The Effect Hollow Cathode Depth on Plasma Characteristics

Experimental study on the effect of hollow cathode depth on spatial glow distribution and the characteristics of plasma produced by dc discharge in Argon gas, were investigated by current-voltage characteristic and image analyses for the glows within the plasma. It was found that the increasing the pressure leads to compress the cathode regions while increase the positive column, which appeared with periodic structure. increasing hollow depth from 19 to 40 mm reduce the positive column fluctuation and converted to continuous form at high pressure. The hollow cathode configuration alters the Paschen curves parameters, the emission intensity distribution and the current- pressure curve.