Positive ion flux from a low-pressure electronegative discharge

Abstract

We compute the flux of positive ions exiting a low-pressure, planar, electronegative discharge as a function of the negative ion concentration and temperature. The positive ions are modelled as a cold, collisionless fluid, while both the electron and negative ion densities obey Boltzmann relations. For the plasma approximation, the plasma edge potential is double-valued when the negative ions are sufficiently cold. When strict charge neutrality is relaxed, spatial space-charge oscillations are observed at the edge of the plasma when the flux associated with the low (in absolute value) potential solution is less than that of the high potential solution. However, the flux is always well defined and varies continuously with the negative ion concentration. We demonstrate that the correct solution for the plasma approximation is that having the greater flux.