Multimodal azimuthal oscillations in electron beam generated $\textbf{E} \times \textbf{B}$ plasma

Abstract: Electron beam (e-beam) generated plasmas with applied cross electric and magnetic $\left( \textbf{E} \times \textbf{B} \right)$ fields are promising for low-damage material processing. However, these plasmas can be subject to the formation of azimuthally propagating structures that enhance the radial transport of energetic charged species, which can harm the gentle processing capability of the plasma. In this work we investigate the azimuthal structure formation in an e-beam generated $\textbf{E} \times \textbf{B}$ plasma using experimental diagnostics and 2D3V particle-in-cell simulations. Our findings demonstrate the formation of multiple simultaneously occurring azimuthally propagating modes that exhibit a nontrivial radial dependence. It is suggested that the multimodal azimuthal spectrum is caused by the complex nature of the ion dynamics in the plasma.