Simulation Study of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Discharge in the Radome Conformal Cavity

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the influence of external discharge conditions on plasma parameters in the plasma discharge chamber of the radome configuration. We designed a conformal cavity and then used the multiphysics simulation software COMSOL to establish a 2-D axisymmetric model for discharge simulation research. In the study, we found that the changes in coil power and pressure have a noticeable effect on the distribution of plasma parameters. First, the maximum electron density, electric potential, and electron temperature are obtained by changing the power of the coil in a certain pressure argon environment. Then, under the condition of constant coil power, the discharge characteristics of plasma are studied by changing the gas pressure in the cavity. The results show that the change of coil power has a significant impact on the parameter distribution of plasma discharge. The greater the coil power, the greater the electron density, and the more concentrated the distribution. At the same time, the potential induced in the heating zone and the corresponding electron temperature decreased after the reaction stabilized. The increase of gas pressure significantly increases the peak value of electron density and changes the parameter distribution of discharge. However, when the argon pressure exceeds a certain threshold, it will no longer have a significant effect on the distribution of discharge parameters. The general conclusion is that the increase of power and argon pressure plays an essential role in improving the electron density distribution. This conclusion has guiding significance for exploring the law of plasma parameter distribution on electromagnetic scattering characteristics.