Multiple magnetized double layers in the laboratory

Even though there have been many experimental observations of various types of double layers (DL), laboratory data thus far have only produced special examples of the more general case of multiple magnetized double layers. A series of stationary, fully magnetized (ions and electrons), two-dimensional (both parallel and transverse to the magnetic field) weak double layers (DL’s) with three, four, or more potential steps has been observed in a laboratory experiment for the first time. They may play important roles in the auroral zone, the physics of solar flares, high-power gas lasers, and laser pellet ablation plasmas. The transverse electric fields are, on average, larger than the parallel ones, and the transverse spatial size scales with ion gyroradius. The total number of DL potential drops depends on the location and what particular path is followed across any given potential profile. Electron beams acquire additional directed energy across these DL’s along with heating of the bulk distribution and large fluctuating energy density.