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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Resolving the mystery of electron perpendicular temperature spike in the plasma sheath

A large family of plasmas has collisional mean-free-path much longer than the non-neutral sheath width, which scales with the plasma Debye length. The plasmas, particularly the electrons, assume strong temperature anisotropy in the sheath. The temperature in the sheath flow direction (Te∥) is lower and drops toward the wall as a result of the decompressional cooling by the accelerating sheath flow. The electron temperature in the transverse direction of the flow field (Te⊥) not only is higher but also spikes up in the sheath. This abnormal behavior of Te⊥ spike is found to be the result of a negative gradient of the parallel heat flux of transverse degrees of freedom (qes) in the sheath. The non-zero heat flux qes is induced by pitch-angle scattering of electrons via either their interaction with self-excited electromagnetic waves in a nearly collisionless plasma or Coulomb collision in a collisional plasma, or both in the intermediate regime of plasma collisionality.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

The positive ion temperature effect in magnetized electronegative plasma sheath with two species of positive ions

The properties of a magnetized multi-component (two species of positive ions, negative ions and electrons) plasma sheath with finite positive ion temperature are studied. By using three fluid hydrodynamic model and some dimensionless variables, the ion (both lighter and heavier positive ions, and negative ions) densities, the ion (only for positive ions) velocities, and electric potential inside the sheath are investigated. In addition, the absence and presence of magnetic field and the orientation of magnetic field are considered. It is noticed that, with increase of positive ion temperature, the lighter positive ion density peaks increase only at the sheath edge and shift towards the sheath edge for both absence and presence of magnetic field. For heavier positive ions, in the absence of magnetic field, the density peaks increase at the sheath edge. But in the presence of magnetic field, the density fluctuations increase at the sheath edge. For both the cases, the density peaks shift towards the sheath edge.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Numerical investigation of the ion temperature effect in magnetized plasma sheath with two species of positive ions

The effect of ion temperature, magnitude of magnetic field and its orientation on a magnetized plasma sheath consisting of electrons and two species of positive ions are investigated. Using three-fluid hydrodynamic model and some dimensionless variables, the dimensionless equations are obtained and solved numerically. It is found that with the increase of the ion temperature and magnetic field strength there is a significant change in ion densities and energies in the sheath. It is also noticed that increase of magnetic field angle enhances the ion density near the sheath edge for a constant ion temperature. With increase in ion temperature and magnetic field angle, the lighter ion density near the sheath edge enhances and reverses for the heavier ion species.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effect of Plasma Sheaths on Earth Re-entry MHD Processes

The first study of the full coupling between the aerothermodynamics, the magnetohydrodynamics, and the plasma sheaths within earth entry flows is here per-formed. The problem tackled herein is representative of a force-generating MHD patch located between the plenum and the frustum of a capsule entering the earth’s atmosphere at Mach 34. The reactions are obtained from a modified 11-species Park chemical solver. The physical model fully couples the drift-diffusion model for the sheaths to the multispecies Navier-Stokes equations for the plasma flow. The Hall and ion slip effects are taken into consideration within the plasma flow and within the sheaths. The effect of the electrode material on the MHD process is studied. Using thoriated tungsten instead of graphite leads to a four-fold increase in the Lorentz forces and also leads to significantly reduced heat fluxes on the cathode. This is attributed to the much higher electrical conductivity of the thoriated tungsten sheath reducing by orders of magnitude the plasma electrical resistance near the surfaces.

Bernard Parent↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effect of Plasma Sheaths on Earth Re-entry MHD Processes

The first study of the full coupling between the aerothermodynamics, the magnetohydrodynamics, and the plasma sheaths within earth entry flows is here per-formed. The problem tackled herein is representative of a force-generating MHD patch located between the plenum and the frustum of a capsule entering the earth’s atmosphere at Mach 34. The reactions are obtained from a modified 11-species Park chemical solver. The physical model fully couples the drift-diffusion model for the sheaths to the multispecies Navier-Stokes equations for the plasma flow. The Hall and ion slip effects are taken into consideration within the plasma flow and within the sheaths. Results obtained indicate that the cathode sheath can exert significant resistance to current flow and thus reduce the MHD-generated force by 40% or more. The effect of the sheath on the MHD force is found to be more pronounced at lower applied magnetic field.

Earth Re-entry↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Coupled Plasma-Sheath Model for High Density Sources

High density, low pressure plasmas are used for etching and deposition in microelectronics fabrication processes. The process characteristics are strongly determined by the ion energy distribution (IED) and the ion flux arriving at the substrate that are responsible for desorption of etch products and neutral dissociation at the surface. The ion flux and energy are determined by a self- consistent modeling of the bulk plasma, where the ions and the neutral radicals are produced, and the sheath, where the ions are accelerated. Due to their widely different time scales, it is a formidable task to self-consistently resolve non-collisional sheath in a high density bulk plasma model. In this work, we first describe a coupled plasma-sheath model that attempts to resolve the non-collisional sheath in a reactor scale model. Second, we propose a semianalytical radio frequency (RF) sheath model to improve ion dynamics.

