EFFECT OF AXIAL MAGNETIC-FIELDS ON ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LOW-PRESSURE WIRE DISCHARGE

In order to reveal the potential of wire discharge as a high-density-plasma source, electrical characteristics of a wire discharge plasma were investigated, in particular, taking note of the effect of axial magnetic fields. The dc breakdown voltage and the delay time of a pulse discharge were measured in the presence of an axial magnetic field When a single-wire anode is adopted, the effect of the magnetic field is very small. On the contrary, in the case of adopting two parallel anode wires, the axial magnetic field affects the discharge properties considerably.