Sheath collapse at critical shallow angle due to kinetic effects

Ewart, Robert J.; Parra, Felix I.; Geraldini, Alessandro

doi:10.1088/1361-6587/ac3966

Sheath collapse at critical shallow angle due to kinetic effects

Journal Article · Sun Dec 05 23:00:00 EST 2021 · Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/ac3966· OSTI ID:1979302

^[1]; Parra, Felix I. ^[2]; Geraldini, Alessandro ^[3]

University of Oxford (United Kingdom); OSTI
University of Oxford (United Kingdom); Culham Science Centre, Abingdon (United Kingdom)
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland); University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

The Debye sheath is known to vanish completely in magnetised plasmas for a sufficiently small electron gyroradius and small angle between the magnetic field and the wall. This angle depends on the current onto the wall. When the Debye sheath vanishes, there is still a potential drop between the wall and the plasma across the magnetic presheath. The magnetic field angle corresponding to the predicted sheath collapse is shown to be much smaller than previous estimates, scaling with the electron-ion mass ratio and not with the square root of the mass ratio. This is shown to be a consequence of the kinetic electron and finite ion orbit width effects, which are not captured by fluid models. The wall potential with respect to the bulk plasma at which the Debye sheath vanishes is calculated. Above this wall potential, it is possible that the Debye sheath will invert.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); UKRI

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-93ER54197

OSTI ID:: 1979302

Journal Information:: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Journal Name: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 64; ISSN 0741-3335

Publisher:: IOP ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Debye sheath
Physics
kinetic
magnetic presheath
plasma-wall boundary
sheath collapse

Sheath collapse at critical shallow angle due to kinetic effects

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