A theory of probes in high-pressure strongly-ionized plasmas

A theory is developed for a probe in a strongly ionized high-pressure plasma. The situation discussed is typical of high-pressure plasmas, where the plasma occupying most of the near-probe layer is in a state of local ionization equilibrium with a common temperature for electrons and heavy particles. The possibility of determining the parameters of the unperturbed plasma by analyzing the probe characteristics on its ion saturation segment, transient segment, and for a floating probe potential is discussed. The calculations are carried out for the example of a strongly ionized xenon plasma at atmospheric pressure. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.