Number of steady state values of the average electron energy of a strongly ionized plasma heated by a microwave field

The number of steady state values N of the exact solution of the average electron energy balance equation when a high power microwave field is applied to an infinite homogeneous strongly ionized plasma is analysed. Two cases were found in which N=1 and N=3. In any of the two cases, the steady state values of the average electron energy is found to be below the results obtained by other investigators, when C = (ω/νsub(o)) < 1. The necessary conditions for each case to prevail are presented. A critical value for the field amplitude is found below which N=1 and above which N=3. (author). 9 refs