PIC MC Using Free Path for the Simulation of Low-Pressure RF Discharge in Argon

Author

Benyoucef, Djilali ; Yousfi, Mohammed ; Belmadani, Bachir ; Settaouti, A.

Author_Institution

Lab. Plasma et Conversion d´´Energie (LAPLACE), Univ. of Toulouse, Toulouse, France

Volume

38

Issue

4

fYear

2010

fDate

4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

902

Lastpage

908

Abstract

In this paper, we used the particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo techniques 1 Dimension 3 Velocities and 3 Dimensions 3 Velocities to simulate low-pressure radio-frequency (RF) discharge in argon. The plasma conditions are 50-100 mtorr of pressure and 200 V of peak RF voltage at 13.56 MHz. The method used in collision treatment is based on an optimized estimation of the collision free path which is independent of the electron energy. It depends only on the maximum of total cross sections. To reduce the number of null collisions, two maximums of total cross sections are chosen. The results obtained were compared with data from experiments that were already carried out.

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; argon; high-frequency discharges; plasma collision processes; plasma pressure; plasma simulation; Monte Carlo technique; PIC MC using free path; collision treatment; electron energy; frequency 13.56 MHz; low-pressure RF discharge; optimized estimation; particle-in-cell technique; plasma conditions; pressure 50 mtorr to 100 mtorr; voltage 200 V; Particle-in-cell (PIC) method; radio-frequency (RF) low-pressure discharge;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2010.2042305

Filename

5433004