Theory of Current Collection of Moving Cylindrical Probes

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The theory of current collection of a moving cylindrical probe is investigated. Volt-ampere relations are derived for two distinct cases: (i) The general-ion current for accelerating collector potential and its special cases, including general-ion current to the stationary probe, orbital-motion-limited current to the moving and the stationary probes, and sheath-area-limited current to the moving and the stationary probes; (ii) the general-electron current for the retarding collector potential and its special cases, including general-electron current to the stationary probe and random-electron current to the moving and the stationary probes. Orientation of the cylinder with respect to the drift velocity vector is taken into account. Volt-ampere characteristics are included for illustrating the functional behavior of the current relations.