COLLISION CROSS SECTIONS AND TRANSPORT COEFFICIENTS IN AN INDUCTIVELY COUPLED ARGON PLASMA

Abstract

Collision cross sections as well as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, diffusion coefficients and viscosity coefficients of an inductively coupled argon plasma are calculated. The results indicate that thermal conduction process plays an important role in energy transfer, while ambipolar diffusion leads to a much higher electron density in the cool plasma regions as compared with the value predicted by local thermal equilibrium. More significantly, both three body recombination and superelastic collision give rise to the creation of a large number of energetic electrons in the cool plasma regions. Such a deviation of electron velocity distribution from a Maxwellian may have a special significance for excitation mechanism of the plasma used as an emission spectroscopic source.