Electron density and electron temperature in a neon plasma generated by 20-MeV protons

Calculation of the electron distribution function of a rare gas nuclear induced plasma

“…The variation in temperature and electron density with the same parameters agrees with the observations reported in [2] and [9].…”

“…4.3 At fixed pressure, figure 4b shows that the density ne varies more rapidly than the square root of the current, as pointed out and explained in the experiment in [9]. This is due to the fact that fewer electrons are lost by recombination with rising temperature.…”

“…Finally, if the limit WL is greater than the thermal velocity of the electrons, the calculation of f thus essentially boils down to the resolution of equation (11) of which the three terms are given by equations (5), (6) and (9). In equation 9, a is generally knpwn as a power of velocity, Wh.…”

“…The ions are essentially [2] Ne' molecular ions whose density is hence comparable to that of the electrons. They disappear by dissociative recombination, with a coefficient given by the approximate equation [9] (in MKS) :…”

“…Substitution in equations (5), (6) and (9) of the values of v, ce and log A, and the different physical constants, for a temperature of 300 K, leads to the writing of equation (11) in the form :…”