Effect of the field dependence of the coefficient of ion-electron emission on the characteristics of a normal cathode discharge

The electric characteristics of the cathode layer of a normal glow discharge are discussed. The value of the normal current density and its dependence on the discharge parameters are modeled within a one-dimensional drift approximation with a local ionization. The dependence of the coefficient of electron-ion emission oil the electric field strength at the cathode causes the normal current density to be a function of the reduced length of the discharge gap. This result differs radically from the commonly accepted model with a constant emission coefficient. Within the framework of this model. the reduced normal current density is independent of the reduced length of the discharge gap provided that the latter exceeds some critical value and the effect of the normal current density is absent at a shorter reduced length of the discharge gap. A modification of this model used in this work provides a quantitative description of the dependence of the normal current density on the reduced length of the discharge gap. This dependence has been experimentally found recently