THERMODIFFUSIONAL STRATIFICATION OF A CONTINUOUS MICROWAVE-DISCHARGE PLASMA

We report the results of investigations of a continuous microwave disc harge ignited in a quasioptical resonant cavity. We study a new phenom enon for such a discharge: a small-scale stratification of the plasma in the direction perpendicular to the electric field vector. This stra tification is observed in a plasma with electron density higher than t he critical density at the microwave frequency and is due to the devel opment of a thermocurrent instability. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-3640(98)00408-3]