Sudden Jumps,Hysteresis, and Negative Resistance in an Argon Plasma Discharge. I. Discharges with No Magnetic Field

Jumps and hysteresis in discharge current are produced in a low-pressure (10^?5 – 10^?4 Torr). magnetic field free, thermionic argon plasma discharge by varying discharge voltage, neutral pressure, or filament temperature. This behavior can be attributed to a region of negative differential resistance in the voltage versus current characteristic of the discharge. A model is presented in order to understand the physical processes leading to this negative resistance.