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Published Online: 10 July 2014
Accepted: June 2014

Direct Vlasov simulations of electron-attracting cylindrical Langmuir probes in flowing plasmas

Physics of Plasmas 21, 073504 (2014); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4889732
G. Sánchez-Arriaga and D. Pastor-Moreno
more...View Affiliations
  • Departamento de Física Aplicada, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Plaza de Cardenal Cisneros 3, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Current collection by positively polarized cylindrical Langmuir probes immersed in flowing plasmas is analyzed using a non-stationary direct Vlasov-Poisson code. A detailed description of plasma density spatial structure as a function of the probe-to-plasma relative velocity U is presented. Within the considered parametric domain, the well-known electron density maximum close to the probe is weakly affected by U. However, in the probe wake side, the electron density minimum becomes deeper as U increases and a rarified plasma region appears. Sheath radius is larger at the wake than at the front side. Electron and ion distribution functions show specific features that are the signature of probe motion. In particular, the ion distribution function at the probe front side exhibits a filament with positive radial velocity. It corresponds to a population of rammed ions that were reflected by the electric field close to the positively biased probe. Numerical simulations reveal that two populations of trapped electrons exist: one orbiting around the probe and the other with trajectories confined at the probe front side. The latter helps to neutralize the reflected ions, thus explaining a paradox in past probe theory.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge very helpful comments by the referee. D. Pastor-Moreno was supported by a grant from the European Commission, FP-7 Space project BETs (No. 262972). The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources, technical expertise, and assistance provided by the Supercomputing and Visualization Center of Madrid (CeSViMa).

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