Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-4-2018
Department 1
Physics
Abstract
Argon and xenon ion velocity distribution functions are measured in Ar-He, Ar-Xe, and Xe-He expanding helicon plasmas to determine if ion beam velocity is enhanced by the presence of lighter ions. Contrary to observations in mixed gas sheath experiments, we find that adding a lighter ion does not increase the ion beam speed. The predominant effect is a reduction of ion beam velocity consistent with increased drag arising from increased gas pressure under all conditions: constant total gas pressure, equal plasma densities of different ions, and very different plasma densities of different ions. These results suggest that the physics responsible for the acceleration of multiple ion species in simple sheaths is not responsible for the ion acceleration observed in expanding helicon plasmas.
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
DOI
10.1063/1.5021941
Version
Version of Record
Recommended Citation
Aguirre, E.M., E.E. Scime and T.N. Good. "Ion Beams in Multi-Species Plasma." Physics of Plasmas 25, no. 4 (2018).
Required Publisher's Statement
This article is available on the publisher's website: https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.5021941