Influencing Factors of Striations Formation in the Radio Frequency Hollow Cathode Discharge

The influencing factors of striations formation in the argon radio frequency hollow cathode discharge(RF-HCD) were studied experimentally in this paper. The research results show that in the RF-HCD, under certain discharge conditions, the negative glow region, the Faraday dark space, and the positive column can be observed clearly. And the power, electrode spacing, gas flow, and inserted dielectric tubes all affect the striations formation in the RF-HCD. The deeper reasons are the electron density, the positive column, the pressure, and the surface charges that affect the striations formation in the RF-HCD. If the electron density outside the hollow cathode hole cannot reach the critical value, the striations cannot be formed; if there is no positive column, the striations cannot be formed. And the accumulation of surface charges on the dielectric tubes and the higher gas flow are beneficial to the formation of striations.