Accession Number:

AD0829612

Title:

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF CYLINDRICAL LANGMUIR PROBES IN A COLLISIONLESS QUIESCENT ARGON GLOW DISCHARGE.

Descriptive Note:

Master's thesis,

Corporate Author:

AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Personal Author(s):

• Bell, Robert Brian

Report Date:

1968-06-01

Pagination or Media Count:

108.0

Abstract:

A glow-discharge, Langmuir-probe apparatus was designed, built, and operated which has sufficient flexibility to accommodate future AFIT probe studies. Experimental probe current-voltage curves in argon, which agree well with Laframboise theory, yielded low electron temperatures 5000K and reasonable charged particle number densities of 10 to the 8th power to 10 to the 12th powercc. The two-tangent intercept method of plasma potential determination was validated, and a digital data extraction method, using a multichannel analyzer, was developed. Charge depletion and probe contamination were observed, and a contradiction to the orbital-motion-limit of trapped ion theory was obtained under free molecular conditions. Author

Descriptors:

• *GLOW DISCHARGES
• *LANGMUIR PROBES
• ARGON
• CYLINDRICAL BODIES
• CIRCUITS
• PERFORMANCE(ENGINEERING)
• PLASMAS(PHYSICS)
• THESES

Subject Categories:

• Electricity and Magnetism
• Plasma Physics and Magnetohydrodynamics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE