Specificity of the EEDF formation in a dusty plasma with nonmonotonic profiles of charged particles and reversal ambipolar field

The nonlocal electron kinetics of the positive column of a glow discharge at low pressure in argon is studied in the case of the high density of dust particles when the nonmonotonic profiles of charged particles and reversed ambipolar field are formed. In this extreme case, the recombination of charges on the dust particles in the dust cloud is much higher than the ionization. Therefore, the balance of charged particles in the dust cloud is provided not by local ionization (which is smaller than the recombination of charges on the dust particles) but by charged particles coming from the outsides, the peripheral area where there are no dust particles. For such conditions, the influence of dust particles on the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) formation and other spatial plasma characteristics is studied. The results of the study showed that large differences between the local and nonlocal EEDF are observed not only on the periphery of the discharge but also in the central regions inside of the dust cloud.

Automated summary

This study examines the nonlocal electron kinetics of the positive column in a low-pressure argon glow discharge, particularly in the presence of high dust particle density. It is found that the presence of dust particles significantly affects the formation of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) and other plasma characteristics, leading to large differences between the local and nonlocal EEDF.