Ion flux transmission along an insulating duct with an axial magnetic field

An experimental study of the metallic ion flux in a pulsed copper vacuum arc with an annular anode and operated with an axial magnetic field is presented. It is employed an insulating drift duct surrounded by an external coil which generates an axial magnetic field. Operating the arc under vacuum condition, measurements of the ion flux and the plasma potential at different axial positions along the duct and different magnetic field values are presented. The arc voltage and the total discharge current as functions of the magnetic field intensity are also reported. We find that the decay of the ion flux through the duct walls is not exponential. A simplified model for the ion emission is used in order to obtain an interpretation of the measured ion current for different axial positions and magnetic field strength, and a good agreement with the experimental points is found.