Contraction of the positive column of discharges in noble gases

This review describes the experimental studies of contraction in neon, argon and helium, discussing the basic regularities of the phenomenon. These studies, extended over a long time, are still urgent. For pressures that are not too high a noticeable contraction of the plasma glow and a smooth non-monotonic dependence of the degree of contraction on the current are observed. Above a critical pressure the plasma immediately contracts into a bright thin cord, if the current reaches a critical value. A hysteresis phenomenon is observed during the transition from the diffuse state to the contracted state and vice versa. Experiments that show the secondary role of non-homogeneous gas heating for contraction in neon and argon, and the main role for contraction in helium, are described. Studies of the ionization waves (the strata), which propagate as pulses of the current cord area, are reviewed showing the close relationship between contraction and stratification. The roles of various mechanisms leading to the contraction and describing the general picture of the observed phenomena are analysed. For heavy noble gases the main role is played by ionization non-linearity as a function of electron concentration, which is related to the competition of electron-atom and electron-electron collisions. This non-linearity leads to plasma shrinkage and the development of ionization instability in the radial (contraction) and longitudinal (stratification) directions. For helium such non-linearity does not play a leading role, since the frequency of the elastic electron-atom collisions is considered to be constant over a large energy range, and this yields a Maxwellian distribution function. The contraction in helium is defined by thermal effects. In addition, recent studies on the numerical modelling of the contraction are discussed.