Computation of electron transport and relaxation properties in gases based on improved multi-term approximation of Boltzmann equation

Abstract

An understanding of electron kinetics is of importance in various applications of low temperature plasmas. We employ a series of model and real gases to investigate electron transport and relaxation properties based on improved multi-term approximation of the Boltzmann equation. First, a comparison of different methods to calculate the interaction integrals has been carried out; the effects of free parameters, such as vmax, lmax, and the arbitrary temperature Tb, on the convergence of electron transport coefficients are analyzed. Then, the modified attachment model of Ness et al. and SF6 are considered to investigate the effect of attachment on the electron transport properties. The deficiency of the pulsed Townsend technique to measure the electron transport and reaction coefficients in electronegative gases is highlighted when the reduced electric field is small. In order to investigate the effect of external magnetic field on the electron transport properties, Ar plasmas in high power impulse sputtering devices are considered. In the end, the electron relaxation properties of the Reid model under the influence of electric and magnetic fields are demonstrated.