Asymptotic Plasma and Sheath Representations for Low-Pressure Discharges

Abstract

The collisionless plasma‐sheath equation is discussed in the limit that the ratio of Debye length to discharge dimension is vanishingly small, for the cases of planar, cylindrical, and spherical symmetric discharges. Separate representations for the plasma and sheath regions are found and numerical results given for the potential profiles, ion currents, energy distributions, and floating wall potentials for two different assumptions regarding the ion generation function in each case.