Kinetics of hydrogen thyratron plasmas during the conduction phase

Abstract
A study of the conduction-phase characteristics of hydrogen thyratron plasmas is presented. A self-consistent analysis is performed through simultaneous numerical solutions of the Boltzmann equation, the rate equations for the various ionic and neutral particle densities, and the radiative transfer equation. The electron kinetic properties, chemical composition, and radiative properties of the plasma are derived for a wide range of current densities. Moreover, the role of the various collisional processes in shaping the electron energy distribution for various values of E/N (electric field/total gas number density), fractional ionization, and dissociation degree is elucidated. Implications of the obtained plasma properties on the analysis and diagnosis of hydrogen thyratron plasmas are discussed.