Simulation of the Plasma Afterglow in the Discharge Gap of a Subnanosecond Switch Based on an Open Discharge in Helium

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Simulation of the Plasma Afterglow in the Discharge Gap of a Subnanosecond Switch Based on an Open Discharge in Helium
المؤلفون: A. L. Alexandrov, Irina Schweigert
المصدر: Plasma Physics Reports. 44:477-483
بيانات النشر: Pleiades Publishing Ltd, 2018.
سنة النشر: 2018
مصطلحات موضوعية: 010302 applied physics, Materials science, Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous), Electrical breakdown, chemistry.chemical_element, Plasma, Plasma afterglow, Electron, Condensed Matter Physics, 01 natural sciences, 010305 fluids & plasmas, Afterglow, Ion, chemistry, Physics::Plasma Physics, Torr, 0103 physical sciences, Atomic physics, Helium
الوصف: The phenomenon of subnanosecond electrical breakdown in a strong electric field observed in an open discharge in helium at pressures of 6–20 Torr can be used to create ultrafast plasma switches triggering into a conducting state for a time shorter than 1 ns. To evaluate the possible repetition rate of such a subnanosecond switch, it is interesting to study the decay dynamics of the plasma remaining in the discharge gap after ultrafast breakdown. In this paper, a kinetic model based on the particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision method is used to study the dynamics of the plasma afterglow in the discharge gap of a subnanosecond switch operating with helium at a pressure of 6 Torr. The simulation results show that the radiative, collisional-radiative, and three-body collision recombination mechanisms significantly contribute to the afterglow decay only while the plasma density remains higher than 1012 cm−3; the main mechanism of the further plasma decay is diffusion of plasma particles onto the wall. Therefore, the effect of recombination in the plasma bulk is observed only during the first 10–20 μs of the afterglow. Over nearly the same time, plasma electrons become thermalized. The afterglow time can be substantially reduced by applying a positive voltage Uc to the cathode. Since diffusive losses are limited by the ion mobility, the additional ion drift toward the wall significantly accelerates plasma decay. As Uc increases from 0 to +500 V, the characteristic time of plasma decay is reduced from 35 to 10 μs.
تدمد: 1562-6938
1063-780X
DOI: 10.1134/s1063780x1805001x
URL الوصول: https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::5b696d9264c5b3a8815e624e17d1854a
https://doi.org/10.1134/s1063780x1805001x
Rights: CLOSED
رقم الانضمام: edsair.doi...........5b696d9264c5b3a8815e624e17d1854a
قاعدة البيانات: OpenAIRE
الوصف
تدمد:15626938
1063780X
DOI:10.1134/s1063780x1805001x