Buneman Instability and Pierce Instability in a Collisionless Bounded Plasma

Abstract

A systematic experiment is performed on the Buneman instability and the Pierce instability in a bounded plasma consisting of beam electrons and stationary ions. Current fluctuations are confirmed to be induced by the Buneman instability. On the other hand, the Pierce instability gives rise to a current limitation. The phenomena are well explained by Mikhailovskii’s theory taking account of ion motion in a bounded plasma.