Investigation of the Electron-Ion Hybrid instability in a collisional environment

Summary form only given. The linear Electron-Ion Hybrid (EIH) instability, a transverse velocity shear-driven instability with frequency near the lower hybrid frequency, was previously predicted theoretically to explain the observation of lower hybrid waves in applications from the plasma sheet boundary layer to laser produced plasmas. The linear EIH instability has also been observed in the laboratory in scaled magnetospheric plasma conditions and in laser produced plasma expansion experiments across magnetic fields. PIC simulations have shown that a key feature of the nonlinear evolution of the EIH mode is that it leads to the formation of coherent, closed potential contours in the fluctuating electrostatic potential.