Experiments concerning the magnetic confinement of a cold plasma

A steady state plasma in a magnetic field has been generated by an electron stream along magnetic field lines which passed through a neutral gas jet. Plasma turbulence was observed by a technique which removes the plasma ions without greatly disturbing their density distribution. In general, the amplitude of the turbulence was found to increase with the magnetic field strength. The magnetic field required for onset of turbulence increased with increasing ion mass. Transport of plasma across the magnetic field increased as the turbulence increased. A mirror magnetic field produced more turbulence than a uniform magnetic field, and a cusp magnetic field produced no turbulence in the plasma.