Modeling the physics of an electron-beam generated plasma through a rigid-beam approximation
DOI: 10.1063/10.0006380
Modeling the physics of an electron-beam generated plasma through a rigid-beam approximation lead image
An electrically conductive plasma generated in the presence of an intense electron beam is a complex phenomenon. While diagnostics are available to measure properties of the plasma, predicting these properties has proven challenging due to reactions which occur during the generation process.
Richardson et al developed a simplified model that predicts and supports the experimental results observed during the electrical breakdown of a low-pressure gas through the injection of an intense electron beam.
The model provides a means for investigating the plasma response, where system parameters are changed or as different plasma approximations are made. The rigid-beam equations, coupled with plasma responses, are solved through a code written using the turboPy framework, which enables rapid numerical exploration of variations, such as pressure and electron beam current density.
“Using this framework allows us to quickly build new models or test different approximations to see how they affect our predictions of the properties of the plasma,” said author Andrew Stephen (Steve) Richardson, from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. “This allows us to spend more time on the physics we are trying to study and less time programming.”
Future work implementing and extending this model will enable investigations into a broad range of plasma processes including electron-ion collisions, de-excitation processes, and state-to-state transitions.
“The model that we used will also form the basis for additional research and allow us to systematically build our understanding of the physics for a wider range of system parameters,” said Richardson.
Source: “Modeling intense-electron-beam generated plasmas using a rigid-beam approximation,” by A. S. Richardson, S. B. Swanekamp, N. D. Isner, D. D. Hinshelwood, D. Mosher, P. E. Adamson, I. M. Rittersdorf, Tz. B. Petrova, and D. J. Watkins, Physics of Plasma (2021). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0058006 .
This paper is part of the Special Collection: Papers from the 62nd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics. More papers can be found at https://aip.scitation.org/toc/php/collection/10.1063/php.2021.DPP62.issue-1 .
