Argon, hydrogen, and germane plasmas were investigated in a variably configured radio frequency (rf) diode glow‐discharge reactor system with a range of rf powers. Plasma parameters such as electron temperature, plasma density, plasma potential, and floating potential were determined and the internal distribution of voltages within the glow discharge was considered. An equivalent circuit for the discharge is presented and fundamental dependence between the voltage ratio and the electrode area ratio of squared power law compared with the usual fourth power law is measured and described. The main goal of this work was to obtain more information about the energy of ion bombardment on the growing film surface.