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We report the results of a particle-in-cell Monte-Carlo collision simulation of an axially symmetric DC magnetron discharge with a 5 cm diameter flat cathode in argon at pressures from 1 to 10 mTorr at a constant discharge current of about 0.5 A. Calculations show that the cathode region, where almost the entire discharge voltage drops, consists of a cathode sheath 0.1–0.2 mm wide and a presheath about 2 cm wide, where most of the ionizations occur, separated by a region 0.25–0.35 mm wide, where the plasma potential remains almost unchanged and the plasma density reaches its maximum value. Most of the discharge voltage drops in the presheath at low gas pressure, and in cathode sheath at high pressure. The ratio of sheath to presheath voltages increases linearly with pressure. The distribution of the ionization rate has two maxima: near the cathode sheath and in the presheath. The fraction of ionizations near the cathode sheath increases with pressure. The electron energy distribution function (EEDF) is generally a two-temperature function. At low pressures at a distance of less than 1 cm from the cathode, the EEDF becomes one-temperature. A high-energy tail is observed on the EEDF near the cathode; the fraction of electrons in the tail (in the order of tenths of a percent at 10 mTorr) and their energy, determined by the sheath voltage, increase with pressure. The electron temperature decreases with pressure due to a decrease of the electric field in the presheath, which leads to a decrease of energetically accessible regions of collisionless electron motion and to a corresponding decrease in the energy that electrons can obtain in these regions. The dependence of the discharge voltage on the gas pressure has a minimum at about 3 mTorr, which occurs due to the competition of two processes on pressure increase: a decrease in the electron temperature and a decrease in the fraction of electrons returning back to the cathode. Plasma density waves are observed in the presheath region at pressures of 1–3 mTorr.

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