Three-dimensional electromagnetic PIC model of a compact ECR plasma source

A three-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) model is developed and used to model a compact ECR plasma source. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique is used to model the microwave fields which excite the plasma at 2.45 GHz. The PIC technique is used to model the dynamics of both the electrons and ions in the plasma. The grid structure used is constructed using the cylindrical coordinate system. Techniques which permit stable numerical solutions in the cylindrical coordinate system are developed and described. The electromagnetic fields and the plasma dynamics are solved in a self-consistent manner. A compact ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) plasma source used for the generation of ions for materials processing is simulated. This source has a plasma size of 3.6 cm in diameter and 3 cm in height. Simulation results of microwave power absorption, plasma potential, and microwave electric fields are presented. Distributed computing techniques are explored to handle the large computer memory requirements and the long computer simulation times associated with the three-dimensional particle-in-cell plasma model