Heating of heavy plasma species by damping electron beam in beam-generated plasma

Abstract

The heating of heavy species (both ions and neutrals) in the beam-generated plasma by damping electron beam is analyzed using a self-consistent one-dimensional Particle-in-Cell Monte Carlo collisions model. It is observed that the damping of the electron beam leads to the excitation of a wide spectrum of electrostatic waves. These waves lead to the heating not only of the thermal plasma electrons but also of the plasma ions. The first less efficient mechanism of the ion heating is the ponderomotive force due to the generation of non-homogeneous high-frequency electric field which is excited by the damping electron beam. The second more efficient mechanism of the ion heating obtained in the simulations is the acceleration by slow plasma waves. This mechanism is responsible for the acceleration of ions to the velocities few times higher than the ion thermal velocity.