Experimental investigation of the electrical and optical characteristics of an inductively coupled discharge in neon

An experimental investigation of the electrical and optical characteristics of an inductively coupled discharge in neon is performed in a wide range of conditions of discharge burning, namely, discharge tube diameters of $20$, $34$, and $58$ mm, neon pressures of $10$ to $600$ Pa, discharge currents of $1$ to $30$ A, and current frequencies of $25$ and $250$ kHz. The obtained data are compared to the results of investigations of both an inductively coupled discharge in inert gases ($\mathrm{Ne}$, $\mathrm{Ar}$, $\mathrm{Kr}$) at a current frequency of $450$ kHz and the positive column of a dc discharge in neon. It is demonstrated that the dependences of the electrical and optical characteristics of an inductively coupled discharge on the discharge strength, tube diameter, and neon pressure qualitatively agree with similar dependences for the positive column of a dc discharge. The effect of the current frequency on the parameters of inductively coupled discharge in neon is revealed.