C. Lao et al., Populations of excited atomic states along argon surface-wave plasma columns at low and intermediate pressures, J APPL PHYS, 87(11), 2000, pp. 7652-7659
The axial distributions of the electrons and 3p(5)4s and 3p(5)4p excited at
oms in argon plasma columns sustained by traveling electromagnetic waves ha
ve been studied both experimentally and theoretically in the gas pressure r
ange of 0.2-2.8 Torr. Various diagnostic methods (surface-wave interferomet
ry, emission and absorption spectroscopy) have been used in data gathering.
The theoretical model includes a self-consistent solution to the electron
Boltzmann equation, electron energy balance equation, a set of balance equa
tions for excited atoms and charged particles, the gas thermal balance equa
tion, the wave dispersion relation, and the wave energy balance equation. T
he agreement between experimental data and theoretical results is very good
. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)00411-4].