The influence of the electron energy distribution on the low pressure chlorine discharge

A global (volume averaged) model of a chlorine discharge is applied to explore the effect of the electron energy distribution on the plasma parameters such as particle densities and reaction rates. The effective electron temperature increases, the densities of charged particles decrease and the total reaction rate for the creation of Cl− decreases as the electron energy distribution function is varied from approximately bi-Maxwellian to Maxwellian to Druyvesteyn distribution, while the applied power is kept fixed. The relative contribution of electron impact dissociation to the creation of the neutral Cl atom increases significantly as the electron energy distribution is varied from approximately bi-Maxwellian to Maxwellian to Druyvesteyn distribution, while the loss processes for Cl are nearly independent of the electron energy distribution.

► A global (volume averaged) model of a chlorine discharge is applied to explore the effect of the electron energy distribution on the plasma parameters such as particle densities and reaction rates.
► For fixed applied power the effective electron temperature increases and the densities of charged particles decrease as the electron energy distribution function is varied from approximately bi-Maxwellian to Maxwellian to Druyvesteyn distribution.
► The relative contribution of electron impact dissociation to the creation of the neutral Cl atom increases significantly as the electron energy distribution is varied from approximately bi-Maxwellian to Maxwellian to Druyvesteyn distribution, while the loss processes for Cl are nearly independent of the electron energy distribution.