Effect of water vapor on the ionic composition of the hydrogen beam-plasma discharge

The effect of optimization of the ionic composition of the hydrogen beam-plasma discharge (BPD) in the proton component when filling water vapor into the setup vacuum chamber is described. Experiments for studying the effect of controllable filling of water vapor on properties of highly nonequilibrium plasma show that under certain conditions the discharge ionic composition is redistributed toward increasing the atomic ion fraction. It is assumed that this effect is caused by the interaction of water vapor with the wall of the vacuum chamber of the plasma setup, which results in surface oxidation and a decrease in the recombination coefficient. Furthermore, the presence of active OH radical shifts chemical equilibrium toward increasing the atomic ion fraction.