Behavior of ion acoustic solitons in a two-electron temperature plasma of a multi-pole line cusp plasma device (MPD)

Abstract

This article presents the experimental observations and characterization of ion acoustic solitons (IASs) in a unique multi-pole line cusp plasma device (MPD), in which the magnitude of the pole-cusp magnetic field can be varied. In addition, by varying the magnitude of the pole-cusp magnetic field, the proportion of the two-electron-temperature components in the filament-produced plasmas of the MPD can be varied. The solitons are experimentally characterized by measuring their amplitude-width relation and Mach numbers. The nature of the solitons is further established by making two counter-propagating solitons interact with each other. Later, the effect of the two-temperature electron population on soliton amplitude and width is studied by varying the magnitude of the pole cusp-magnetic field. It has been observed that different proportions of two-electron-temperature significantly influence the propagation of IASs. The amplitude of the solitons has been found to be inversely proportional to the effective electron temperature (Teff).