Dispersion relations of electron density fluctuations in a Hall thruster plasma, observed by collective light scattering

Journal Article · Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3093261· OSTI ID:21274209

Tsikata, S; Pisarev, V; Gresillon, D M ^[1]; Lemoine, N ^[2]

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1. Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau (France)
2. Laboratoire de Physique des Milieux Ionises et Applications, CNRS, Universite Henri-Poincare, F 54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy (France)

Kinetic models and numerical simulations of E-vectorxB-vector plasma discharges predict microfluctuations at the scales of the electron cyclotron drift radius and the ion plasma frequency. With the help of a specially designed collective scattering device, the first experimental observations of small-scale electron density fluctuations inside the plasma volume are obtained, and observed in the expected ranges of spatial and time scales. The anisotropy, dispersion relations, form factor, amplitude, and spatial distribution of these electron density fluctuations are described and compared to theoretical expectations.

• OSTI ID: 21274209
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3093261; (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AMPLITUDES
ANISOTROPY
DISPERSION RELATIONS
ELECTRON DENSITY
FLUCTUATIONS
FORM FACTORS
LIGHT SCATTERING
PLASMA SIMULATION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
THRUSTERS