Electron energy distribution functions in non-equilibrium H 2 discharges. The role of superelastic collisions from electronically excited states

Abstract

The role of superelastic electronic collisions in affecting the electron energy distribution function (eedf) in pure molecular hydrogen and in the mixture H 2/H has been investigated by solving an appropriate Boltzmann equation in the presence of a given concentration ( n */ N) of electronically excited states. The results show that eedf and related properties (transport and rate coefficients) dramatically depend on n */ N at low reduced electrical field E/N ( E/N<3×10 −16 V cm 2) when the electron average energy is less than 1.5 eV.