Can the temperature of electrons in a high-pressure plasma be determined by means of an electrostatic probe?

The ion blanch of a current-voltage characteristic of a Langmuir probe in a high-pressure plasma is theoretically analysed. In a wide range of conditions, perturbations created by the probe current are localized in a thin near-wall layer and a semi-logarithmic plot of the dependence of the electron current on the probe potential is close to a straight line. The value of the electron temperature that can be determined from this plot refers to the edge of the above-mentioned near-wall layer. A range of plasma parameters exists in which a variation of the electron temperature in the near-probe region is small and the above value is close to the electron temperature in the undisturbed plasma. Numerical calculation of the ion saturation current to, and the floating potential of, a wall probe in a cylindrical tube confining an are discharge is presented.