MODELING OF MICROWAVE-EXCITED GAS-DISCHARGES

This paper is dealing with the power density versus electric field characteristic of microwave-excited discharges on the example of typical CO2 laser gas discharges. The fundamentals of the method are a simple electric equivalent circuit for the excitation structure and the assumption of a fixed reduced electric field intensity within the plasma. This operating field is enforced by the plasma under stationary conditions and can be calculated using an electron balance under consideration of the non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution function. The calculations turn out that c.w. excitation with microwaves is involved with considerable plasma power densities. In the case of the CO2 laser this requires special discharge channel designs for effective gas cooling. Besides a discussion of the plasma characteristic, measurements taken from a microwave applicator are presented and compared to the calculations.