Influence of the Anode of a Non-Self-Sustained Glow Discharge with a Hollow Cathode on the Spatial Distribution of Plasma Concentration

Abstract

The results of investigation of the influence of geometrical dimensions, shape and position of the anode of a high-current non-self-sustained glow discharge with a hollow cathode at low (≈1 Pa) pressure with the current up to 100 A on the degree of inhomogeneity of azimuthal plasma-concentration distributions are presented. The azimuthal measurements demonstrate that upon injection of an electron flow with the current exceeding that of the electrons, formed as a result of the secondary ion-electron emission, the value of the average path length L of electrons before their escape to the anode is much lower than that in a self-sustained discharge burning mode. It is determined that in the case of injection of an electron flow into the hollow-cathode glow discharge the anode position considerably affects the degree of plasma concentration inhomogeneity. It is shown that placing the annular anode in the site preventing the line-of-site between the electron injection and anode surface directions allows achieving the minimum inhomogeneity coefficient value.