Concept of power absorbed and lost per electron in surface-wave plasma columns and its contribution to the advanced understanding and modeling of microwave discharges.

Microwave (MW) sustained discharges have distinct advantages over other existing types of discharges in terms of the specific understanding they can provide regarding discharge phenomena and mechanisms. First, only electrons can pick up energy from the discharge E-field since ions cannot respond to rapid oscillations above ≈100 MHz. A second remarkable feature of MW discharges is that their plasma sheath is stationary, unlike in radiofrequency (rf) discharges.