This paper is devoted to the study of collisionless multicomponent plasma expansion in vacuum discharges. Based on the fundamental principles of physical kinetics formulated for vacuum discharge plasma, an answer is given to the following question: What is the main mechanism of cathode plasma transport from cathode to anode, which ensures non-thermal metallic positive ion movement? Theoretical modeling is provided based on the Vlasov–Poisson system of equations for a current flow in a planar vacuum discharge gap. It was shown that the non-thermal plasma expansion is of a purely electrodynamic nature, caused by the formation of a “potential hump” in the interelectrode space and its subsequent movement under certain conditions consistent with plasma electrodynamic transportation. The presented results reveal two cases of the described phenomenon: (1) the dynamics of single-component cathode plasma and (2) multicomponent plasma (consisting of multiple charged ions) expansion.

The paper presents a 2D multi-fluid non-stationary model of a negative corona discharge in atmospheric-pressure air in the needle-to-plane diode. Discharges were simulated in gaps up to 1 cm with an applied voltage in the range of 8-100 kV. The simulation results demonstrate two stages of the discharge evolution: a pulsed-periodic stage called the Trichel pulses mode and a stationary glow discharge mode. The spatio-temporal distributions of the discharge plasma and electric field are shown in detail. Physical mechanism of Trichel pulses formation and transition to the stationary discharge are also revealed. The duration of the Trichel pulse mode gradually decreases with increasing of the applied voltage.

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