Instabilities and pattern formation in low-temperature plasmas

This paper is concerned with a dynamical systems analysis of an insta-bility occurring in a cylindrical high-frequency plasma discharge. Station-ary, spatially periodic modulations of the plasma density and temperature have been observed in experiments and reproduced in kinetic simulations. A macroscopic model is proposed in order to determine parameter ranges for which these plasma \striations " may form. The model consists of two nonlinear, coupled partial dierential equations which describe am-bipolar diusion of electrons and ions and electron energy transport. We emphasise the importance of a particular thermoelectric transport coe-cient, usually neglected in uid models of plasma discharges, which proves essential in describing the pattern formation mechanism. 1