COMPARISON OF ARGON AND NEON AS DISCHARGE GASES IN A DIRECT-CURRENT GLOW-DISCHARGE - A MATHEMATICAL SIMULATION

A number of three-dimensional models (Monte Carlo and fluid models) fo r the different plasma species in a glow discharge were developed earl ier and were combined in order to obtain an overall picture of the dir ect-current glow discharge in argon. In the present work, these models are applied to a neon discharge, and a comparison is made between the se two discharge gases with respect to the pressure-current-voltage ch aracteristics, the densities and energies of the plasma species, the e lectric field and potential distributions, the erosion rates at the ca thode, and the relative importance of certain plasma processes (i.e., in the creation of gas metastable atoms, the ionization of sputtered a toms and the sputtering process). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.