Modeling a metal-vapor buffer-gas hollow cathode discharge

The operation of a metal-vapor buffer-gas hollow cathode discharge is re-ex amined using modeling techniques that have been developed for electronegati ve plasma discharges. It is shown that a previously developed global model can be extended to give spatially resolved densities as well as more accura te values for the plasma parameters. A numerical calculation for a neon-cop per (Ne-Cu) discharge is used to illustrate the results of the modeling tec hnique. The density profiles of the neutral and ion components, and their v ariation with the buffer gas pressure, are similar to those found by numeri cal solution of the complete equations. (C) 2000 American Institute of Phys ics. [S0021-8979(00)06010-2].