Effects of energetic electrons on magnetized electrostatic plasma sheaths

Abstract

The influence of energetic electrons on magnetized plasma sheaths is studied for different current regimes and different secondary-electron emission coefficients. (Here, the term “plasma sheath” denotes the collisionless region consisting of the non-neutral Debye sheath and the quasi-neutral magnetic presheath.) It is shown that the presence of even a small population of energetic electrons can significantly influence the potential drop across the sheath and the energy flux to the wall. For example, for plasma parameters typical of contemporary tokamaks, the presence of a fast-electron population with density smaller than 0.1% (!) can double the potential drop across the sheath and the energy flux to the wall, and the presence of a few percent of fast electrons can enhance these values by up to one order. The effect of fast electrons decreases with increasing secondary-electron emission coefficient and increasing current to the wall. Analytical results obtained are checked against particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations for different current regimes and different secondary-electron emission coefficients, showing good agreement except in some cases where the simulation results exhibit strong fluctuations.