Oblique double layers: a comparison between terrestrial and auroral measurements.
The S3-3, POLAR, and FAST satellite auroral observations of parallel and perpendicular electric field structures have been identified as belonging to a large "U"-shaped potential structure that supports oblique electric double layers. This interpretation is verified by terrestrial laboratory measurements of a self-consistently supported three-dimensional oblique current-free double layer. Its width is a few tens of Debye lengths, its oblicity (with respect to the magnetic field) varies from 0 up to 30 degrees, and its strength is a few times the electron temperature.
Space Plasma, Power and Propulsion Group, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia. christine.charles@anu.edu.au
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