Engineering topics

Stenzel, R L

Publications and source records attributed to Stenzel, R L.

4 records

DOE OSTI2012

Oscillating plasma bubbles. I. Basic properties and instabilities

Plasma bubbles are created in an ambient discharge plasma. A bubble is a plasma volume of typically spherical shape, which is separated from the ambient plasma by a negatively biased grid of high transparency. Ions and electrons from the ambient plasma flow into the bubble volume. In steady state the flow of particles and currents is divergence-free, which is established by the plasma potential inside the bubble. The grid has two sheaths, one facing the ambient plasma, the other the bubble plasma. The inner sheath is observed to become unstable, causing the plasma potential in the bubble to oscillate. The instability arises from an excess of ions and a deficiency of electrons. Its frequency is in the range of the ion plasma frequency but depends on all parameters which influence the charge density in the sheath. When the grid voltage is very negative, electrons cannot enter the outer sheath, and the inner sheath becomes a virtual anode which reflects ions such that the bubble interior is empty. When an electron source is placed into the bubble it can neutralize the ions and the bubble refills. Without plasma sources or sinks the bubble plasma is extremely sensitive to perturbations by probes. Modified current-voltage characteristics of Langmuir and emissive probes are demonstrated. A sequence of papers first describes the basic steady-state properties, then the time evolution of bubbles, the effects of electron sources in bubbles, and the role of the grid and bubble geometry. The physics of plasma bubbles is important to several fields of basic plasma physics such as sheaths, sheath instabilities, diagnostic probes, electrostatic confinement, and current and space charge neutralization of beams.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2012

Oscillating plasma bubbles. II. Pulsed experiments

Time-dependent phenomena have been investigated in plasma bubbles which are created by inserting spherical grids into an ambient plasma and letting electrons and ions form a plasma of different parameters than the ambient one. There are no plasma sources inside the bubble. The grid bias controls the particle flux. There are sheaths on both sides of the grid, each of which passes particle flows in both directions. The inner sheath or plasma potential develops self consistently to establish charge neutrality and divergence free charge and mass flows. When the electron supply is restricted, the inner sheath exhibits oscillations near the ion plasma frequency. When all electrons are excluded, a virtual anode forms on the inside sheath, reflects all ions such that the bubble is empty. By pulsing the ambient plasma, the lifetime of the bubble plasma has been measured. In an afterglow, plasma electrons are trapped inside the bubble and the bubble decays as slow as the ambient plasma. Pulsing the grid voltage yields the time scale for filling and emptying the bubble. Probes have been shown to modify the plasma potential. Using pulsed probes, transient ringing on the time scale of ion transit times through the bubble has been observed. The start of sheath oscillations has been investigated. The instability mechanism has been qualitatively explained. The dependence of the oscillation frequency on electrons in the sheath has been clarified.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2012

Oscillating plasma bubbles. III. Internal electron sources and sinks

An internal electron source has been used to neutralize ions injected from an ambient plasma into a spherical grid. The resultant plasma is termed a plasma 'bubble.' When the electron supply from the filament is reduced, the sheath inside the bubble becomes unstable. The plasma potential of the bubble oscillates near but below the ion plasma frequency. Different modes of oscillations have been observed as well as a subharmonic and multiple harmonics. The frequency increases with ion density and decreases with electron density. The peak amplitude occurs for an optimum current and the instability is quenched at large electron densities. The frequency also increases if Langmuir probes inside the bubble draw electrons. Allowing electrons from the ambient plasma to enter, the bubble changes the frequency dependence on grid voltage. It is concluded that the net space charge density in the sheath determines the oscillation frequency. It is suggested that the sheath instability is caused by ion inertia in an oscillating sheath electric field which is created by ion bunching.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2012

Oscillating plasma bubbles. IV. Grids, geometry, and gradients

Plasma bubbles are created in an ambient plasma. The bubble is formed inside a cavity bounded by a negatively biased grid. Ions are injected through the grid and neutralized by electrons from either the background plasma or an internal electron emitter. The external electron supply is controlled by the grid bias relative to the external plasma potential. When the electron flux is restricted to the ion flux, the sheath of the bubble becomes unstable and causes the plasma potential to oscillate near the ion plasma frequency. The exact frequency depends on the net space charge density in the bubble sheath. The frequency increases with density and grid voltage, provided the grid forms a parallel equipotential surface. The present investigation shows that when the Debye length becomes smaller than the grid openings the electron flux cannot be controlled by the grid voltage. The frequency dependence on grid voltage and density is modified creating frequency and amplitude jumps. Low frequency sheath oscillations modulate the high frequency normal oscillations. Harmonics and subharmonics are excited by electrons in an ion-rich sheath. When the plasma parameters vary over the bubble surface, the sheath may oscillate at different frequencies. A cavity with two isolated grids has been used to investigate anisotropies of the energetic electron flux in a discharge plasma. The frequency dependence on grid voltage is entirely different when the grid controls the energetic electrons or the bulk electrons. These observations are important to several fields of basic plasma physics, such as sheaths, sheath instabilities, diagnostic probes, current, and space charge neutralization of ion beams.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