Title :
Potential formation triggered by field-aligned electron acceleration due to electron cyclotron resonance along diverging magnetic-field lines
Author :
Kaneko, Toshiro ; Hatakeyama, Rikizo ; Sato, Noriyoshi
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Tohoku Univ., Sendai, Japan
fDate :
10/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Stationary potential drop and ion acceleration along diverging magnetic-field lines are observed in a fully ionized collisionless plasma flow in the presence of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) heating (ECRH). Time-resolved measurements for the purpose of clarifying the potential-formation dynamics show that temporal evolutions of the potential profile and electron energy distribution function correlate well with each other. The strong potential drop is found to be caused by a field-aligned electron acceleration due to ECRH, being accompanied by an effective ion acceleration so as to maintain the charge neutrality condition in the downstream region from the ECR point
Keywords :
cyclotron resonance; magnetic fields; plasma flow; plasma radiofrequency heating; ECR point; charge neutrality condition; diverging magnetic field lines; downstream region; electron cyclotron resonance; electron cyclotron resonance heating; electron energy distribution function; field-aligned electron acceleration; fully ionised plasma; fully ionized collisionless plasma flow; ion acceleration; plasma flow; potential formation; potential formation dynamics; potential profile; stationary potential drop; temporal evolutions; time-resolved measurements; Acceleration; Cyclotrons; Distribution functions; Electrons; Energy measurement; Heating; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic resonance; Plasma accelerators; Plasma measurements;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
