Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2717 (1994) Liu et al. - Measurements of inverse bremsstrahlung...

http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v72/i17/p2717_1

Measurements of inverse bremsstrahlung absorption and non-Maxwellian electron velocity distributions

Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2717–2720 (1994)

Measurements of inverse bremsstrahlung absorption and non-Maxwellian electron velocity distributions

 

J. M. Liu, J. S. De Groot, J. P. Matte, T. W. Johnston, and R. P. Drake
 

 

Plasma Research Group, Department of Applied Science, University of California, Davis, California 95616
 

 

Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Energie et Matériaux, C.P. 1020, Varennes, Québec, Canada J3X 1S2
 

 

Plasma Physics Research Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, L-418, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551
 

Received 15 December 1993

Non-Maxwellian (flattopped) electron velocity distributions resulting from inverse bremsstrahlung of intense microwaves are measured directly for the first time in experiments performed on the UCD AURORA II device. The experiments are performed in the afterglow of a pulsed discharge plasma that is moderately collisional and sufficiently ionized (~1%) that Coulomb collisions are dominant. Langmuir probe measurements indicate that the isotropic component of the electron velocity distribution is non-Maxwellian in very good agreement with electron kinetic (Fokker-Planck) simulations.