Self-Consistent Model of Low-Pressure Plasma Column Sustained by Electromagnetic Surface Waves

The electromagnetic fields in a plasma column sustained by a surface wave traveling along the plasma boundary are studied in a self-consistent model coupling Maxwell's equations in the frequency-domain to the transport equations for electron energy and particles (ions, electrons, metastable excited atoms) in a two-dimensional axially symmetric model. The results are applied to study the factors governing the axial density profile of the plasma. The focus is on verifying the assumption of negligibility of the axial transport of electron energy and particles, on which the classical theory of surface-wave columns is based.