Study of the weak to heavy-current transition in high-frequency discharge in nitrogen

Abstract

Variety of electron, ion and plasma technologies as well as gas discharge devices operate in fixed form of the discharge. The transition from weak to heavycurrent in radio-frequency low-current discharge leads to instabilities in physical processes and it is very critical for the normal functionality of the technology or device. In this paper by means of Townsend criterion the influence of the incoming electric power and voltage on this transition in a cross-section of the discharge is numerically simulated. The calculations show a possible change of applied designed power up to 32% without weak to heavy-current transition. It is also obtained that the rise in 40% of the pressure can change the critical breakdown power only up to 12%. These results are in agreement with the simple analytical one-dimensional models and experimental data.