Properties of radiofrequency-confined plasmas

Experiments on the RF (400-1000 MHz) confinement of plasma are described, with major results having to do with breakdown for both TM-010 and TM-011 modes, luminosity distribution measurements, and the plasma floating potential. The RF breakdown measurements of Self and Boot (1959) have been extended to lower pressures and correlated with Phi-well theory in such a way as to confirm the existence of a dominant RF-aided breakdown regime at pressures less than 1/10 that corresponding to the electron mean-free-path limit of the electron diffusion breakdown regime. Considerations of stochastic heating lead to conclusions that RF confinement involves a continuous electron cycling process in which electrons gain energy through random elastic collisions and lose energy through inelastic collisions.