Equilibrium establishment kinetics for a heavy component in short thermionic discharges

The effect of the heavy component balance in a short Knudsen-type thermionic discharge initiated in cesium vapor is studied. Detailed measurements of the plasma parameters at the instant of discharge initiation and at switching from one quasi-stationary regime to another make it possible to elucidate the temporal hierarchy of processes responsible for the heavy component balance: ionization of atoms in the discharge gap up to an ultimate degree of plasma ionization, establishment of heavy particle-electrode equilibrium, and establishment of heavy particle-buffer volume equilibrium in the discharge gap (the last process is the slowest).