Effects of electron—electron Coulomb interactions in low-voltage neon discharges

The electron-energy distribution in a neon discharge is determined from the Boltzmann equation. Inelastic collisions with neutral atoms, as well as electron—electron Coulomb interactions, are included in the calculation. It is shown that, as predicted by Crescentini & Maroli (1968), the distribution is very close to the Druyvesteyn function when the electron density is very low (n_e > 10⁷ cm^-3). The same conclusion, however, is not correct as the electron density increases to a higher value (n_e > 10¹¹ cm^-3). In this case, the electron—electron Coulomb interactions play an important role in restoring the distribution toward a Maxwell jan function.