Influence of the anode processes on discharges driven by thermionic emission
- Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)
The influence of electron reflection and secondary electron emission due to electron impact from the anode on discharges driven by thermionic emission is studied by the self-consistent one-dimensional particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collisions model. Two regimes are considered. In the first regime, the two-stream instability is excited and large anode sheath potential is obtained. It is found that in this regime, the reflected electrons play a significant role. In the second regime, the instability is not excited and the anode sheath potential is small. The dominant anode process in this regime is the secondary electron emission. It is shown that in both regimes, the anode processes significantly influence the plasma parameters.
- OSTI ID:
- 22490987
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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