Neutral Collisions Research Articles

Multifluid Theory of Electrostatic Ion Cyclotron Waves in Partially Ionized Plasmas

Partially ionized plasmas universally exist in various astrophysical environments, such as the solar atmosphere and the E region of the ionosphere. In these contexts, the existence and propagation of waves in plasmas could be significantly influenced by effects of weakly ionized plasma (e.g., ion–neutral collisions). In this work, we investigate electrostatic ion cyclotron (EIC) waves in partially ionized plasmas based on the multifluid model with adiabatic electrons. Two distinct branches of EIC waves coexist in partially ionized plasmas: one branch is the conventional EIC waves; the other branch propagates around the “effective ion cyclotron frequency” which originates from self-consistent ion–neutral collisions. Furthermore, theoretical predictions in the new branch of EIC waves are qualitatively consistent with laboratory observations. In addition, a comparison between our theory and the previous work is also performed. This work can aid in understanding the acceleration and transverse heating of ions in partially ionized astrophysical plasmas where the ion–neutral collisions are frequent.

A review of ion scattering spectroscopy studies at liquid interfaces with noble gas ion projectiles

Ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) is an analytical tool that provides direct structural, topographical, and atomic compositional information at interfaces when ions are used as projectiles. Since its development in 1967, ISS is commonly used to obtain quantitative information about solid interfaces. Over the last couple of decades, ISS has emerged as an important technique to probe liquid interfaces and their studies employing ISS has become not uncommon, more so with Neutral impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy (NICISS). Therefore, here the principle of ISS with a particular focus on NICISS and its data evaluation are summarised while reviewing some important studies at vapor-liquid interfaces that provide direct information for molecular orientation of liquids (including ionic liquids), composition and distribution of atoms (or solutes) and charges as a function of depth to gain vast variety of thermodynamical information. Employing ISS such information can be achieved with high depth resolution of ∼1–2 Å (depending on the nature of the experiment). These examples highlight the significance of ISS and show potential for its application for studies related to specific ion effects, atmospheric reaction in aerosol and sea water droplets, and even determining the fate of environmental pollutants like heavy metal ions and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Furthermore, some limitations of ISS are also discussed relating to investigation of high-vapor pressure liquids and probing buried interfaces like liquid-liquid interfaces while presenting progresses made in probing solid-liquid interfaces.

Characteristics of fluctuations in the equatorial and polar directions of a compact dipole plasma driven at steady state

The fluctuations in the plasma potential (Vs̃) and electron density (Nẽ) are measured in the steady-state dipole plasma confined in a spherical vacuum chamber using a single permanent dipole magnet. Measurements are made from a radial distance r = 0.5–17 cm, from the surface of the magnet in the equatorial (θ=90°) and polar (θ=180°) directions, using a 4-pin probe setup, and have been characterized by power spectra, cross-phase, cross-coherence, induced transport, and energy spectra. The fluctuations are stronger near the surface of the dipole magnet for θ=90°, thereafter their magnitude decreases gradually with the radial distance. However, a peaked profile of potential fluctuations with the peak around r = 9 cm is observed for θ=180°. The locations of strong fluctuations are around the locations of smaller values of the electron neutral collision frequency. Frequency-resolved power spectra show that the fluctuations in the dipole plasma, predominantly, belong to the very low-frequency range. The values of cross-phase (≤45°) and |Vs̃/Te|/|Nẽ/Ne|≤1 indicate the presence of drift wave instability in both planes, where Te and Ne are equilibrium values of the electron temperature and density. The radial variation of fluctuation-induced electron flux (Γr) verifies the “inward diffusion” of electrons in the equatorial plane.

A Kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic Model with Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Modeling Heliosphere Neutral-plasma Interaction

The charge exchange between the interstellar medium and the solar wind plasma is crucial for determining the structures of the heliosphere. Since both the neutral-ion and neutral–neutral collision mean free paths are either comparable to or larger than the size of the heliosphere, the neutral phase space distribution can deviate far away from the Maxwellian distribution. A kinetic description for the neutrals is crucial for accurately modeling the heliosphere. It is computationally challenging to run three-dimensional time-dependent kinetic simulations due to the large number of macroparticles. In this paper, we present the new highly efficient Solar Wind with Hydrogen Ion Exchange and Large-scale Dynamics-2 model with a kinetic model of neutrals and a magnetohydrodynamic model for the ions and electrons. To improve the simulation efficiency, we implement adaptive mesh refinement and particle splitting and merging algorithms for the neutral particles to reduce the particle number that is required for an accurate simulation. We present several tests to verify and demonstrate the capabilities of the model.

