Revisiting the numerical stability/accuracy conditions of explicit PIC/MCC simulations of low-temperature gas discharges

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the stability and accuracy conditions of explicit PIC/MCC simulations for low-temperature gas discharges, focusing on how various parameters influence simulation outcomes in different discharge scenarios.

Contribution

It provides a detailed assessment of how simulation parameters affect the stability and accuracy of PIC/MCC models in low-temperature plasma simulations.

Findings

Simulation parameters significantly influence plasma density and electron energy distribution.

Optimal parameter choices improve simulation stability and accuracy.

Different discharge conditions require tailored parameter settings.

Abstract

Particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collisions (PIC/MCC) is a fully kinetic, particle based numerical simulation method with increasing popularity in the field of low temperature gas discharge physics. Already in its simplest form (electrostatic, one-dimensional geometry, and explicit time integration), it can properly describe a wide variety of complex, non-local, non-linear phenomena in electrical gas discharges at the microscopic level with high accuracy. However, being a numerical model working with discretized temporal and (partially) spatial coordinates, its stable and accurate operation largely depends on the choice of several model parameters. Starting from four selected base cases of capacitively coupled, radio frequency driven argon discharges, representing low and intermediate pressure and voltage situations, we discuss the effect of the variation of a set of simulation parameters on the plasma density distribution and the electron energy probability function. The simulation parameters include the temporal and spatial resolution, the PIC superparticle weight factor, as well as the electron reflection and the ion-induced electron emission coefficients, characterizing plasma-surface interactions.