Characteristics and contraction of oxygen glow discharge

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Abstract
The contraction of the positive column of the oxygen glow discharge is observed at pressures higher than about 5 Torr, where the radial variation of the gas temperature in the column becomes large. The distribution of the floating potential in the radial direction is fairly different between oxygen and argon. The reason seems to be a result of the existence of negative ions. The characteristics of the positive column in oxygen are calculated including ionization, diffusion, attachment, recombination, detachment, and thermal conduction. The ratio of negative-ion density to electron density is calculated as a function of the radial position. It is clarified how the positive column contracts. Moreover, the calculated postive-ion density profiles are shown to agree well with the experimental ones.