Analytical expressions for the axial structure of surface wave sustained plasmas under various regimes of charged particle loss

Abstract

An analytical model for predicting the axial structure of weakly collisional plasma columns sustained by a propagating electromagnetic surface wave has been developed. It considers both the ambipolar diffusion and volume recombination regimes. The results are expressed as electrodynamical similarity relations and show the respective influence of the wave's dispersion and damping of discharge conditions and of the charged particle loss mechanisms upon the axial gradient of electron density.