PROBE THEORY IN A DENSE PLASMA

Technical Report · Wed Mar 21 04:00:00 EST 1962

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4823626· OSTI ID:4823626

Ecker, G; Masterson, K S; McClure, J J

A dense plasma is defined as one in which the effective mean free path of one particle component is small in comparison with the probe dimensions; thus Langmuir's theory is not applicable in such a plasma. The presence of the probe causes marked changes of density and potential distributions in the probe environment. These effects were calculated for insulated probes of various geometries. An exact solution is given for a concentric cylindrical probe. For more general geometries, an appropriate approximation procedure, the composition method, was developed from variational principles. The effect of probe disturbances on the measurements can be accounted for in terms of an effective probe position and a potential correction. Introduction of the probe also causes changes in the eigenvalue and electron temperature. The results allow one to unfold experimental data to find the true plasma qualities. Consideration of the inertia-limited region shows that Bohm's criterion is not suitable to judge either the stability or stationarity of the sheath. A stationary inertia-limited region can exist only under certain restricted circumstances. (auth)

• Research Organization: University of California, Berkeley, CA (US). Lawrence Radiation Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• NSA Number: NSA-16-026405
• OSTI ID: 4823626
• Report Number(s): UCRL-10128
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

CHARGED PARTICLES
CONFIGURATION
CROSS SECTIONS
CYLINDERS
DENSITY
DISTURBANCES
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRONS
ERRORS
GRAVITATION
INTERACTIONS
LAYERS
MEAN FREE PATH
PHYSICS
PLASMA
PROBES
STABILITY
TEMPERATURE
VARIATIONAL METHOD