Download PLASMA MODELING – PART I

CIP 2015
20th International Colloquium on Plasma Processes
1-5 June – Saint-Etienne, France
Short courses
PLASMA MODELING – PART I
This course gives a general overview of different modeling approaches that can be used to describe
plasmas, including an analytical model, a zero-dimensional chemical kinetics model, a fluid model, a
Boltzmann equation model, Monte Carlo (MC) and particle-in-cell – Monte Carlo collision (PIC-MCC)
simulations, a collisional-radiative model for excited species, a hybrid model, combining some of the
above models, and finally molecular dynamics simulations, which can be used to describe plasmasurface interactions.
In the first part, the main characteristics, as well as advantages and limitations, of each of these models
will be explained. For instance, a chemical kinetics model and a fluid model are relatively fast, and
therefore most suitable for describing a large number of different plasma species (detailed plasma
chemistry), but the electrons are treated in a more approximate way, while MC and PIC-MCC
simulations treat the individual (super)electrons (and ions), and thus they can describe their behavior in
a more accurate way, but they require more calculation time. A hybrid model combines some of these
models, and thus it can eliminate the limitations and make use of the advantages of the individual
models.
In the second part, some characteristic results of these models will be presented, to illustrate what type
of information can be obtained from such models, and how these models can contribute to a better
understanding of the plasma behavior. The specific examples include (i) a fluid model to describe the
detailed plasma chemistry for greenhouse gas conversion, (ii) a MC model and (iii) a PIC-MCC model, to
describe the plasma kinetic behavior of a magnetron discharge, and (iv) a hybrid MC – fluid model for a
plasma with sputtering, and for a plasma with etching as used in microelectronics applications.
Annemie Bogaerts
Univ. Antwerp (Belgium)