Simulation of Short-arc High Pressure Xenon Discharge Plasma in Pulse-periodic Mode

Abstract The paper is devoted to the study of a high-pressure short-arc xenon discharge in a pulse-periodic mode. A model of the plasma of such a discharge in plane geometry with presence of thorium atoms, which are evaporated from a thoriated cathode and strongly affect the plasma, reducing its temperature, changing the ionic composition near the cathode, energy balance, and generation of optical radiation, is developed at different parameters of pulse-periodic mode. It is shown that the pulse-periodic mode provides new opportunities for influencing plasma characteristics, such as temperature, electric field strength, electron density, ionic composition, and optical radiation. The simulation yields time-dependent and spatial distributions of plasma characteristics, as well as their time-averaged values. The most important results, in our opinion, are the possibility of a significant increase in the plasma temperature in a pulse, comparable to the temperature obtained in the plasma of a laser-sustained discharge, and the effect on the optical radiation of the plasma. These results can give directions to further investigations and practical application of such kind of discharges.