Comment on the paper ‘The impact of Langmuir probe geometries on electron current collection and the integral relation for obtaining electron energy distribution functions’

A paper by El Saghir and Shannon (2012 Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 21 025003) raises the question about the validity of the widely-used Druyvesteyn formula for obtaining the electron energy distribution function by cylindrical probes. They conclude that there are deviations between the Druyvesteyn formula for cylindrical and for spherical probes. In this comment this conclusion is questioned and the correct expressions are derived. It is shown that no such difference exists when all three velocity components are correctly accounted for. Furthermore, the disturbance to the plasma introduced by the probe is estimated.