Accurate models of collisions in glow discharge simulations

Very detailed, self-consistent kinetic glow discharge simulations are used to examine the effect of various models of collisional processes. The effects of allowing anisotropy in elastic electron collisions with neutral atoms instead of using the momentum transfer cross-section, the effects of using an isotropic distribution in inelastic electron-atom collisions, and the effects of including a Coulomb electron-electron collision operator are all described. It is shown that changes in any of the collisional models, especially the second and third described above, can make a profound difference in the simulation results. This confirms that many discharge simulations have great sensitivity to the physical and numerical approximations used. Our results reinforce the importance of using a kinetic theory approach with highly realistic models of various collisional processes