Transient analysis of the drift and longitudinal diffusion of ions in a uniform-field discharge gap

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A comprehensive analysis of the drift and longitudinal diffusion of positive and negative ions as applicable to a homogeneous electric field, time-resolved experiment is presented. The solution of the one-dimensional continuity equations for both ion species leads to the determination of their spatio-temporal distribution, from which the currents within the discharge gap and in the external measuring circuit are derived. The applicability of this analysis is restricted to conditions where collisional ionisation, electron attachment, drift and longitudinal ion diffusion prevail. This is discussed by means of examples. It is shown that for the particular case of negligible diffusion, the general expressions lead exactly to simple ones, previously derived by other workers.