Excitation and stabilization of ion acoustic waves in an RF plasma

Collective interaction between plasma particles in ion acoustic waves is known to cause Landau damping or Landau growth (Landau, 1946). During the last few years this subject has been investigated experimentally with some success (Jones and Alexeff, 1965). In order to study Landau growth it is necessary to have a plasma with a special velocity distribution function such as a double-humped one. In the present paper, experimental confirmations about the relations between ionic energy distribution functions and ion acoustic waves in an RF plasma are described.