A new mechanism is presented for ion heating in a plasma penetrated by an electron beam. Oscillating potentials comparable to the electron-beam energy are observed below the threshold of the stable double-layer formation. These fluctuations (formation and disruption of double layers) accelerate, trap, and detrap thermal ions, resulting in highly energetic ion bursts, which form a tail on the ion-energy distribution function.
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Saeki et al. (1980) studied this question.
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