Abstract
The results of plasma measurements on a two-stage, high-current-density ( approximately 50 A cm-2) Hall accelerator hydrogen plasma are described. These measurements show that although Omega tau is large so that the electrons are collisionless, the observed electron conductivity is anomalously high. This appears to arise because of the existence of an approximately 5 MHz fluctuation in which the associated azimuthal electric field drives collisionless electron drift currents. Momentum and total energy balances are investigated. These are consistent with a large wall loss of ions which is to be expected since the instability-dominated accelerating voltage gives a small ratio of ion Larmor radius to stage length. The electron energy balance is studied so that this might provide the basis for a stability analysis.
Published Version
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