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Title: Beam discharge excited by distributed virtual cathode

Journal Article · · Plasma Physics Reports
; ; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. All-Russia Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Russian Federal Nuclear Center (Russian Federation)
  2. Russian Academy of Sciences, Joint Institute for High Temperatures (Russian Federation)

A new type of beam discharge, i.e., beam discharge with a distributed virtual cathode (VC) is proposed and considered by numerical simulation. The discharge is established during counter motion of high-current electron beams in a gas-filled equipotential cavity and is characterized by a state of hot dense electron plasma of primary electrons. The discharge temporal dynamics is studied. It is shown that the VC lifetime depends linearly from this sum in a wide range of the sum of beam currents, from the boundary current of two-beam instability to the critical current of Pierce instability. Generation of nonlinear electrostatic structures shaped as phase bubbles in the discharge is detected, and their dynamics is studied. The parameters are determined, at which the multiple coexistence of phase bubbles and their coalescence during collisions is observed.

OSTI ID:
22047425
Journal Information:
Plasma Physics Reports, Vol. 38, Issue 2; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2012 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-780X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English