Axial ion charge state distribution in the vacuum arc plasma jet

We report on our experimental studies of the ion charge state distribution (CSD) of vacuum arc plasmas using a time-of-flight diagnostic method. The dependence of the CSD on the axial distance from the plasma source region was measured for a titanium vacuum arc. It was found that the axial CSD profile is nonuniform. Generally, the mean charge state increases approximately linearly with axial distance from about 1.7 at 12 cm up to 1.9 at 25 cm from the plasma source. A model for ion transport in the free boundary plasma jet is proposed which is based on the existence of an electric field in the quasineutral plasma. This model qualitatively explains the experimental results. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(00)58302-6].