Current, Pressure, and Frequency Relationships for the Initiation and Maintenance of the Electrodeless Glow Discharge

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Abstract
Critical current and critical pressure values for the initiation of a discharge and their relation to the excitation frequency have been investigated by means of the electrodeless glow discharge for hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. A departure from the usual definition of the critical point has been made in choosing as the criterion for its location the approximate center of the bend on the graph showing the relation between the current necessary to start the discharge and the pressure. By this method it was found: (1) that the critical current varies as the square of the wave-length; (2) that the critical pressure varies as the square of the wave-length; and (3) that the ratio of the critical current to the critical pressure is constant for a given gas. The current necessary to maintain the glow was also investigated, and formulas obtained expressing relationships between maintaining current, initiating current, wave-length, and pressure.