MODELING AND MEASUREMENTS ON AN OBSTRUCTED GLOW-DISCHARGE IN HELIUM

An obstructed glow discharge in helium has been ivestigated both exper imentally and by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. The voltage-curren t characteristics of the discharge have been measured and the spatial distribution of the electric field between the electrodes was determin ed using Stark spectroscopy. The electric field distribution was also determined by a self-consistent calculation and the results show good agreement with data obtained from Stark measurements. Other discharge parameters (electron multiplication data, energy distribution of elect rons absorbed by the anode, energy distribution of ionizing electrons, share of high-energy electrons in ion production, and spatial distrib ution of ion production) were obtained from the modeling calculations to provide detailed insight into the discharge operation. the effect o f the electrode reflection of electrons on the discharge characteristi cs was also investigated.