Dynamic contraction of the positive column of a self-sustained glow discharge in molecular gas

In this paper the dynamic contraction of the current channel inside a quasineutral positive column of a self-sustained glow discharge in a rectangular duct with convection cooling is studied. A set of time-dependent two-dimensional equations for the molecular nitrogen is formulated, and then solved numerically. It is shown that, when the threshold condition for the ionization-thermal instability is fulfilled, a high density plasma channel starting from the initial perturbation near one electrode propagates to the opposite electrode. The developed steady-state contracted discharge is uniform along the direction of the current. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3694913]