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> 10⁷cm^-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 Maxwellian function.