Temporal relaxation of plasma electrons acted upon by directcurrent electric and magnetic fields

On the basis of the time-dependent electron Boltzmann equation the temporal relaxation of the electrons in the presence of electric and magnetic fields in weakly ionized, collision dominated plasmas has been studied. The relaxation process is treated by using a strict time-dependent two-term approximation of the velocity distribution function expansion in spherical harmonics. A new technique for solving the time-dependent electron kinetic equation in this two-term approximation for arbitrary angles between the electric and magnetic fields has been developed and the main aspects of the efficient solution method are presented. Using this new approach and starting from steady-state plasmas under the action of time-independent electric fields only, the impact of superimposed DC magnetic fields on the electron relaxation is analyzed with regard to the control of a neon plasma. The investigations reveal an important effect of the magnetic field on the temporal relaxation process. In particular, it has been found that the relaxation time of the electron component with respect to the establishment of steady-state can be enlarged by some orders of magnitude when increasing the magnetic field strength     

Time - Dependent Multi - Term Treatment of Plasma Electrons Acted upon by RF Electric Fields

Using a new method for solving the time-dependent electron Boltzmann equation in higher order accuracy, studies of the temporal behaviour of electrons in weakly ionized, collision-dominated plasmas under the action of rf fields have been performed. The method is based upon a multi-term approximation of the Legendre polynomial expansion of electron velocity distribution function and is applied to investigate the established periodic behaviour of the electron velocity distribution in helium, argon and CO plasmas. The results obtained in various approximation orders are discussed. The analysis has shown that the simplified treatment using only two terms of the velocity distribution expansion can fail in several conditions. In general, the four-term approximation gives already a good representation of the convergent solution of the electron Boltzmann equation at each instant of the rf period. The discrepancies between two-term and convergent results are found to depend sensitively on the specific atomic data, in particular on the magnitude of the various electron collision cross sections involved. Furthermore, the results obtained in the multi-term approximation are compared with corresponding ones obtained by accurate Monte Carlo simulations. Very good agreement between convergent eight-term Boltzmann and Monte Carlo calculations is found.     

Nonstationary and Quasi-stationary Treatment of Distribution Anisotropy in the Temporal Relaxation of an Energetic Electron Group

A relaxation study of an electron group in collision dominated weakly ionized plasmas has been performed. The study is based on the two-term approximation of the Legendre polynomial expansion of the electron velocity distribution in the nonstationary Boltzmann equation. To overcome the limitation of the conventional quasi-stationary treatment of the distribution anisotropy, a very efficient solution approach of the nonstationary kinetic equation in two-term approximation has been developed which allows for a strict nonstationary treatment of the distribution anisotropy. By using this approach the temporal evolution of the isotropic and anisotropic distribution of the electrons has been investigated for a model plasma, which involves typical features of an inert gas plasma. A comparison of the results with corresponding ones obtained by applying the conventional approach under various parameter conditions clearly indicates a pronounced falsification of the real relaxation course by the latter approach.     

Response of the Electron Kinetics on Spatial Disturbances of the Electric Field in Nonisothermal Plasmas

An efficient method for solving the inhomogeneous electron Boltzmann equation for a weakly ionized collision dominated plasma is represented. As a first application this method is used to investigate in a helium plasma the response of the electron velocity distribution function and of the relevant macroscopic quantities to the impact of spatially limited disturbances in the electric field. In addition to the field action elastic and (conservative) inelastic collisions of electrons with gas atoms are taken into account in the kinetic treatment. In this way the spatial relaxation behaviour of the electrons and their establishment into homogeneous plasma states could be studied on a strict kinetic basis. Unexpectedly large relaxation lengths in electron acceleration direction have been found at medium electric fields.     

Electron Kinetics with Attachment and Ionization from Higher Order Solutions of Boltzmann's Equation

An appropriate approach is presented for solving the Boltzmann equation for electron swarms and nonstationary weakly ionized plasmas in the hydrodynamic stage, including ionization and attachment processes. Using a Legendre-polynomial expansion of the electron velocity distribution function the resulting eigenvalue problem has been solved at any even truncation-order. The technique has been used to study velocity distribution, mean collision frequencies, energy transfer rates, nonstationary behaviour and power balance in hydrodynamic stage, of electrons in a model plasma and a plasma of pure SF₆. The calculations have been performed for increasing approximation-orders, up to the converged solution of the problem. In particular, the transition from dominant attachment to prevailing ionization when increasing the field strength has been studied. Finally the establishment of the hydrodynamic stage for a selected case in the model plasma has been investigated by solving the nonstationary, spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation in twoterm approximation.     

