Experimental investigation of a coherent flute instability using a heavy ion beam probe

Abstract

A coherent, low-frequency instability found in a cylindrical, hollow cathode arc plasma has been investigated by using a heavy ion beam probe (HIBP). The energy density of the plasma was high enough to render it inaccessible to Langmuir probes, but the HIBP was able to provide measurements throughout the plasma cross section. The data clearly show that azimuthal symmetry does not exist. Radial profiles of steady-state density and space potential and of simultaneous ñ, φ̃ amplitude and phase were obtained to allow detailed comparison between theory and experiment. Predictions from a cylindrically symmetric, small-perturbation theoretical model provide reasonably conclusive identification of the instability as a Kelvin–Helmholtz flute driven by and localized in a region of fluid shear. The most serious discrepancy was with regard to the oscillation frequency, which was consistently predicted to be three to four times lower than that observed experimentally. The reason for the discrepancy is not understood, but it is probably related to inadequacies in the theory caused by assumptions of azimuthal symmetry and of small linear perturbations.