Modeling high-pressure microplasmas: Comparison of fluid modeling and particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision modeling

Abstract

The results of simulations using a fluid model and a PIC-MCC model are compared, and the PIC-MCC is used to explore the kinetics of energetic ions and electrons in microplasmas. The kinetics are studied under helium discharges at 760 Torr and Ne/Xe DBD discharges at 300 Torr with various driving currents and geometries. While EEPFs of microplasmas at high pressure show strong nonequilibrium behavior near the sheath region, EEDFs on the powered and grounded electrodes have qualitatively different features depending on input power. The effective temperature and energy flux of charged particles can be obtained from the slopes in EEPFs and IEPFs. The effects of input power, discharge length, and mixture gas concentration on the IEDFs on each electrode are discussed.