Instability enhanced thermalization of bi-Maxwellian EEDF in multi-dipole confined hot cathode discharge: an experimental observation

In multi-dipole confined hot cathode discharges, the presence of up to three distinct electron species has been observed by performing linear fitting of the Langmuir probe I-V traces. Nevertheless, the fundamental mechanism underlying the generation of hot electrons remains ambiguous. This work presents experimental observations to comprehensively investigate the impact of the instability-enhanced thermalization effect on the thermal equilibrium of both hot and cold electrons. Temperature composition of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) was measured via a Langmuir probe, while instabilities was measured using a spectrum analyzer. The experimental results confirm the existence of a transition from a three-temperature Maxwellian EEDF composition to a two-temperature Maxwellian EEDF composition as the population of high-energy electrons increases. Furthermore, the process of thermalization between hot and cold electrons is found to be correlated to the effect of instability-enhanced collisions. The intensity of collisional instability also decreases with increased neutral collisionality.