Electric sheath between a metal surface and a magnetized plasma

TLDR

A collisionless electric sheath model between a metal surface and a magnetized plasma is presented. The model assumes a uniform magnetic field at a small incidence angle and derives the effects of finite Larmor radius and secondary electrons on the wall potential. The ambipolar wall potential is essentially independent of the incidence angle, while the sheath thickness strongly depends on surface absorption characteristics.

Abstract

A collisionless electric sheath model between a metal surface and a magnetized plasma is given. The magnetic field is assumed to be uniform and has a small angle of incidence with respect to the surface. It is shown that the ambipolar wall potential is essentially independent of the angle of incidence. The finite Larmor radius and secondary electron effects on the wall potential are derived. The sheath thickness is shown to depend strongly on the surface absorption characteristics.