Non-Maxwellian bounded plasma model with charge exchange ion collisions

A bounded plasma model in which ion motion is controlled by ion inertia and charge exchange collisions has been developed for a non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution functions (EEDF) of functional form: exp(var-epsilon/α)k with k = 0.5, 1 and 2. These three types of EEDF are frequently encountered in gas discharge plasmas and correspond to bi-maxwellian-like, Maxwellian and Druyvesteyn distributions. The spatial distribution of the plasma density and the effective electron temperature are found numerically for these three types of EEDF in the non-local regime of ion and electron kinetics. The relative plasma density at its boundary, and the effective electron temperature at the plasma center and at the boundary are mapped as functions of d/λp ∝ pd where d is the plasma half-width, λp is the ion mean free path for the charge exchange process and p is the gas pressure. The results obtained are applicable over a wide range of gas pressure starting from the free-fall regime (d/λp → 0) up to the collisional regime with d/λp < Te/Tg, where Te and Tg are the electron and gas temperature, respectively