Investigation of the Effect of Discharge Plasma Stabilization by a Semiconductor

(Received 19 June 1995, accepted 14 March 1996)

Abstract
The present paper deals with the urgent problem of the gas discharge plasma contact with a semiconducting electrode. The phenomenon of gas discharge stabilization by a semiconducting electrode has been investigated in metal-thin ( m) gas gap-high ohmic semiconductor structure. Gallium arsenide ( 10⁷ - 10⁸ ohm cm) has been used as the semiconductor. It has been found that the deposition of a metallic film on particular regions of a semiconductor surface leads to current filamentation on the corresponding regions. This fact confirms the conclusion that the stabilization effect is determined by boundary conditions on a plasma-semiconductor contact.