Plasma confinement by localized cusps

Abstract

Details of the confinement of primary ionizing electrons and plasma by multidipole fields are given. It is shown that primary electrons are very efficiently confined by the cusps, with leakage half‐widths given by the electron gyroradii. Plasma is confined much more weakly. Leakage half‐widths of helium, argon, and xenon plasmas are found to be twice the hydrid gyroradii. Plasma noise in the neighborhood of the hybrid frequency is observed in the cusp regions.