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The Plasma Sheath

  • Chapter
Physics of Plasma-Wall Interactions in Controlled Fusion

Abstract

Outline: Section 2 simply describes, without attempt at explanation, what happens electrically when a plasma is in contact with a solid surface. The practical implications of the interaction are briefly described. Section 3 provides a physical explanation of why these effects occur and deduces initial estimates of the plasma-solid voltage difference and the spatial extent of this voltage drop. Section 4 deduces the Bohm Criterion (ion drift velocity out of the plasma must equal the ion acoustic speed) using ion fluid models. The Criterion is obtained from both the plasma and the sheath equations separately. Section 5 deduces simple formulae for the particle and energy flux which is transmitted by a sheath, both for electrically floating and biased objects. Section 6 gives a brief indication of how the sheath particle and energy transmission characteristics influence the modeling of the edge plasma in magnetically confined plasma devices, while Section 7 gives a similar brief introduction to their use in the interpretation of plasma probe data.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Aerospace Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Peter C. Stangeby

  2. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Peter C. Stangeby

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  1. Peter C. Stangeby
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

    D. E. Post

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching/Munich, Federal Republic of Germany

    R. Behrisch

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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

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Stangeby, P.C. (1986). The Plasma Sheath. In: Post, D.E., Behrisch, R. (eds) Physics of Plasma-Wall Interactions in Controlled Fusion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0067-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0067-1_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-0069-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-0067-1

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