Abstract: | A charged sheath between a multi‐component plasma and an absorbing and conducting wall was considered analytically in the framework of a hydrodynamic model. The model accounted for the inertia and pressures of all the plasma components and both wall polarities. An existence criterion for the steady sheath with a monotonous distribution of the electric potential was derived based on analysis of the Sagdeev potential. The model was applied to some special cases of two‐and three‐component plasmas such as a plasma with macroparticles, and electro‐positive and ‐negative plasmas. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |