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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 72 » Issue 17
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2717–2720 (1994)

Measurements of inverse bremsstrahlung absorption and non-Maxwellian electron velocity distributions

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J. M. Liu, J. S. De Groot, J. P. Matte, T. W. Johnston, and R. P. Drake
Plasma Research Group, Department of Applied Science, University of California, Davis, California 95616
Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Energie et Matériaux, C.P. 1020, Varennes, Québec, Canada J3X 1S2
Plasma Physics Research Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-418, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551

Received 15 December 1993; published in the issue dated 25 April 1994

Non-Maxwellian (flattopped) electron velocity distributions resulting from inverse bremsstrahlung of intense microwaves are measured directly for the first time in experiments performed on the UCD AURORA II device. The experiments are performed in the afterglow of a pulsed discharge plasma that is moderately collisional and sufficiently ionized (∼1%) that Coulomb collisions are dominant. Langmuir probe measurements indicate that the isotropic component of the electron velocity distribution is non-Maxwellian in very good agreement with electron kinetic (Fokker-Planck) simulations.

© 1994 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2717
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2717
PACS:
52.50.Gj, 52.25.-b, 52.50.Jm, 52.65.+z
 
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