Solving the Boltzmann equation in a 2-D-configuration and 2-D-velocity space for capacitively coupled RF discharges

Abstract

A new kinetic scheme, the generalized Monte Carlo flux (GMCF) method, provides the electron particle distribution function in phase space, f(/spl nu/, /spl mu/, r, z, t) (/spl nu/: speed, /spl mu/: velocity angle, r: radial position, z: axial position, and t: time), for solving the Boltzmann equation in modeling capacitively coupled RP discharges. For a simulation with spatial- and temporal-varying fields in RF discharges, the GMCF method handles the collision terms of the Boltzmann equation by using one transition matrix to compute the collision transition between velocity space cells. An anti-diffusion flux transport scheme is developed to overcome the numerical diffusion in the velocity and configuration spaces. The major advantages of the GMCF method are the increase in resolution in the tail of distribution functions and the decrease of computation time. The GMCF calculation results in terms of microscopic electron distribution function and macroscopic quantities of density, electric field and ionization rate, are presented for RF discharges and compared with other kinetic and fluid simulation and experimental results. The effects of the induced radial electric field in the sheath close to the radial wall in a cylindrically symmetric parallel-plate geometry are discussed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>