Influence of heat flows in a gas discharge plasma on its electric properties

The heat flux and the associated space charge in a gas-discharge plasma can lead to a change in the properties of the corresponding electronic devices: a change in the kinetic coefficients and the temporal instability of their parameters. In devices with small transverse dimensions, the surface charge field, which significantly affects the space charge in the plasma, can also affect the current in the quasineutral plasma, changing the magnitude of the electric field component, which depends on the heat fluxes of the plasma. Knowledge of the analytical dependences of the component of the longitudinal electric field that provides the discharge current on the parameters of the plasma, the heat flux of electrons and its geometry makes it possible to estimate in detail the parameters of real plasma devices. Purpose. Obtain and analyze analytical expressions for the longitudinal electric field in a confined plasma in the ambipolar diffusion mode, taking into account the heat fluxes of electrons, the value of which depends on the frequency of collisions of electrons with atoms when approximated as a power-law velocity function. Results. The equations of electron balance are obtained in integral form for a bounded flat plasma with allowance for the heat flux of electrons. Practical significance. The calculation results make it possible to evaluate the effect of the heat flux of electrons of a low-temperature flat plasma with light and heavy ions on their electrical properties.