Electrical breakdown in an argon cylindrical discharge

Summary form only given, as follows. In this work is presented a study of a cylindrical DC discharge in argon using the zero-dimensional model. This model is suitable for the non-stationary situation and it is characterized by a spatial average of particle density and energy over the whole volume of the discharge. It is followed by the time evolution of species densities, electron temperature and discharge current. The dominant mechanisms for electron energy losses are diffusion, and elastic and inelastic processes. The relative importance of the microscopic processes such as ionization, excitation, recombination and diffusion is investigated with respect to their influence on the discharge parameters. An extension of this discharge modelling is possible by including some impurity effects due to the addition of electronegative and reactive gases.