It can also be used to follow the kinetics of chemical reactions in a dilute gas mixture, provided these involve charged species.
An ion in a static and uniform magnetic field will move in a circle due to the Lorentz force.
[2] The ions in the plasma absorb the electromagnetic radiation and as a result of this, increase in kinetic energy.
[3][4][5][6] On March 8, 2013, NASA released an article according to which ion cyclotron waves were identified by its solar probe spacecraft called WIND as the main cause for the heating of the solar wind as it rises from the Sun's surface.
Before this discovery, it was unclear why the solar wind particles would heat up instead of cool down, when speeding away from the Sun's surface.