Parameter space region in the collisional magnetized electronegative plasma

Abstract

The influence of the elastic collisions on the structure of a magnetized electronegative discharge is investigated. For a constant magnetic field, the profiles of the velocities of positive ions, the density of species, and electric potential are obtained. Furthermore, the positive ion flux is obtained as a function of magnetic field strength for different values of the collision frequency. The results show that in the absence of collision in a constant magnetic field, the discharge structure is uniform while by taking the collision into account, the structure becomes multilayer stratified. By increasing the collision frequency the discharge leaves the multilayer structure, and related oscillations in the plasma potential and space charge vanish. The parameter space region is obtained for collisionless and collisional cases. In this paper it is shown that a combined effect of collision and magnetic field determines the presheath-sheath structure.