SIMULATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF A WEAKLY-IONIZED PLASMA-LAYER IN THE ELECTRIC-FIELD INCLUDING THE CHARGE-EXCHANGE AND IONIZATION PROCESSES

The dynamics of a plasma layer with density N-e= 10(10) - 10(12) cm(-3 ), ionization degree alpha less than or equal to 10(-2), and a charact eristic dimension of about 1 cm in the electric field are studied nume rically, including the ionization and charge-exchange processes. The p article-in-cell method is used to perform the calculations. A simple a nalytical model for a cold plasma agrees well with these simulations i n the absence of inelastic processes. When an external constant magnet ic field of moderate magnitude in which only the electrons are magneti zed is included, the ion-extraction time does not change substantially .