Observation of Ion Stream Line Detachment and Onset of Azimuthal Rotation in a Diverging Magnetic Field

The ion flow structure in a diverging magnetic field is measured in a steady-state electron cyclotron resonance plasma. It has been observed that stream line detachment takes place when the nonadiabaticity parameter of ions becomes the order of unity. In the detachment region, the plasma starts an azimuthal rotation, and the energy conservation given by the 1-D model is no longer applicable.