Radio-frequency capacitive discharge in a long strip line

A transverse RF discharge of very high frequency between long strip electrodes is modeled considering the influence of local discharge characteristics on the voltage distribution along the strip line. Computations are made for typical laser mixtures since such systems are used for CO₂-lasers. It is shown that the discharge fills the whole interelectrode volume at low pressures. But at the pressure usually used for lasers, the discharge can cover the confined regions along the electrodes only as an RF α-discharge with normal current density. The theory allows one to choose correctly parameters for slotted CO₂-lasers, providing a more homogeneous active laser medium in the interelectrode space