Ion extraction from a flowing plasma using electrostatic field: Simulation and experiment

•Mechanism of ion extraction from a flowing plasma is investigated.•Ions from the plasma are extracted using an external electrostatic field.•A 2-D Particle-In-Cell (2D-PIC) code is developed to predict extraction voltage.•Predicted extraction voltage match with the experimentally obtained values.•The code can be used in the field of isotope purification, atomic collision etc.

The mechanism of ion extraction from flowing plasma using an external electrostatic field is investigated experimentally and computationally. The plasma is generated by electron impact ionization of a copper atomic beam. The plasma, along with the atomic beam vapor, flows upward and ions from the plasma are extracted using an external electrostatic field set up by a pair of parallel-plate electrodes. The extraction mechanism is studied using in-house developed hybrid 2D Particle-In-Cell (2D-PIC) code. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the computationally obtained values.