Leak Width of a Cusp-Confined Plasma

Abstract

The theoretical and numerical steady-state calculation of the width of an escaping plasma stream through a magnetic mirror solves the self-consistent potential and charge distribution for a low beta plasma. The leak width is obtained as the geometric mean of the ion and electron Lar-mor radius, also called hybrid width, in agreement with some experimental measurements. If the out-streaming plasma is unstable or collisional, the leak width can only larger, contrary to earlier results in the literature