ELectron Collision Rates and Transport Coefficients of a Weakly Ionized dc Plasma in Ar/Sih4-Mixtures

The paper deals with electron kinetics of a Ar/SiH₄ dc plasma, using the stationary and spatially uniform Boltzmann equation. The solution of this kinetic equation has been obtained by applying higher order Legendre polynomial expansion of the electron velocity distribution. For varying mixture composition the energy distribution and relevant macroscopic quantities as mean energy, drift velocity, rate coefficients for excitation, dissociation and ionization and relevant energy transfer rates for these processes have been calculated. In particular, it has been found that a most effective activation of the feed gas occurs for SiH₄ admixtures in the range from 5 to 10 per cents.     

Fundamentals of a Technique for Determining Electron Distribution Functions by Multi-Term Even-Order Expansion in Legendre Polynomials 1. Theory

On the basis of our recent investigations concerning the mathematical structure of the hierarchy which results from the Legendre polynomial expansion of the electron velocity distribution function in Boltzmann's equation a new technique for solving this equation in multi-term even-order approximation is presented. This method is, even if more complex, the logical generalization of the well known technique for solving Boltzmann's equation by backward integration in the conventional two-term approximation. A weakly ionized, spatially homogeneous and stationary plasma with elastic and exciting electron-atom collisions is considered acted upon by a dc electric field. The technique, presented in detail, determines the distribution function in even order 2l of the expansion at the end by l-fold backward and 2l-fold forward integration of the hierarchy and by continuous connection of the resulting non-singular parts of the general solutions at low and high energies at an appropriate connection point. A first application of this method is made on a model gas for the even orders from 2 to 10 and under conditions with distinct anisotropy in the velocity space due to intensive exciting collisions. The converged macroscopic quantities and the corresponding first coefficients of the distribution expansion itself are compared with very accurate Monte Carlo simulations under the same conditions where a perfect agreement between the results obtained with both techniques was found confirming the high accuracy of the new technique to be presented.     

DC column plasma kinetics in a longitudinal magnetic field

The cylindrical column plasma of a neon dc glow discharge under the influence of a weak longitudinal magnetic field is studied. An extended, fully self-consistent model of the column plasma has been used to determine the kinetic quantities of electrons, ions and excited atoms, the radial space charge field, and the axial electric field for given discharge conditions. The model includes a nonlocal kinetic treatment of the electrons by solving their spatially inhomogeneous kinetic equation, taking into account the radial space charge field and the axial magnetic field. The treatment is based on the two-term expansion of the velocity distribution and comprises the determination of its isotropic and anisotropic components in the axial, radial, and azimuthal direction. A transition from a distinctly nonlocal kinetic behavior of the electrons in the magnetic-field-free case to an almost local kinetic behavior has been found by increasing the magnetic field. The establishment of the electron cyclotron motion around the column axis increasingly restricts the radial electron energy transport and reduces the radial ambipolar current. The complex interaction of these transport phenomena with the alterations in the charge carrier production leads finally to a specific variation of the electric field components. The axial field increases by applying weak magnetic fields, however, decreases with increasingly higher magnetic fields. At higher magnetic fields, the radial space-charge field is considerably reduced     

RF electric field penetration and power deposition into nonequilibrium planar-type inductively coupled plasmas

The RF electric field penetration and the power deposition into planar-type inductively coupled plasmas in low-pressure discharges have been studied by means of a self-consistent model which consists of Maxwell equations combined with the kinetic equation of electrons. The Maxwell equations are solved based on the expansion of the Fourier--Bessel series for determining the RF electric field. Numerical results show the influence of a non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution on the RF electric field penetration and the power deposition for different coil currents. Moreover, the two-dimensional spatial profiles of RF electric field and power density are also shown for different numbers of RF coil turns.     

Traffic Flow Models Considering an Internal Degree of Freedom

We solve numerically the integrodifferential equation for the equilibrium case of Paveri–Fontana's Boltzmann-like traffic equation. Beside space and actual velocity, Paveri–Fontana used an additional phase space variable, the desired velocity, to distinguish between the various driver characters. We refine his kinetic equation by introducing a modified cross section in order to incorporate finite vehicle length. We then calculate from the equilibrium solution the mean-velocity–density relation and investigate its dependence on the imposed desired velocity distribution. A further modification is made by modeling the interaction as an imperfect showing-down process. We find that the velocity cumulants of the stationary homogeneous solution essentially only depend on the first two cumulants, but not on the exact shape of the imposed desired velocity distribution. The equilibrium solution can therefore be approximated by a bivariate Gaussian distribution which is in agreement with empirical velocity distributions. From the improved kinetic equation we then derive a macroscopic model by neglecting third and higher order cumulants. The equilibrium solution of the macroscopic model is compared with the cumulants of the kinetic equilibrium solution and shows good agreement, thus justifying the closure assumption.     

