INVESTIGATION OF DENSE PLASMA BY ION COLLECTION PROBE

Assuming frozen flow conditions, the high pressure probe data is analysed to study the charge distribution in a mobility controlled boundary layer. The numerical results obtained for a confined argon plasma of 100-200 A at 1 atmosphere appear to be reasonable and self-consistent in the range studied. Also the charge distribution near the probe (∼10−3 cm) is extrapolated to estimate the plasma charge density in the centre of the column (0·5 cm from the probe), which is found to be in good agreement with the spectroscopic plasma density measurement. © Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.