Superheat turbulence in gas discharged plasma

The influence of the electron concentration and temperature fluctuations on local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) in a gas-discharge plasma due to superheat turbulence development is analyzed. Data for the noble-gas atmospheric plasmas Ar and He (T=6-18 kK) and air (T=4-9 kK) are given. It is shown that superheat turbulence causes deviation from LTE when parameter-space gradients are absent. As a result, the influence of superheat turbulence for weakly radiative gases (He, H/sub 2/) is considerably greater than for strong radiative gases (Ar, Xe, etc). The artificial excitement of superheat turbulence in plasma without any current by means of external electric field fluctuations is demonstrated.<
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