The plasma-wall transition layers in the presence of collisions with a magnetic field parallel to the wall

International audienceThe plasma-wall transition is studied by mean of a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in the configuration of a parallel to the wall magnetic field (B), with collisions between charged particles vs. neutral atoms taken into account. The investigated system consists in a plasma bounded by two absorbing walls separated by 200 electron Debye lengths (λ d). The strength of the magnetic field is chosen such as the ratio λ d /r l , with r l the electron Larmor radius, is smaller or larger than the unity. Collisions are modelled with a simple operator that reorients randomly ion or electron velocity, keeping constant the total kinetic energy of both the neutral atom (target) and the incident charged particle. The PIC simulations show that the plasma-wall transition consists in a quasi-neutral region (pre-sheath), from the center of the plasma towards the walls, where the electric potential or electric field profiles are well described by an ambipolar diffusion model, and in a second region at the vicinity of the walls, called the sheath, where the quasi-neutrality breaks down. In this peculiar geometry of B and for a certain range of the mean-free-path, the sheath is found to be composed by two charged layers, a first, positive, close to the walls, and a second one, negative, towards the plasma and before the neutral pre-sheath. Depending on the amplitude of B, the spatial variation of the electric potential can be non-monotonic and presents a maximum within the sheath region. More generally, the sheath extent as well as the potential drop within the sheath and the pre-sheath are studied with respect to B, the mean-free-path and the ion and electron temperature

Plasma sheath properties in a magnetic field parallel to the wall

International audienceParticle in cell simulations were carried out with a plasma bounded by two absorbing walls and a magnetic field applied parallel to them. Both the sheath extent and the potential drop in it were derived from simulations for different plasma parameters such as the electron and ion temperature T i , particle density and ion mass. Both of them exhibit a power law dependent on the Larmor to plasma ion pulsation ratio Ω i. For increasing values of the magnetic field, the potential drop within the sheath decreases from a few T i /e down to zero, where e stands for the electron charge. The space charge extent increases with Ω i and saturates to 2.15 ion Larmor radius. A simple model of sheath formation in such a magnetic field configuration is presented. Assuming strongly magnetized electrons, and neglecting collisions and ionizations, a new typical length is evidenced, which depends on the ratio Ω i. The charge separation sheath width is theoretically found to increase from a combination of the electron gyroradius and the ion Debye length for low Ω i ratios up to several ion gyroradii for strongly magnetized ions. Both the calculated sheath extent and plasma potential show a fair agreement with the numerical simulations

Experimental and theoretical study of bumped characteristics obtained with cylindrical Langmuir probe in magnetized Helium plasma

Cylindrical Langmuir probe measurements in a Helium plasma were performed and analysed in the presence of a magnetic field. The plasma is generated in the ALINE device, a cylindrical vessel 1 m long and 30 cm in diameter using a direct coupled RF antenna (ν RF = 25 MHz). The density and temperature are of the order of 10 16 m −3 and 1.5 eV, respectively, for 1.2 Pa Helium pressure and 200 W RF power. The axial magnetic field can be set from 0 up to 0.1 T, and the plasma diagnostic is a RF compensated Langmuir probe, which can be tilted with respect to the magnetic field lines. In the presence of a magnetic field, I(V) characteristics look like asymmetrical double probe ones (tanh-shape), which is due to the trapping of charged particles inside a flux tube connected to the probe on one side and to the wall on the other side. At low tilting angle, high magnetic field amplitude, power magnitude and low He pressure, which are the parameters scanned in our study, a bump can appear on the I(V) in the plasma potential range. We then compare different models for deducing plasma parameters from such unusual bumped curves. Finally, using a fluid model, the bump rising on the characteristics can be explained, assuming a density depletion in the flux tube, and emphasizing the role of the perpendicular transport of ions

Experimental measurements of the RF sheath thickness with a cylindrical Langmuir probe

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The plasma-wall transition with collisions and an oblique magnetic field: reversal of potential drops at grazing incidences

International audienceThe plasma-wall transition is studied by using 1d3V particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in the case of a one dimensional plasma bounded by two absorbing walls separated by 200 Debye lengths (λ d). A constant and oblique magnetic field is applied to the system, with an amplitude such that r < λ d < R, where r and R are the electron and ion Larmor radius respectively. Collisions with neutrals are taken into account and modelled by an energy conservative operator, which randomly reorients ion and electron velocities. The plasma-wall transition (PWT) is shown to depend on both the angle of incidence of the magnetic field with respect to the wall θ, and on the ion mean-free-path to Larmor radius ratio, λ ci /R. In the very low collisionality regime (λ ci R) and for a large angle of incidence, the PWT consists in the classical tri-layer structure (Debye sheath / Chodura sheath / Pre-sheath) from the wall towards the center of the plasma. The drops of potential within the different regions are well consistent with already published models. However, when sin θ ≤ R/λ ci or with the ordering λ ci < R , collisions can not be neglected, leading to the disappearance of the Chodura sheath. In these case, a collisional model yields analytic expressions for the potential drop in the quasi-neutral region, and explains, in qualitative and quantitative agreement with the simulation results, its reversal below a critical angle derived in the paper, a regime possibly met in the SOL of tokamaks. It is further shown that the potential drop in the Debye sheath slightly varies with the collision-ality for λ ci R. However, it tends to decrease with λ ci in the high collisionality regime, until the Debye sheath finally vanishes