Electronic Energy Distribution Function at High Electron Swarm Energies in Neon

Abstract

Electron swarms moving through a gas under the influence of an applied electric field have been extensively investigated. Swarms at high energies, as measured by the ratio of the applieq field to the gas number density, E/N, which are predominant in many applications have, in general, been neglected. Discharges at E/N in the range 300 < E/N < 2500 Td have been investigated in neon gas in the pressure range 6 < po < 133 Pa using a differentially pumped vacuum system in which the swarm electrons are extracted from the discharge and energy analysed in both a parallel plate retarded potential analyser and a cylindrical electrostatic analyser. Both pre-breakdown and post-breakdown discharges have been studied. Initial results indicate that as the discharge traverses breakdown no sudden change in the nature of the discharge occurs and that the discharge can be described by both a Monte Carlo simulation and by a Boltzmann treatment given by Phelps et al. (1987).