Bose, Deepak↗
NASA NTRS1973

Iterative methods for plasma sheath calculations: Application to spherical probe

The computer cost of a Poisson-Vlasov iteration procedure for the numerical solution of a steady-state collisionless plasma-sheath problem depends on: (1) the nature of the chosen iterative algorithm, (2) the position of the outer boundary of the grid, and (3) the nature of the boundary condition applied to simulate a condition at infinity (as in three-dimensional probe or satellite-wake problems). Two iterative algorithms, in conjunction with three types of boundary conditions, are analyzed theoretically and applied to the computation of current-voltage characteristics of a spherical electrostatic probe. The first algorithm was commonly used by physicists, and its computer costs depend primarily on the boundary conditions and are only slightly affected by the mesh interval. The second algorithm is not commonly used, and its costs depend primarily on the mesh interval and slightly on the boundary conditions.

Parker, L. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Lunar electric fields, surface potential and associated plasma sheaths

A review is given of studies of the electric-field environment of the moon. Surface electric potentials are reported for the dayside and terminator regions, electron and ion densities in the plasma sheath adjacent to each surface-potential regime are evaluated, and the corresponding Debye lengths are estimated. The electric fields, which are approximated by the surface potential over the Debye length, are shown to be at least three orders of magnitude higher than the pervasive solar-wind electric field and to be confined to within a few tens of meters of the lunar surface.

Freeman, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Wave rectification in plasma sheaths surrounding electric field antennas

Combined measurements of Langmuir or broadband whistler wave intensity and lower-frequency electric field waveforms, all at 10-microsecond time resolution, were made on several recent sounding rockets in the auroral ionosphere. It is found that Langmuir and whistler waves are partically rectified in the plasma sheaths surrounding the payload and the spheres used as antennas. This sheath rectification occurs whenever the high frequency (HF) potential across the sheath becomes of the same order as the electron temperature or higher, for wave frequencies near or above the ion plasma frequency. This rectification can introduce false low-frequency waves into measurements of electric field spectra when strong high-frequency waves are present. Second harmonic signals are also generated, although at much lower levels. The effect occurs in many different plasma conditions, primarily producing false waves at frequencies that are low enough for the antenna coupling to the plasma to be resistive.

Boehm, M. H.↗
DOE OSTI2023

The plasma–sheath transition and Bohm criterion in a high recycling divertor

The high recycling regime of a divertor is characterized by high plasma particle fluxes and low temperature at the target, where a strong hydrogen recirculation loop exists. Atomic processes in the high recycling regime, such as ion–neutral friction and radiation, can affect the plasma momentum and energy transport in the sheath transition region. Here, in this work, the plasma–sheath transition near a high recycling wall is investigated. The Bohm speed, which constraints the ion exit flow speed, is evaluated from a transport model that accounts for the effect of the anisotropic transport and atomic collisions in the transition layer. A first principles kinetic code vector particle-in-cell with the atomic collision package is used to investigate a 1D self-consistent slab plasma with a high recycling boundary for the tungsten and carbon divertors. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the Bohm speed model in predicting the ion exit flow speed in the transition region, as well as the reduction of the Bohm speed due to the ion–neutral friction. The effect of different wall materials, tungsten, and carbon, on the Bohm speed and near-wall plasma profile is shown.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

A paradigm for the stability of the plasma sheath against fluid perturbations

The stability of the sheath created by a collisionless, unmagnetized plasma interacting with a material boundary at floating potential is studied with a fluid plasma model. In the limit where the sonic sheath ion flow is neglected, ion perturbations can be unstable to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, driven by the sheath ion density gradient and electric field. The sonic sheath ion flow, however, is very effective in stabilizing these modes by convective stabilization. Therefore, within the assumptions of our model and the parameters considered, the sheath is stable.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1990

High voltage plasma sheath analysis related to TSS-1

On the first mission of the Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1), a 1.8 m diameter spherical satellite will be deployed a distance of 20 km above the Space Shuttle Orbiter on an insulated conducting tether. The satellite will be held at electric potentials up to 5000 volts positive with respect to the ambient plasma. Due to the passage of the conducting tether through the Earth's magnetic field, an electromagnetic field (EMF) will be created, driving electrons down the tether to the Orbiter, out through an electron gun into the ionosphere and back into the positive-biased satellite. The main problem addressed here is the current-voltage characteristics of the ionospheric interaction with the satellite. The first problem is that while the satellite will be capable of measuring charged particle flow to the surface at several locations, the detectors have a limited range of acceptance angle. The second problem is that the angle of incidence of the incoming electrons will have to be relative to the local normal. This will be important in order to predict the magnitude of the detectable current at each detector location so the detector gain can be pre-set to the correct range. The plasma sheath was analyzed mathematically, and subroutines were written to solve relevant finite element, Taylor-Vlasov, and Poisson equations.

Sheldon, John W.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Generation of dust projectiles passing over an obstacle in the plasma sheath

Dust projectiles were produced in a radio-frequency plasma by increasing 6-fold the radio-frequency power put into the discharge. The initial static dust particles were observed to gain speed while moving away from the confining region and escaped from the inter-electrode space on a ballistic-like trajectory. Single-grain dynamics simulations indicated that the dust particles were accelerated by changes induced in the sheath electric field profile.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2017

Temporal Evolution of the Plasma Sheath Surrounding Solar Cells in Low Earth Orbit

High voltage solar array interactions with the space environment can have a significant impact on array performance and spacecraft charging. Over the past 10 years, data from the International Space Station has allowed for detailed observations of these interactions over long periods of time. Some of the surprising observations have been floating potential transients, which were not expected and are not reproduced by existing models. In order to understand the underlying processes producing these transients, the temporal evolution of the plasma sheath surrounding the solar cells in low Earth orbit is being investigated. This study includes lumped element modeling and particle-in-cell simulation methods. This presentation will focus on recent results from the on-going investigations.

Willis, Emily M.↗