Ionization effects and linear stability in a coaxial plasma device

A 2-D computer simulation of a coaxial plasma device depending on the conservation equations of electrons, ions and excited atoms together with the Poisson equation for a plasma gun is carried out. Some characteristics of the plasma focus device (PF) such as critical wave numbers a c and voltages U c in the cases of various pressures P are estimated in order to satisfy the necessary conditions of traveling particle densities ( i.e. plasma patterns) via a linear analysis. Oscillatory solutions are characterized by a nonzero imaginary part of the growth rate ( σ ) for all cases. The model also predicts the minimal voltage ranges of the system for certain pressure intervals.