A concentric discharge with radial carrier transport is used for obtaining centrally located, dense, non-equilibrium plasmas. The inwardly directed electron beam. from an external ring cathode is accelerated over a short distance and traverses the slit of a high-energy ring anode. The electron beam is then decelerated to produce the maximum ionisation cross section during irradiation inside the central plasma anode. This results in high drain current from the cathode, low ionisation outside the plasma and reflection of plasma ions. The plasma electrons are reflected near the cathode. Thus the plasmas produced are confined to the centre and the discharge is not self-maintained but is controllable up to an argon pressure of 10 Pa. Short-time pulsed probe plasma diagnostics have shown an additional contraction of the plasma, caused by unidirectional movement of electrons and positively charged ions which results in a channelling effect. The ion emissivity of the source has reached 6 kA m-2 for argon and hydrogen.