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Achieving entire large scale kinetic modelling is a crucial task for the development and optimization of modern plasma devices. With the trend of decreasing pressure in applications such as plasma etching, kinetic simulations are necessary to self-consistently capture the particle dynamics. The standard, explicit, electrostatic, momentum-conserving Particle-In-Cell method suffers from tight stability constraints to resolve the electron plasma length (i.e. Debye length) and time scales (i.e. plasma period). This results in very high computational cost, making this technique generally prohibitive for the large volume entire device modeling (EDM). We explore the Direct Implicit algorithm and the explicit Energy Conserving algorithm as alternatives to the standard approach, which can reduce computational cost with minimal (or controllable) impact on results. These algorithms are implemented into the well-tested EDIPIC-2D and LTP-PIC codes, and their performance is evaluated by testing on a 2D capacitively coupled plasma discharge scenario. The investigation revels that both approaches enable the utilization of cell sizes larger than the Debye length, resulting in reduced runtime, while incurring only a minor compromise in accuracy. The methods also allow for time steps larger than the electron plasma period, however this can lead to numerical heating or cooling. The study further demonstrates that by appropriately adjusting the ratio of cell size to time step, it is possible to mitigate this effect to acceptable level.

We study electron heating in collisionless current-driven turbulence due to the nonlinear interactions between electron- and ion-acoustic waves. PIC simulation results show that due to a large difference between the electron and ion mean velocities the Buneman instability excites large-amplitude ion-acoustic waves, which strongly modifies the electron velocity distribution function, leading to a secondary instability that generates fast electron-acoustic waves; and in this process, a giant electron hole is ultimately created. This giant electron hole is responsible for strong electron heating due to phase mixing. The numerical simulation results are consistent with the previous observations and provide insight into the key processes responsible for electron heating and the generation of nonlinear waves in a collisionless current-driven instability.

This paper provides perspectives on recent progress in the understanding of the physics of devices where the external magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to the discharge current. This configuration generates a strong electric field, which acts to accelerates ions. The many applications of this set up include generation of thrust for spacecraft propulsion and the separation of species in plasma mass separation devices. These ExB plasmas are subject to plasma-wall interaction effects as well as various micro and macro instabilities, and in many devices, we observe the emergence of anomalous transport. This perspective presents the current understanding of the physics of these phenomena, state-of-the-art computational results, identifies critical questions, and suggests directions for future research, Comment: 59 pages, 25 Figures, submitted to Physics of Plasmas

An analytical model has been developed to map out the low-pressure (left-hand) branch of the Paschen curve at very high voltage when electrons are in the runaway regime and charge exchange/ionization avalanche by ions and fast neutral atoms becomes important. The model has been applied to helium gas between parallel-plate electrodes, at potentials ranging in magnitude between 10 and 1000 kilovolt. The respective value of reduced electric field E/n varies in the range of 50-6000kTd, with reduced density nd (where n is the gas density and d is the inter-electrode distance) on the order of 10^20 m^-2. For fast neutral atoms produced via charge exchange, the following interactions prove essential to understanding the breakdown mechanism: contribution to impact ionization, strongly anisotropic scattering in collisions with background atoms,and backscattering (of both atoms and ions, which become neutralized) from the cathode. Three regimes of the breakdown have been identified according to relative share of impact ionization by electrons, by ions, and by fast neutrals. In the fast-neutral regime of particular interest here, the ionization avalanche is directed from anode towards cathode. It is initiated by the fast neutral beam backscattered from the cathode, and charge multiplication occurs through multiple successive cycles of ionization and charge exchange. Further, the double-valued shape of the Paschen curve with a branch point near 200 kV is found to be due to heavy species undergoing a transition to runaway regime. The analytical Paschen curve is compared to those obtained with a detailed Particle-In-Cell/Monte Carlo (PIC/MCC) simulation, and also to experimental measurements. The model provides accurate predictions for E/n up to ~ 1000 kTd, constrained by availability and quality of required input data., Comment: 30 pages,14 figures