Plasma Jet Interaction With a Spherical Target in Magnetic Field

Abstract

A structure of plasma flowing around a spherical target immersed into the magnetic field was studied. It was found that the plasma structure depends on the plasma jet orientation relatively to the magnetic field. When the magnetic field is oriented coaxially with the plasma source, a single focused plasma stream is attached to the target surface. When the magnetic field is directed orthogonally relative to the plasma source, two intense plasma streams are formed that enclose the target. The target current depends weekly on the magnetic field at a pressure of 0.01 Pa for both orientations, and depends strongly at higher pressures, reaching 2.25 A at 400 V and magnetic field strength of = 0 1 T at target surface. The plasma structure and behavior were explained in terms of plasma flux interaction with crossed electrical and magnetic fields.Index Terms-Plasma flux, plasma immersion process, vacuum arc plasma source.