Acta Physica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 16. (1963)

1963 / 3. szám - J. Bitó: On the Pressure-Dependence of Some Parameters of A. C. Discharges

ON THE PRESSURE-DEPENDENCE OF SOME PARAMETERS OF A. C. DISCHARGES By J. Bitó INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE, BUDAPEST (Presented by G. Szigeti — Received 28. У. 1963) The author describes the probe measurement method based on the pulse technique introduced by Waymouth and its application to the examination of discharges operated by a supply voltage of 50 cps. In this connection the author examines the pressure-dependence of some characteristic parameters; he shows the dependence of the cathode-fall, the axial field strength and the plasma potentials and the pressure of the applied argon ground gas, for a mercury vapour discharge. The results obtained are discussed and compared with the data appearing in recent literature. Introduction The examination of gas discharges is at present chiefly experimental. The properties and the behaviour of more or less ionized gas or vapour have been examined for about 200 years, but until now coherent results leading to an unambiguous theoretical picture have not been attainable from which the fundamental processes and the relations between them could unambigu­ously be explained, either in a closed form (by functions), or in any other one. But, at the same time, the physical knowledge shows in more and more places the presence of the plasma state. The application of the advantageous properties (lighting, processing, rocket driving, etc.) of the discharges, of the discharge plasma, or of otherwise produced ionized gases and vapours becomes ever more and more extensive. This wide possibility of application necessitates the development of suitable examination methods, in order to obtain more detailed knowledge. One of the fundamental examining methods of experi­mental plasma physics is the probe measuring process introduced by Lang­muir [1—3], by means of which relatively correct data can be obtained con­cerning the processes occurring in the discharges. By a great number of measure­ments of an improved accuracy further relations can be expected, which may contribute to a clarification of the properties so far known and to a further and wider application of the discharges and their plasma. In this paper the author makes known the pressure-dependence of the fundamental discharge parameters determined by the process [4] extended to the case of a. c. discharges and based on Langmuir’s probe measuring method, applied to a. c. discharges. Until now similar examinations of only

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