On a supersonic flow of ions in a light gas

The possibility of attainment of large Mach numbers is analyzed for the case of heavy ions drifting in a light gas. Under conditions typical of experiments with dust structures in plasmas, the use of the mixture of light and heavy gases is shown to make it possible to suppress the ion heating in the electric field and to form supersonic flows characterized by large Mach numbers. The drift of xenon ions in helium is considered as an example.