No Arabic abstract
The paper provides a tutorial to the conceptual layout of a self-consistently coupled Particle-In-Cell/Test-Particle model for the kinetic simulation of sputtering transport in capacitively coupled plasmas at low gas pressures. It explains when a kinetic approach is actually needed and which numerical concepts allow for the inherent nonequilibrium behavior of the charged and neutral particles. At the example of a generic sputtering discharge both the fundamentals of the applied Monte Carlo methods as well as the conceptual details in the context of the sputtering scenario are elaborated on. Finally, two in the context of sputtering transport simulations often exploited assumptions, namely on the energy distribution of impinging ions as well as on the test particle approach, are validated for the proposed example discharge.
In recent years, several gauge-symmetric particle-in-cell (PIC) methods have been developed whose simulations of particles and electromagnetic fields exactly conserve charge. While it is rightly observed that these methods gauge symmetry gives rise to their charge conservation, this causal relationship has generally been asserted via ad hoc derivations of the associated conservation laws. In this work, we develop a comprehensive theoretical grounding for charge conservation in gauge-symmetric Lagrangian and Hamiltonian PIC algorithms. For Lagrangian variational PIC methods, we apply Noethers second theorem to demonstrate that gauge symmetry gives rise to a local charge conservation law as an off-shell identity. For Hamiltonian splitting methods, we show that the momentum map establishes their charge conservation laws. We define a new class of algorithms -- gauge-compatible splitting methods -- that exactly preserve the momentum map associated with a Hamiltonian systems gauge symmetry -- even after time discretization. This class of algorithms affords splitting schemes a decided advantage over alternative Hamiltonian integrators. We apply this general technique to design a novel, explicit, symplectic, gauge-compatible splitting PIC method, whose momentum map yields an exact local charge conservation law. Our study clarifies the appropriate initial conditions for such schemes and examines their symplectic reduction.
We construct a particle integrator for nonrelativistic particles by means of the splitting method based on the exact flow of the equation of motion of particles in the presence of constant electric and magnetic field. This integrator is volume-preserving similar to the standard Boris integrator and is suitable for long-term integrations in particle-in-cell simulations. Numerical tests reveal that it is significantly more accurate than previous volume-preserving integrators with second-order accuracy. For example, in the $E times B$ drift test, this integrator is more accurate than the Boris integrator and the integrator based on the exact solution of gyro motion by three and two orders of magnitude, respectively. In addition, we derive approximate integrators that incur low computational cost and high-precision integrators displaying fourth- to tenth-order accuracy with the aid of the composition method. These integrators are also volume-preserving. It is also demonstrated that the Boris integrator is equivalent to the simplest case of the approximate integrators derived in this study.
The interaction of two lasers with a difference frequency near that of the ambient plasma frequency produces beat waves that can resonantly accelerate thermal electrons. These beat waves can be used to drive electron current and thereby embed magnetic fields into the plasma [D. R. Welch et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 225002 (2012)]. In this paper, we present two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the beat-wave current-drive process over a wide range of angles between the injected lasers, laser intensities, and plasma densities. We discuss the application of this technique to the magnetization of dense plasmas, motivated in particular by the problem of forming high-beta plasma targets in a standoff manner for magneto-inertial fusion. The feasibility of a near-term experiment embedding magnetic fields using lasers with micron-scale wavelengths into a $sim 10^{18}$-cm$^{-3}$-density plasma is assessed.
Radio frequency (RF) waves can provide heating, current and flow drive, as well as instability control for steady state operations of fusion experiments. A particle simulation model has been developed in this work to provide a first-principles tool for studying the RF nonlinear interactions with plasmas. In this model, ions are considered as fully kinetic particles using the Vlasov equation and electrons are treated as guiding centers using the drift kinetic equation. This model has been implemented in a global gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) using real electron-to-ion mass ratio. To verify the model, linear simulations of ion plasma oscillation, ion Bernstein wave, and lower hybrid wave are carried out in cylindrical geometry and found to agree well with analytic predictions.
The propagation of intense laser pulses and the generation of high energy electrons from the underdense plasmas are investigated using two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When the ratio of the laser power and a critical power of relativistic self-focusing is the optimal value, it propagates stably and electrons have maximum energies.