Dielectric-barrier discharges (silent discharges) are used on a large industrial scale. They combine the advantages of non-equilibrium plasma properties with the ease of atmospheric-pressure operation. A prominent feature is the simple scalability from small laboratory reactors to large industrial installations with megawatt input powers. Efficient and cost-effective all-solid-state power supplies are available. The preferred frequency range lies between 1 kHz and 10 MHz, the preferred pressure range between 10 kPa and 500 kPa. Industrial applications include ozone generation, pollution control, surface treatment, high power CO2 lasers, ultraviolet excimer lamps, excimer based mercury-free fluorescent lamps, and flat large-area plasma displays. Depending on the application and the operating conditions the discharge can have pronounced filamentary structure or fairly diffuse appearance. History, discharge physics, and plasma chemistry of dielectric-barrier discharges and their applications are discussed in detail.

https://www3.nd.edu/~sst/teaching/AME60637/reading/2003_PCPP_Kogelschatz_dbd_review.pdf

Dielectric-barrier Discharges: Their History, Discharge Physics, and Industrial Applications

The 1990 National Academy of Science final report of its review of the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program recommended completion of a series of target physics objectives on the 10-beam Nova laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as the highest-priority prerequisite for proceeding with construction of an ignition-scale laser facility, now called the National Ignition Facility (NIF). These objectives were chosen to demonstrate that there was sufficient understanding of the physics of ignition targets that the laser requirements for laboratory ignition could be accurately specified. This research on Nova, as well as additional research on the Omega laser at the University of Rochester, is the subject of this review. The objectives of the U.S. indirect-drive target physics program have been to experimentally demonstrate and predictively model hohlraum characteristics, as well as capsule performance in targets that have been scaled in key physics variables from NIF targets. To address the hohlrau...

The physics basis for ignition using indirect-drive targets on the National Ignition Facility

Numerical Initial Value Problems in Ordinary Differential Equations

Particle-in-cell (PIC) methods have a long history in the study of laser-plasma interactions. Early electromagnetic codes used the Yee staggered grid for field variables combined with a leapfrog EM-field update and the Boris algorithm for particle pushing. The general properties of such schemes are well documented. Modern PIC codes tend to add to these high-order shape functions for particles, Poisson preserving field updates, collisions, ionisation, a hybrid scheme for solid density and high-field QED effects. In addition to these physics packages, the increase in computing power now allows simulations with real mass ratios, full 3D dynamics and multi-speckle interaction. This paper presents a review of the core algorithms used in current laser-plasma specific PIC codes. Also reported are estimates of self-heating rates, convergence of collisional routines and test of ionisation models which are not readily available elsewhere. Having reviewed the status of PIC algorithms we present a summary of recent applications of such codes in laser-plasma physics, concentrating on SRS, short-pulse laser-solid interactions, fast-electron transport, and QED effects.

/pdf/contemporary-particle-in-cell-approach-to-laser-plasma-1hb69lir4e.pdf

Contemporary particle-in-cell approach to laser-plasma modelling

Many-particle charged-particle plasma simulations using spatial meshes for the electromagnetic field solutions, particle-in-cell (PIC) merged with Monte Carlo collision (MCC) calculations, are coming into wide use for application to partially ionized gases. The author emphasizes the development of PIC computer experiments since the 1950s starting with one-dimensional (1-D) charged-sheet models, the addition of the mesh, and fast direct Poisson equation solvers for 2-D and 3-D. Details are provided for adding the collisions between the charged particles and neutral atoms. The result is many-particle simulations with many of the features met in low-temperature collision plasmas; for example, with applications to plasma-assisted materials processing, but also related to warmer plasmas at the edges of magnetized fusion plasmas. >

Particle-in-cell charged-particle simulations, plus Monte Carlo collisions with neutral atoms, PIC-MCC

PART 1: PRIMER Why attempting to do plasma physics via computer simulation using particles makes good sense Overall view of a one dimensional electrostatic program A one dimensional electrostatic program ES1 Introduction to the numerical methods used Projects for ES1 A 1d electromagnetic program EM1 Projects for EM1 PART 2: THEORY Effects of the spatial grid Effects of the finitw time ste Energy-conserving simulation models Multipole models Kinetic theory for fluctuations and noise collisions Kinetic properties: theory, experience and heuristic estimates PART 3: PRACTICE Electrostatic programs in two and three dimensions Electromagnetic programs in two and three dimensions Particle loading, injection boudary conditions and external circuit PART 4: APPENDICES

Plasma physics via computer simulation

Particle-in-Cell Charged Particle Simulations, plus Monte Carlo Collisions with Neutral Atoms, PIC-MCC

Simultaneous potential and circuit solution for 1D bounded plasma particle simulation codes

We present a review and analysis of ion energy distributions (IED) arriving at the target of a radio frequency (rf) discharge. We mainly discuss the collisionless regime, which is of great interest to experimentalists and modellers studying high-density discharges in which the sheath is much thinner than in conventional reactive ion etching systems. We assess what has been done so far and determine what factors influence the shape of the IEDs. We also briefly discuss collisional effects on the IEDs. Having determined the important parameters, we perform some particle-in-cell simulations of a collisionless current-driven rf sheath which show that ion modulations in an rf sheath significantly affect the IEDs when ion/rf<1, where ion is the ion transit time and rf is the rf period.

/pdf/ion-energy-distributions-in-rf-sheaths-review-analysis-and-4nkqqdneay.pdf

Charles K. Birdsall

Papers

Plasma physics via computer simulation

Particle-in-cell charged-particle simulations, plus Monte Carlo collisions with neutral atoms, PIC-MCC

Particle-in-Cell Charged Particle Simulations, plus Monte Carlo Collisions with Neutral Atoms, PIC-MCC

Simultaneous potential and circuit solution for 1D bounded plasma particle simulation codes

Ion energy distributions in rf sheaths; review, analysis and simulation