Cesium Depletion in the Positive Column of Cs–Ar Discharges

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Abstract
The longitudinal electric field and the electron density and temperature have been measured in the positive column of low‐pressure dc arc discharges in mixtures of cesium and argon at densities around 5×1018 and 5×1022 m−3, respectively. The measurements have been made with electrostatic probes and with a microwave interferometer. At a low discharge current cesium alone is ionized. When the discharge current is increased the cesium atom density is reduced by ionization and radial diffusion, and at a critical current a discontinuous transition to a state having a high electron temperature is observed. This discontinuity is explained as the result of a multivaluedness of the electric field as a function of the current density. Even at the present low degree of ionization the electron mobility is found to be strongly influenced by Coulomb collisions.