plasma sheath
- In spaceflight, an envelope of ionized
gas, or plasma, that surrounds a body
moving through an atmosphere at hypersonic
velocity. A plasma sheath forms around a spacecraft during reentry
and interrupts or interferes with communication with the ground.
- More generally, the boundary layer of charged particles between a
plasma and its surrounding walls, electrodes, or other plasmas. The
sheath is generated by the interaction of the plasma with the boundary
material. Current flow may be in only one direction across the sheath
(single sheath), in both directions across the sheath (double sheath),
or when the plasma is immersed in a magnetic field, it may flow along
the sheath surface at right angles to the magnetic field (magnetic current
sheath).
Related category
• REENTRY
PHYSICS AND TERMINOLOGY
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