Acceleration of ions in a beam-plasma discharge in a low magnetic field: Interrelation between the electron and ion energy distributions

Previous experiments revealed the effect of stable acceleration of ions in a plasma-beam discharge in a low magnetic field to energies one order of magnitude higher than the electron thermal energy. To verify the previously proposed mechanisms for this effect, the velocity distribution function of the electrons arriving at the collector and the energy distribution of the ions escaping from the discharge transversely to the axis were measured. It is found that ion acceleration is accompanied by significant electron heating near the discharge axis. The time behavior and longitudinal profile of the intensity of the excited high-frequency oscillations in the frequency range ω ～ ω _pe were studied. The accumulation of regular oscillations in the beam-injection region and their stochastization during the propagation along the system axis were observed. The experimental results correlate qualitatively with the data of previous numerical simulations.