THE RADIAL STRUCTURE OF A MAGNETICALLY CONFINED SURFACE-WAVE PLASMA-COLUMN

The radial structure of a steady-state surface-wave-sustained cylindri cal argon plasma submitted to a static, axial magnetic field is descri bed in the context of a hydrodynamic model using three-moment equation s for electrons and two-moment equations for ions. This plasma model i s coupled self-consistently to Maxwell's equations and yields the radi al profile of the electron density and temperature, as well as the rad ial distribution of excited species, in the 3p(5)6d orbital configurat ion of argon. In this paper, the discussion focuses on the radial stru cture of the plasma as a function of the operating conditions (magneti c field intensity, gas pressure, wave frequency, plasma tube radius). It is found that the electron density profile is, generally, weakly mo dified, as these parameters are changed. In contrast, the electron tem perature profile and, consequently, the excited atom density distribut ion are very sensitive functions of the operating conditions. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.