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Title: Boundary-induced effect on the spoke-like activity in E × B plasma

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5092702 · OSTI ID:1558788

The spoke instability in an E × B Penning discharge is shown to be strongly affected by the boundary that is perpendicular to B field lines. The instability is the strongest when bounded by dielectric walls. With a conducting wall, biased to collect electron current from the plasma, the spoke becomes faster, less coherent, and localized closer to the axis. The corresponding anomalous cross-field transport is assessed via simultaneous time-resolved measurements of plasma potential and density. Here, this shows a dominant large-scale E × B anomalous character of the electron cross-field current for dielectric walls reaching 40%–100% of the discharge current, with an effective Hall parameter βeff ~10. The anomalous current is greatly reduced with the conducting boundary (characterized by βeff ~ 102). These experimental measurements are shown to be qualitatively consistent with the decrease in the E field that triggers the collisionless Simon-Hoh instability.

Research Organization:
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Contributing Organization:
This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
OSTI ID:
1558788
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 5; ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Perspectives on Physics of ExB Discharges Relevant to Plasma Propulsion and Similar Technologies text January 2020