Simulation of a Moving Boundary in Plasma Electron Sources

The numerical algorithms and the software package to model the electro-optical systems with a moving plasma emitter are developed. The proposed algorithms are based on the method of the computational region decomposition. The main point of the method is a computational area divided into two subregions: near-cathode subregion and main subregion. The solution in the near-cathode subregion is found analytically whereas its determination in the main subregion is via numerical methods. The problem to find the position and shape of a plasma boundary is defined as the problem of solving the nonlinear Poincare–Steklov equations. These equations are obtained by the conjugation conditions for an electric field potential and its derivatives on the boundary between the near-cathode and main subregions. These equations are approximated by the system of nonlinear operator equations that is solved by the efficient version of the descent method. This paper provides examples of the methodological and practical problem solutions.