Paradoxical spatial distribution of the electron temperature in a low pressure rf discharge

Spatially resolved probe measurements of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) in a capacitive rf discharge in argon reveal that the electron temperature decreases with increasing plasma heating rf field. This paradoxical behavior in the electron temperature distribution in an inhomogeneous rf field is shown to be the combined effect of nonlocal electron kinetics and a non-Maxwellian EEDF typical of a low pressure capacitive rf discharge in a Ramsauer gas.