Further laboratory measurements of the beam‐plasma discharge

Abstract

Further laboratory measurements of the beam‐plasma discharge (BPD) produced when an energetic electron beam traverses an initially neutral gas are presented. The experimental data indicate that the critical beam current I c at energy V , magnetic field B , and system length L required for ignition obeys the empirical relationship I c ∝ V 3/2 / B 0.7 PL at pressures P < 2 × 10 −5 torr. This relationship appears to primarily describe the accumulation of ambient plasma density, collisionally produced by the beam itself, to a critical value where ω pe ² ≈ ω ce ² at which ignition occurs. Additional measurements of the narrow‐band cyclotron‐related waves ( f ce < f < 1.4 f ce ) observed at beam currents below BPD threshold do not clearly establish whether this instability is a necessary precursor to the BPD. The relevance of these experiments to past and planned electron beam experiments in space is briefly discussed.