Inductive Heating and E to H Transitions in Capacitive Discharges

Capacitive discharges have classically been modeled in the electrostatic approximation. However, electromagnetic effects become significant if the excitation wavelength λ and the plasma skin depth δ are not infinite. An electromagnetic model valid in the entire range of λ and δ of practical interest is solved. We find that the plasma may either be sustained by the usual capacitive (E) field or by an inductive (H) field, and that the discharge experiences E to H transitions as the voltage between the electrodes is raised