performed with a particle-in-cell code.

• OSTI ID: 22086086
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2012 EURATOM; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CURRENTS
FIRST WALL
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
PLASMA POTENTIAL
PLASMA SHEATH
PLASMA SIMULATION
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS