A model for a surface wave sustained nitrogen discharge accounting in a sel
f-consistent way for electron and heavy particles kinetics and discharge el
ectrodynamics has been developed. The system under analysis is a plasma col
umn produced by a traveling, azimuthally symmetric (m=0 mode) surface wave.
The model is based on a set of coupled equations consisting of the electro
n Boltzmann equation and the rate balance equations for the most important
excited species-vibrationally, N-2(X(1)Sigma(g)(+), nu), and electronically
excited states, N-2(A(3)Sigma(u)(,)(+) a'Sigma(u)(-), B(3)Pi(g), C(3)Pi(u)
, a 1 Pi(g))-and charged particles (e, N-2(+), N-4(-)) in the discharge. El
ectron collisions with nitrogen molecules of the first and the second kind
and electron-electron collisions are accounted for in the Boltzmann equatio
n. The field strength necessary for steady-state operation of the discharge
is obtained from the balance between the total rates of ionization (includ
ing direct, stepwise, and associative ionization) and of electronic losses
(due to diffusion to the wall and bulk recombination). The transfer of wave
power to the discharge occurs through collisional processes, thus the set
of equations is closed by an ordinary differential equation (stemming from
basic electrodynamical relations) which associates the axial gradient of th
e electron density to the wave attenuation. As a result, a self-consistent
interdependence between wave propagation and discharge characteristics is o
btained over the whole plasma column. The axial profile of the gas temperat
ure and the initial value of the electron density at the position of the wa
ve launcher are used as input parameters. The model determines the axial st
ructure of the discharge-axial variations of the electron energy distributi
on function and its moments, the vibrational distribution function of the e
lectronic ground state, and the densities of the most important electronica
lly excited states and positive ions-consistently with the electric field a
nd the surface wave dispersion characteristics. A spatially resolved experi
mental investigation of the electron energy distribution function, the gas
and the vibrational temperatures, and the population densities of some elec
tronically excited states along with wave propagation characteristics measu
rements provides a verification of the model. Strong correlation between di
fferent plasma balances, governing the discharge production, and discharge
electrodynamics-the basis of surface-wave discharge physics-has been demons
trated both theoretically and experimentally. (C) 1999 American Institute o
f Physics. [S0021-8979(99)02601-8].