Ion resonance instability in the Eltrap electron plasma

• Main Authors: Bettega, Giovanni, Cavaliere, Francesco, Cavenago, Marco, Illiberi, Andrea, Pozzoli, Roberto, Rome, Massimiliano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 05-11-2004
• Subjects: Physics - Plasma Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.physics/0411053

A small fraction of ions can destabilize the diocotron mode (off axis
rotation) of an electron plasma confined in a Malmberg-Penning trap. In this
paper a set of experimental measurements performed in the ELTRAP device on the
ions induced diocotron instability is presented. In particular, the dependence
of the instability on the electron energy has been analyzed, by heating the
plasma with a RF burst or by injecting into the trap electrons with different
energies. A simple experimental technique to limit the instability is also
described.