Influence of Electron–Electron Collisions on the Formation of Inverse Electron Distribution Function and Absolute Negative Conductivity in Nonlocal Plasma of a DC Glow Discharge

The influence of electron–electron collisions on the formation of inverse electron distribution function (EDF) and absolute negative conductivity (ANC) in nonlocal plasma of a direct current (dc) glow discharge is investigated. The numerical model was created in the COMSOL Multiphysics software environment and includes a kinetic equation for electrons in energy and coordinate variables, drift-diffusion fluid balance equations for heavy particles, and a Poisson equation for finding a self-consistent electric field. It is shown that the Maxwellization of the EDF due to an increase in the role of electron–electron collisions can significantly limit the possibility of the appearance of a reverse EDF and ANC in a nonlocal plasma of rare gases with a Ramsauer minimum of the elastic scattering cross section.