Creation of plasma density transitions short compared to the plasma skin depth

A plasma based electron beam source apparatus is described which creates a plasma with two distinct density regions separated by a transition which is shorter than the plasma skin depth kp −1 of either region. This sharp density modulation is achieved by using a perforated stainless steel screen to filter half of a diffusing plasma column. A simple physical model predicts that the length of the plasma density transition will vary with the distance from the screen. For a weakly magnetized plasma, the transition length will be twice the distance, on a line normal to the screen plane, from the screen edge to the location where the transition is measured. The plasma column is generated using an argon discharge plasma source. It has a peak density of approximately 3.531013 cm−3 and a full width half maximum width of 5 cm. The discharge source utilizes a 7.5 cm diameter LaB6 disk cathode heated to 1300 °C using a graphite heater. The plasma column is filtered with a 78 mm thick stainless steel sheet with 152 mm holes and 21% open area. Plasma density transitions with lengths between 0.74 and 0.95kp −1 were measured. © 2005 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1829996]