Modelling of low-pressure surface wave discharges in flowing oxygen: I. Electrical properties and species concentrations

This paper describes a self-consistent kinetic model of cylindrically symmetric surface wave discharges in flowing oxygen at low pressures consisting of: (i) the homogeneous electron Boltzmann equation; (ii) the radial continuity and transport equations for the electrons and the dominant ions, that is, O-2(+) and O-; (iii) the axial equations of change of mass and momentum for the reacting gas mixture composed of the heavy species O-2(X(3)Sigma, v less than or equal to 15), O(P-3), O-2(a(1)Delta), O-2(b(1)Sigma), O-3, O(D-1) and O-. The model is solved using measured distributions of the electron density and gas temperature along the plasma column as inputs, and its predictions are compared to experiment. It is shown that the predicted discharge maintenance field, average absorbed power per electron-ion pair and populations of the main species along the column agree well with experimental data.