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22/ u c C? L-5 & 91 iiStAKUi ALPORTS

UCRL-5697
Controlled Thermonuclear
Processes, UC-ZO
TID-4500 (15th Ed.)

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Lawrence Radiation Laboratory
Livermore, California

Contract No. W-7405-eng-48

ENERGY LOSS OF FAST IONS TO A SEA OF CONSTANT

TEMPERATURE ELECTRONS

Francis C. Gilbert

November 1959

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

3 9015 07759 0316

Printed for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

Printed in USA. Price 50 cents. Available from the
Office of Technical Services
U. S. Department of Commerce
Washington 25, D.C.
 -2- UCRL-5697

ENERGY LOSS OF FAST IONS TO A SEA OF CONSTANT

TEMPERATURE ELECTRONS

Francis C. Gilbert

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, University of California

Livermore, California

ABSTRACT

The energy of an energetic ion in a Maxwellian distribution of cold

electrons is calculated as a function of time.

It is of interest in some proposed thermonuclear machines to know the

energy of an injected ion as a function of the time after injection. In particular,
devices which make use of high energy ions produced by change of charge in an
arc are susceptible to large energy losses via the cold electrons in the arc.
For this computation we will consider a background of electrons of density n
and temperature T. This density may, for example, represent the average
density seen by an ion as it passes in and out of an arc. The arc electrons are
considered to have a Maxwellian energy distribution.
The rate of energy loss of an ion of energy W is

dW ZW
dt " " t ( '
s
where

ls= 2 • <2>
(1 + m/me) AD tc G(l!co)

cj is the ion velocity, m is the ion mass, m is the electron mass, and I is
related to the electron temperature by

See for example: Lyman Spitzer, Physics of Fully Ionized Gases, Inter-
science Publishers, Inc. , New York (1956), page 79-
 -3- UCRL-5697

i2=me/2T. (3)

The coefficient A is defined by

4 2
A _ 8-rre Z n I nA ,Ax
AD 2 ' 14)
m
Z is the charge of the ion.
e &
inAis the logarithm of the ratio of the maximum and minimum impact para
meters and is tabulated in Table 5. 1 (page 73) of reference 1 and is repeated
here as Table I.

Table I. Values of I nA .
_3
Temperature Electron Density, n (cm )

t(°K) t(ev) 1 103 106 109 1012 1015 1018 1021 1024

102 8.6X10"3 16.3 12.8 9.43 5.97

103 8.6X10"2 19.7 16.3 12.8 9.43 5.97

10 0.86 23.2 19.7 16.3 12.8 9-43 5.97

10 8.6 26.7 23.2 19.7 16.3 12.8 9-43 5.97

10 86 29.7 26.3 22.8 19.3 15.9 12.4 8.96 5.54

107 8.6X102 32.0 28.5 25.1 21.6 18.1 14.7 11.2 7.85 4.39

108 8.6X103 34.3 30.9 27.4 24.0 20.5 17.0 13.6 10.1 6.69

The function G(ioo) is defined by

1
G(x) = *<X> - f
X<£ <X> , (5)
2~

where
2
0(x) = — C e"y dy . (6)
nTft 0

G(x) is tabulated in Table 5,2 (page 75) of reference 1

 -4- UCRL-5697

Combining equations (1), (2), (3) and (4) gives

4u Z2 ne4w mA G(oWm /2T)

dt T K '

It is apparent from equation (7) that dW/dt is proportional to the electron

density and the square of the ionic charge, but for a given velocity u> it is
independent of the ion mass m. We first consider the behavior of dW/dt in
2 velocity regions and then we consider the general solution.

1. Ion velocity much greater than electron velocity.

In this region G(ioo) approaches l/(ico) . Then

dW 8tt Z2 e4n|nA ,ftN

dT= ^ * (8)
e

Since inA is independent of the ion velocity and only a slowly varying function
of n and T, we see that the energy loss is independent of the electron
temperature and is a decreasing function of the ion velocity.

2. Ion velocity less than electron velocity.

In this region G(ico) approaches (Z/3\fn) iw . Then

dW ^fST,, Z2 e4n^2inAN^T
ST m - ^-9 ^372 <9)

Thus the energy loss is inversely proportional to the 3/2 power of the
temperature and is an increasing function of the ion velocity.

3. General Solution .

In order to obtain the ion energy as a function of time it is necessary to

integrate Eq. (7). Rewriting (7) we have

-fT dW ,. ...55
..,. X
. . 10
. „-5 X G(x), (10)
Z^ n inA

3
where T and W are expressed in ev, t in seconds and n in electrons/cm .
 5- UCRL-5697

x is dimensionless and is given by

»/m W/mT (11)

Equation (10) is plotted in Fig. 1. The energy loss for any ion may then be
obtained from Fig. 1. inAis given in Table I. as reproduced from Spitzer. 1
In order to integrate Eq. (10) we approximate by

nTt dW
= - 1.55 X 10
-5
(2/3 n^) x' (12)
7Z n * dt
Z n inA
1 + (4/3 «&) x'

In order to show the degree of approximation, Eq. (12) is plotted as the

dashed curve in Fig. 1. Equation (12) asymptotically approaches Eq. (10)
for both large and small x and has a maximum deviation in the region of
x = 1. dW/dt can be expressed in terms of dx/dt by means of Eq. (11)
and then directly integrated to give

t Xo 3
- = in
7-
+ 0.251 x/
x u
L (13)

where

(m/m ) T3/2
T = rr— ^ (14)
2. 91 X 10 Z n|nA

x is the initial value of x [x = /m W/mT . Equation (13) is plotted in

Fig. 2. In order to make the results easily usable some specific assumptions
were made for the curves of Fig. 2. However, more general results may easily
be obtained from this figure or from Eq. (13). The three curves in Fig. 2.
12 -3
display the energy of a proton in an electron density of 1 0 " cm ' for three
values of the electron temperature, 1 ev, 10 ev, and 100 ev. The initial
proton energy was chosen to be 1 Mev, however any other lower initial energy
may be chosen by a translation of the time axis. The energy as a function of
time for any other ion of charge Z (in units of the protonic charge), of mass m
(in units of the protonic mass) and an electron sea of density n (in units of
12 -3
10 cm ), may be obtained from Fig. 2. by multiplying the energy W by
 -6- UCRL-5697

m and the time t by Z n|n A/m . Since in A is only a slowly varying

function of n and T (Table I), it may often be neglected in the transfor
mation. If a solution is desired for a different temperature it is necessary
to return to Eq. (13)

0-5 Jill 1 1 I I I I—I—I 1

Eq.(ll)

APPR0XIMATI0N-Eq.(l2)

( gv/z )
v cm-3sec '

10"r8 i i i i i i i i i i r I i i i l
10 1.0 0.

MUL-8552

Fig. 1. Rate of energy loss of an ion in an electron sea.

 i i o I NO
-J

fof
Fig.
Energy
ion
2.
time.
unasaanction
t/ZjU0A_^(
Mil iseconds)

1000 MUL-85 3

> CD -IE II Q.
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