A global model of cylindrical and coaxial surface-wave discharges

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive global model for cylindrical and coaxial surface-wave discharges, accurately predicting plasma behavior and wall flux contributions, validated against experimental data for argon and oxygen plasmas.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent volume-averaged model for surface-wave discharges that accounts for wall fluxes in both electropositive and electronegative plasmas, validated with experimental data.

Findings

Good agreement between model and experimental data.

Wall flux significantly affects species loss rates.

Model applies to both continuous and pulse-modulated power inputs.

Abstract

A volume-averaged global model is developed to investigate surface-wave discharges inside either cylindrical or coaxial structures. The neutral and ion wall flux is self-consistently estimated based on a simplified analytical description both for electropositive and electronegative plasmas. The simulation results are compared with experimental data from various discharge setups of either argon or oxygen, measured or obtained from literature, for a continuous and a pulse-modulated power input. A good agreement is observed between the simulations and the measurements. The calculations show that the wall flux often substantially contributes to the net loss rates of the individual species.