Modeling of radio-frequency capacitive discharge under atmospheric pressure in Argon

We consider a one-dimensional self-consistentmathematical model of capacitive radiofrequency discharge in Argon between symmetrical electrodes at atmospheric pressure in the local approximation. The model incorporates electrons, atomic and molecular ions, metastable atoms, Argon dimers, and ground-state atoms. The numerical algorithm for the model is based on a finitedimensional approximation of the problem using difference schemes with subsequent iterations. A software package in the MatLab environment has been developed to implement the numerical algorithm. Using this software for a model problem, we have obtained the characteristics of a radiofrequency discharge in a plasmatron with interelectrode distances of 0.2 and 2 cm at atmospheric pressure. The results of numerical calculations are in good agreement with data known from literature of field experiments and calculations. © 2017, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.