Fundamentals of a Technique for Determining Electron Distribution Functions by Multi-Term Even-Order Expansion in Legendre Polynomials. 2. Comprehensive Investigation of a Model Plasma

Applying the new technique for finding the converged solution of the Boltzmann equation in a weakly ionized plasma, which was developed in the first part of this paper, a comprehensive study of the electron velocity distribution function for a model plasma with elastic and exciting collisions is performed by solving the Boltzmann equation with increasing order of approximation. The purpose of this investigation is that of calculating the isotropic distribution f₀, the first contribution f₁ to the anisotropy of the velocity distribution, the important macroscopic quantities and, more generally, that of studying the total anisotropy as well as the changes of all these quantities when the approximation degree is enlarged beyond the 2 terms of the conventional Lorentz approximation. By varying some parameters of the model plasma, that is the electric field strength, the magnitude of the excitation cross section and the excitation threshold, the main features of plasmas in inert as well as molecular gases are modelled and the impact of these parameters on the mentioned quantities is analysed. Some of the converged results are compared with results of corresponding Monte Carlo simulations. The approximation degree required to find the converged values of isotropic distribution, main macroscopic quantities and electron distribution in the velocity space (and thus its real anisotropy) is estimated by solving the Boltzmann equation over wide parameter ranges.     

On the three-term approximation of the solution of the Boltzmann equation for weakly ionized gases

In this paper we discuss an improvement of the current technique of solution of the Boltzmann equation for weakly ionized gases in an electric field. The method is based on the usual expansion of the velocity distribution in spherical harmonics, but three terms of the expansion are retained instead of two. In the light of the results obtained for a particular interaction law between charged and neutral particles, a procedure is established which is consistent in the orders of approximation. This procedure requires an improvement of the degree of accuracy commonly used for the terms deriving from the Boltzmann collision operator. For this reason, the general expression of the isotropic collision operator correct to second order in the ion-neutral mass ratio is calculated. Finally, a new steady-state solution of the Boltzmann equation is obtained which is valid both for electrons and light ions in heavy gases.     

Spatiotemporal evolution of the distribution function of electrons in sign-changing electric field

A numerical model for solving the Boltzmann unsteady non-local kinetic equation for the distribution function of electrons over energy is constructed. The Boltzmann equation for isotropic part of the distribution function written in natural variables the kinetic energy — the coordinate was solved by the pseudo-unsteady method. The model was applied for describing the spatiotemporal evolution of the distribution function of electrons in a uniform electric field. For a model distribution of the electric field with the “negative” value in the Faraday dark space and the “positive” value in the positive column of the glow discharge, the main macroscopic parameters of electrons are obtained, the diffusion mechanism of the electron current transfer in the negative electric field region is confirmed. The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 07-02-00781-a) and by State Contract No. 02.513.11.3242.     

On the Solution of the Electron Boltzmann Equation in Higher Order Legendre Polynomial Expansion

The paper deals with the mathematical structure of the general solution and the selection of the physical relevant solution of the hierarchy resulting from the electron Boltzmann equation by the Legendre polynomial expansion for a weakly ionized plasma with elastic and exciting collisions and under the action of an electric field. At first the properties of the general solution for the two and four term approximation of the distribution function are analyzed and then the study is extended to arbitrarily even order of the hierarchy using the theory of weakly and strongly singular differential equation systems for the investigation of the solution behaviour of the truncated hierarchy at small and at large energies, respectively. In this way, especially the free parameters of the non-singular part of each general solution, which is obtained for small and large energies and is of interest for the construction of the desired solution, could be found, and the procedure for their final determination is explained. A first illustrative example is given of the application of these studies for the determination of the velocity distribution function of the electrons in four term approximation for a model plasma.     

Kinetic two-dimensional modeling of inductively coupled plasmasbased on a hybrid kinetic approach

In this paper, we present a two-dimensional (2-D) kinetic model for low-pressure inductively coupled discharges. The kinetic treatment of the plasma electrons is based on a hybrid kinetic scheme in which the range of electron energies is divided into two subdomains. In the low energy range the electron distribution function is determined from the traditional nonlocal approximation. In the high energy part the complete spatially dependent Boltzmann equation is solved. The scheme provides computational efficiency and enables inclusion of electron-electron collisions which are important in low-pressure high-density plasmas. The self-consistent scheme is complemented by a 2-D fluid model for the ions and the solution of the complex wave equation for the RF electric field. Results of this model are compared to experimental results. Good agreement in terms of plasma density and potential profiles is observed. In particular, the model is capable of reproducing the transition from on-axis to off-axis peaked density profiles as observed in experiments which underlines the significant improvements compared to models purely based on the traditional nonlocal approximation