Radial distribution of plasma density in the positive column of thehigh-current stationary glow discharge

A model is presented which describes the radial distributions of the plasma density, electric potential, current density, and magnetic field in the positive column of a stationary glow discharge not in contact with the longitudinal walls of the discharge chamber. In this model, the compression of the positive column is provided by the azimuthal magnetic field created by the discharge current. The value of, the discharge current is obtained for the case where charged-particle diffusion is balanced by the actions of the radial electric field and the magnetic pinch effect. The radial distributions of plasma parameters are also calculated for the case of high-current glow discharges where charged-particle diffusion can be ignored