Analytical estimations on the axial structure of plasma-waveguide discharges

Abstract

Plasma-waveguide discharges produced in a diffusion-controlled regime by azimuthally symmetric surface wave propagation at weak collisions are studied. The widely discussed problem for the axial variation of the electron density in the discharges, which reflects the nonlinear self-consistent behaviour of wave and discharge properties, is solved analytically in the whole region of wave existence by analysing the behaviour of the space damping rate of the waves. The proper normalizing parameters used for presenting the behaviour of the surface wave characteristics in the different regions of their existence are extrapolated to electrodynamical similarity relations of the discharges.