Virtual-anode formation by an intense pulsed ion beam incident upon a magnetic barrier

Abstract
An intense, pulsed, initially space‐charge‐neutral ion beam (100 kV, 1 kA, 600 nsec) has been propagated into a transversely oriented magnetic barrier. When the magnetic field is adjusted so that (ρiρe)1/2 ≪ a < ρi, a virtual anode is formed whose potential oscillates at ∼ωpi about a value near the ion accelerating potential, where a is the transverse beam dimension, ωpi is the ion plasma frequency, and ρe and ρi are the electron and ion gyroradii. This behavior is similar to that predicted by Poukey and Rostoker for virtual cathodes.