An electron–positron beam–plasma instability

Abstract

Using a new technique to generate cold electron beams, an electron-beam positron-plasma experiment was performed in a previously unexplored range of energies. An electron beam, formed from a thermalized room-temperature electron plasma, is transmitted through a positron plasma stored in a quadrupole Penning trap geometry. The transit-time instability, which is excited by the beam, was previously studied using a hot-cathode electron gun. The large beam energies produced by the cathode did not permit an investigation of the instability in the interesting range of energies near its onset. Using a new 0.1 eV energy width electron beam, we have reinvestigated the system. The experimental data are compared with the results of a theoretical model, also described in this paper. The theory employs a linearized cold fluid and Vlasov approach to model the plasma and beam dynamics, respectively. The data and predictions are in good agreement over the broad range of energies and beam currents studied.