The diffuse column of a dc glow discharge in neon is a typical example
of a plasma whose properties are mainly determined by the non-local
non-equilibrium kinetics of the electron component. Consequently,
the space-charge confinement causes a spatial variation of all plasma properties.
The effects on the power balance, the ionization budget and the radiation efficiency
of a cylindrical column plasma are studied by a detailed self-consistent column model
based on a hybrid method.
The analysis deals with the impact of discharge parameter variations
over larger ranges, of an admixture of a molecular gas as well as of the
superposition of a longitudinal magnetic field on the spatial plasma structure.
Among others, the non-local properties of the electron power balance and their
influence on the radiation efficiency are discussed.
The largest influence of energy transport processes on the electron power balance
has been observed in a range of the pressure times radius values from about
200 to 400 Pa cm, which nearly coincides with the range where the maximum
efficiency of the resonance radiation occurs.