Filling of a plane slit volume with a glow discharge in a transverse magnetic field and its effect on the discharge contraction

We consider a dc glow discharge in a plane slit volume with electrodes in the slit plane in a magnetic field transverse to the current, which has been studied experimentally. As in the experiment, the discharge is artificially confined at one of the dielectric boundaries of the volume and propagates to the opposite dielectric boundary until it is stabilized. It is shown using a 2D calculation of the nonstationary process that the discharge in a magnetic field occupies a noticeably larger volume (with a lower current density at the electrodes) than in zero magnetic field. The effect of the magnetic field is also manifested in that it hampers the contraction of the discharge, substantially elevating the threshold current of the diffuse discharge. The discharge contraction is calculated in the approximation of a homogeneous positive column along the current right to the attainment of the stationary state. In calculations with a magnetic field, hysteresis appears in transitions from the diffuse to the contracted state and back.