Ion current density distribution in a pulsed non-self-sustained glow discharge with a large hollow cathode

Abstract

The paper reports on azimuthal and radial distributions of the ion saturation current density measured with a single cylindrical and a plane probe in the plasma of a low-pressure (≈1 Pa) pulsed non-self-sustained glow discharge with a large (0.21 m3) hollow cathode at discharge currents higher than 100 A. It is shown that increasing the discharge operating voltage and decreasing the operating pressure in the range 0.4–1 Pa improves the uniformity of the ion current density distribution.