Effect of H^- ion extraction on a plasma sheath under an external weak magnetic field

The extraction of negative ions inevitably leads to the destruction of the original plasma state. To understand the effect of extraction on a plasma sheath under a weak magnetic filter field, the time-dependent behavior of H ^- ion extraction from a negative ion source has been studied by particle-in-cell simulation in the collisionless limit. The simulation results have shown that the plasma sheath would undergo a transient process, in which there exists an edge electrostatic wave that propagates counterclockwise along the wall with a velocity of 4 mm/ns until it reaches the other side of extraction aperture. The thickness of the plasma sheath and the plasma potential both increase greatly at the final quasi-steady-state. For comparison, the results of extracting positive ions are also given.