An Introduction to Gas Discharges

An Introduction to Gas Discharges: Second Edition aims to provide a compact introduction to the subject of gas discharges, which continues to make both scientific and industrial progress. In this second edition, the author has made minor corrections, rewritten and expanded some sections, used SI units and modernized notions, in hopes of making the book more up to date.
Included in the book is a short history of the subject, an introduction that enumerates the types of gas discharges, the fundamental processes, and then moves on to the more specific areas such as the breakdown, the self-sustaining discharge, equilibrium, plasma properties and measurements, and the technological applications of gas discharges.
Concise and easy to understand, the text is for students and researchers who wish to learn the subject and prepare them for more advanced readings.

Contenu

Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition

1. Introduction
   1.1 Historical
   1.2 Types of Discharge
2. Fundamental Processes
   2.1 The Kinetic Theory of a Simple Gas
   2.2 Atomic and Molecular Structure
   2.2.1 The Bohr-Rutherford Atom
   2.2.2 Molecular Structure
   2.3 Collisions
   2.3.1 Cross-section
   2.3.2 Elastic Collisions
   2.3.3 Inelastic Collisions
   2.3.4 Charge Transfer; the Penning Effect
   2.3.5 Attachment and Recombination
   2.4 Absorption and Emission of Radiation
   2.5 Mobility
   2.6 Diffusion
   2.6.1 The Diffusion Process
   2.6.2 The Einstein Relation
   2.6.3 Ambipolar Diffusion
   2.6.4 Diffusion across a Magnetic Field
   2.7 Electrode Effects
   2.7.1 Thermionic Emission
   2.7.2 Photoelectric Emission
   2.7.3 Emission by Electron Impact
   2.7.4 Emission by Positive-ion Impact
   2.7.5 Emission by Neutral Atom Impact
   2.7.6 Field Emission
3. Breakdown
   3.1 The Townsend Discharge
   3.2 Effect of Space Charge
   3.3 Effect of Secondary Emission
   3.4 Effect of Attachment
   3.5 Similarity
   3.6 The Townsend Criterion
   3.7 Paschen's Law
   3.8 Low-pressure Breakdown in Non-Uniform Fields
   3.9 Time of Breakdown
   3.10 Breakdown at High Pressures
   3.11 Non-Uniform Field, High Pressure: Corona
   3.12 High-Frequency Breakdown
   3.13 Effect of a Magnetic Field
4. The Self-Sustaining Discharge
   4.1 The D.C. Low-pressure Glow Discharge
   4.1.1 The Cathode Region
   4.1.2 The Negative Glow and Faraday Dark Space
   4.1.3 The Positive Column
   4.1.4 The Anode Fall
   4.2 The High-pressure Glow Discharge
   4.3 The D.C. Arc Discharge
   4.3.1 Theories of Cathode Emission
   4.3.2 Arc with Externally-Heated Cathode
   4.3.3 The Positive Column
   4.3.4 The Anode Fall
   4.3.5 Special Forms of Arc
   4.3.6 The Drawn Arc
   4.3.7 Electrode Evaporation
   4.4 A.C. Discharges
   4.4.1 Low and Intermediate Frequencies
   4.4.2 High Frequencies
   4.4.3 Superimposed A.C.
5. Equilibrium
   5.1 General
   5.2 Distribution Laws
   5.3 Maxwell-Boltzmann Statistics
   5.4 Einstein-Bose and Fermi-Dirac Statistics
   5.5 Ionization-The Saha Equation
   5.6 Detailed Balancing
   5.7 Collision Rates
   5.8 Radiation
   5.9 Equilibrium in a Gas Discharge
   5.10 Departures from Equilibrium
   5.10.1 Co-existing Temperatures
   5.10.2 The Druyvesteyn Distribution
   5.10.3 Populations of Species
   5.11 The Boltzmann Equation
6. Plasma Properties
   6.1 The Positive Column
   6.1.1 Intermediate-Pressure Column
   6.1.2 Low-Pressure Column
   6.1.3 High-Pressure Column
   6.2 The Ionosphere
   6.3 Electromagnetic Waves in a Plasma
   6.3.1 Low Pressure, High Frequency
   6.3.2 Conditions for Absorption
   6.4 High-Temperature Plasmas
   6.4.1 General
   6.4.2 Magnetic Containment and the Pinch Effect
   6.4.3 Magnetohydrodynamics
   6.5 Debye Screening
   6.6 Characteristic and Relaxation Times
   6.7 Plasma Oscillations
7. Plasma Measurements
   7.1 Probe Measurements
   7.1.1 The Langmuir Probe Characteristic
   7.1.2 Analysis of the Langmuir Characteristic
   7.1.3 The Double Probe
   7.2 Measurements from Emission Spectra
   7.3 Microwave Measurements
   7.4 Other Measurements
8. Applications
   8.1 Lighting
   8.1.1 General
   8.1.2 The Sodium Lamp
   8.1.3 The High-Pressure Mercury-Vapor Lamp
   8.1.4 The Low-Pressure Mercury-Vapor (Fluorescent) Lamp
   8.1.5 Other Lamps
   8.2 Electron Tubes
   8.2.1 Thermionic Valves
   8.2.2 The Mercury-Arc Rectifier; The Ignitron
   8.2.3 Glow Discharge Tubes
   8.2.4 Gas-Filled Photocells
   8.2.5 The Geiger Counter
   8.2.6 Duplexers
   8.3 Heating
   8.3.1 Arc Welding
   8.3.2 Arc Furnaces
   8.3.3 Other Heating Applications
   8.4 Lasers
   8.5 Switchgear
   8.6 Power Generation
   8.6.1 Controlled Fusion
   8.6.2 Magnetohydrodynamic Generation
   Problems
   Index