Magnetic Control of Low Pressure Diffuse Discharges

The application of crossed E and B fields in a low pressure gas discharge shifts the electron energy distribution function f(e) to lower mean energies. Monte Carlo calculations demonstrate that the dominant effect is a strong reduction in the number of high energy lectrons. The low energy part of the distribution can be influenced by the addition of an attacher which peaks at energies below the mean energy of the distribution. These changes in the electron energy distribution affect significantly the electron mobility and the ionization and attachment coefficients. The resulting variations in the discharge characteristics were observed experimentally. They are in reasonable agreement with the results generated by the computer calculations for gas mixtures containing He, SF6 and N2.