Nitrogen Glow Discharge by a DC Virtual Cathode

A DC glow discharge operating with a virtual cathode is studied. The system consists of a solid disc cathode and mesh anode. The discharge occurs in nitrogen gas at the left-hand side of Paschen’s curve. The plasma electron density in the axial direction has been found to be 0.2 · 10 cm at 2 cm from the mesh. The electron temperature peak value has been found to be 3.5 eV at 6 cm from the mesh. The radial distribution of the plasma electron density and temperature are discussed. The variation of the plasma parameters are in good agreement with the experimental results.