Transition characteristics of low-pressure discharges in a hollow cathode
[1];
[3]
- Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Dept. of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering
- Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). Dept. of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, and Dept. of Mathematics
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Based on a two-dimensional (2-D) fluid model, the transition processes of discharges in a hollow cathode at low pressure are observed by changing three parameters, i.e., applied voltage U0, gas pressure p, and external circuit ballast resistance Rb. The voltage-current characteristic curves, electron density distributions, and electric potential distributions of different discharge operating points in a hollow cathode are obtained. The transition processes are characterized by the voltage-current characteristic curves, the electron density distributions, and the electrical potential distributions. The transition modes observed from the voltage-current characteristics include the low-current abnormal mode, normal mode, and high-current abnormal mode. Increasing the applied voltage U0 can have a similar effect on the discharge transition processes to decreasing the ballast resistance. By increasing U0 from 200V to 500V and decreasing Rb from 5000 kX to 100 kX independently, it is observed that the discharge transfers from the outside to the inside of the hollow cavity, thus forming the virtual anode potential. By increasing the gas pressure p from 50 Pa to 5 kPa, the discharge also moves into the hollow cavity from the outside; however, a further increase in the gas pressure leads to the discharge escaping from the hollow cavity. Simulation results and characterizations for different parameters are presented for the transition properties of low-pressure discharges in a hollow cathode. It is verified that the hollow cathode discharge only exists under certain ranges of the above parameters.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Contributing Organization:
- Plasma Science Center
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0001939
- OSTI ID:
- 1474306
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1374230
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 8; ISSN 1070-664X
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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