On the perturbation of a plasma and particle collection by a cylinder in a magnetic field

Abstract

The inhomogeneous sheath that surrounds a probe immersed in a weakly collisional magnetized plasma is investigated from the microscopic point of view, in the case when the probe is cylindrical and parallel to the magnetic field. Arbitrary surface effects of the probe (such as absorption, reflexion and emission of particles) are taken into account. The sheath is described with a model based on the solution of a boundary-value problem for the self-consistent Boltzmann—Maxwell—Poisson equation. The spatial variation of the magnetic field is discussed. Typical results of numerical computations concerning the structure of the sheath and the currents collected by the probe are given and discussed.