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The oscillations of the ion sheath around a negatively biased grid in dp machines are studied experimentally and compared with PIC simulations. It is argued that for asymmetric densities in the source and target chamber the ion sheath on the low density side becomes unstable to virtual anode oscillations which act as a driver for the ion bounce oscillations in the sheath. Resonant coupling with the ion plasma frequency at the sheath edge of the source plasma is found. Subharmonic coupling with potential relaxation oscillations may explain the period doubling route to chaos found in such systems.