The Interaction of a Relativistic Electron Beam and a Fully Ionized Plasma

A strong interaction between an intense (0.4 ≤ν/≤≤2.2) relativistic electron beam and a fully ionized, mirror confined hydrogen plasma has been observed. The plasma was heated to multikilovolt average energies of (5-15 keV) per electron-ion pair, with optimum heating at the lowest effective diode impedance levels (high ν/γ). The existence of hot ions was demonstrated, and microwave, far-infrared and x-ray emissions were observed. Electron beam plasma heating was compared with direct axial current driven turbulent heating, and the interaction of the electron beam with a turbulent plasma was investigated.