Model investigation on moving striations in low pressure Ar–Hg discharge: electron response to striation-like fields

Abstract

Simulation of the electron response to striation-like fields in fluorescent lamps is performed based on the numerical solution of the Boltzmann equation. Calculation results are presented and analysed. It is indicated that in a fluorescent lamp under the given condition, Ar is dominant in the energy loss by elastic collision and Hg is leading in the energy loss by inelastic collision. Furthermore, according to the analyses on relaxation length, the high energy part of the electron distribution function is non-local, which may cause ionization instabilities. By comparison with other works, it is here confirmed that metastable Ar atoms are crucial for the appearance of moving striations.