Electron temperature and density measurements in a low pressure plasma with toroidal field

Abstract

Double probe measurement of electron temperature and density have been made in hydrogen and helium afterglows in the, pressure range from 1.0 to 60 microns Hg. in the presence of a toroidal magnetic field. Criteria for proper probe operation in the magnetic field have been proposed and followed closely in the case of the measurements in helium. The electron density and temperature decay rates have been determined in both hydrogen and helium. The most outstanding feature of these was the anomalously fast cooling observed in the early afterglow. Electron densities have also been measured in an argon plasma under conditions employed in the plasma betatron experiment.