Radial structure of the kinetics and production of electrons in the dc column plasma

The detailed radial structure of the electron kinetics in the positive column of cylindrical de glow discharges is investigated to reveal the microscopic nature of the electron confinement by the radial space charge potential and the spatial dependences of the macroscopic electron quantities. Therefore, in order to determine the radial variation of the isotropic and anisotropic parts of the electron velocity distribution function the relevant inhomogeneous kinetic equation is solved taking into account the radial electric field action. The kinetic description includes the self-consistent calculation of the excited gas atom densities by solving their radially inhomogeneous particle balance equations. This permits one to determine accurately the electron production in the volume which is often dominated by ionization of excited atoms. Besides the main aspects of the numerical approach, results for a neon and krypton glow discharge are presented The discussion includes a detailed analysis of the local electron energy balance equation.