Spatial charge and compensation method in a whirler

Based on particle-in-cell simulation, we studied the motions of ions and electrons. The results have shown that electrons are bounded by a magnetic field and only a small number of electrons can pass through the whirler channel. The plasma becomes non-neutral when it is emitted from the whirler, and the spatial charge leads to a beam divergence, which is unfavorable for mass separation. In order to compensate the spatial charge, a cathode is designed to transmit electrons and the quasi-neutral plasma beam. Experiment results have demonstrated that the auxiliary cathode can obviously improve the compensation degree of the spatial charge.