Sheath criterion and Sagdeev potential for both electronegative and electropositive plasmas

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2008 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3041629· OSTI ID:21180041

Alterkop, B ^[1]

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1. Electrical Discharge and Plasma Laboratory, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978 (Israel)

The sheath criterion was considered for electronegative as well as electropositive plasma in contact with a material boundary that is either more negative than the plasma space potential or more positive than the space potential. A fluid model accounted for the inertia and pressures of all the plasma components and the Sagdeev potential in the whole sheath without any power series expansion were used. The criterion was specified for several special cases of both electronegative and electropositive plasmas. In the cases, a cold ion critical velocity at the sheath entrance was greater by a factor of 1.585 for q{phi}>0 than that for q{phi}<0, where q is the ion charge and {phi} is the electrical potential in the sheath. In the case of a plasma with Boltzmann electrons and positive ions and a cold ion beam, this conclusion is true only for q<0 and {phi}<0.

• OSTI ID: 21180041
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 104; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CATIONS
CRITICAL VELOCITY
ELECTRONS
ION BEAMS
MOMENT OF INERTIA
PLASMA
PLASMA SHEATH
POTENTIALS
POWER SERIES