Dust–ion–acoustic damped solitary waves and shocks in laboratory and Saturn's E-ring magnetized nonthermal dusty plasmas with anisotropic ion pressure and dust-charge fluctuation

We study the oblique propagation of weakly nonlinear dust–ion–acoustic (DIA) solitary waves (SWs) and shocks in collisional magnetized nonthermal dusty plasmas that are relevant in laboratory and space (Saturn's E-ring) environments. We consider plasmas to be composed of q-nonextensive hot electrons, thermal positive ions, and immobile negatively charged dust grains immersed in a static magnetic field and take into account the effects of ion creation (source), ion loss (sink), ion–neutral and ion–dust collisions, anisotropic ion pressure, and dust-charge fluctuations on the evolution of small-amplitude SWs and shocks. The ion–neutral collision enhancement equilibrium dust-charge number is self-consistently determined using Newton–Raphson method. We found that in laboratory dusty plasmas with adiabatic dust-charge variation [i.e., when the dust charging frequency (νch) is much higher than the dust–plasma oscillation frequency (ωpd)], the DIA solitary waves (DIASWs) get damped by the effects of the ion–dust and ion–neutral collisions, whereas the ion creation and ion loss lead to the amplification of solitary waves, and they appear as only compressive types with positive potential. On the other hand, in Saturn's E-ring plasmas, where the collisional and ion creation or ion loss effects are insignificant, the non-adiabaticity of dust-charge variation can give rise to the evolution of either damped DIASWs or DIA shocks, depending on the smallness of the ratios νch/ωpd or ωpd/νch, respectively. Furthermore, two critical values of the nonextensive parameter q exist, below (or above) which, the DIASWs and shocks can appear as rarefactive (or compressive) types. The characteristics of DIASWs and shocks are also analyzed numerically for parameters relevant to the laboratory and Saturn's E-ring plasmas.

Influence of electrons on granulation-generated solar chromosphere heating and plasma outflows

Context. It is known that the solar atmosphere exhibits a varying degree of ionization through its different layers. The ionization degree directly depends on plasma temperature, that is, the lower the temperature, the lower the ionization degree. As a result, the plasma in the lower atmospheric layers (the photosphere and the chromosphere) is only partially ionized, which motivates the use of a three-fluid model. Aims. We consider, for the first time, the influence of electrons on granulation-generated solar chromosphere heating and plasma outflows. We attempt to detect variations in the ion temperature and plasma up- and downflows. Methods. We performed 2.5D numerical simulations of the generation and evolution of granulation-generated waves, flows, and other granulation-associated phenomena with an adapted JOANNA code. This code solves the simplified three-fluid equations for ions (protons) and electrons and neutrals (hydrogen atoms) that are coupled by collision forces. Results. Electron-neutral and electron–ion collisions provide extra heat in the low chromosphere and enhance plasma outflows in this region. The effect of electrons is small compared to ion–neutral collisions, which have a significantly greater effect on the heating process and the production of outflows. Ion–neutral collisions involve higher energy exchanges, making them the dominant mechanism over collisions with electrons. Conclusions. Electrons do not play a major role in heating and producing outflows, primarily because their mass is much lower compared to that of neutrals and ions, resulting in lower energy transfer during collisions.

Landau quantization effects on damping Kawahara solitons in electron–positron–ion plasma in rotating ionized medium

For the dynamics of three-dimensional electron–positron–ion plasmas, a fluid quantum hydrodynamic model is proposed by considering Landau quantization effects in dense plasma. Ion–neutral collisions in the presence of the Coriolis force are also considered. The application of the reductive perturbation technique produces a wave evolution equation represented by a damped Korteweg–de Vries equation. This equation, however, is insufficient for describing waves in our system at very low dispersion coefficients. As a result, we considered the highest-order perturbation, which resulted in the damped Kawahara equation. The effects of the magnetic field, Landau quantization, the ratio of positron density to electron density, the ratio of positron density to ion density, and the direction cosine on linear dispersion laws as well as soliton and conoidal solutions of the damped Kawahara equation are explored. The understanding from this research can contribute to the broader field of astrophysics and aid in the interpretation of observational data from white dwarfs.

Determining the stopping power of low kinetic energy Ne+ projectiles in self-Assembled monolayers

Neutral impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy (NICISS) is used to measure the energy loss in organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au using Ne+ with low kinetic energies from 3 to 5 keV. With increasing film thickness, the energy loss of the projectiles increases because the projectile experiences more collisions with target atoms.Through comparing Monte-Carlo simulations with the NICISS experiments, it was found that contributions from nuclear stopping for Ne+ were significantly larger than for He+ mainly due to the stronger contribution of small-angle scattering of Ne+ making Ne NICISS unsuitable for depth profiling at energies of 5 keV or lower. The measured Ne+ electronic stopping in SAMs is small despite the large atomic number of Ne. Comparing experiments and DFT calculations shows that the latter accurately reproduce stopping powers for Ne+, while SRIM overestimates the stopping power. This contrasts He+ ions, where DFT and SRIM align closely with experiments.

A simple numerical simulation model can elucidate the key factors for designing a miniaturized ion trap mass spectrometer

BackgroundMiniature ion trap mass spectrometer enables mass-to-charge ratio analysis of ions via quadrupole field in a low vacuum environment. It plays an important role in on-site detection due to its portability and specificity. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the analysis mechanism of miniature ion trap mass spectrometers, a quadrupole MS ion trajectory numerical simulation model (QITNS) is established in this paper for ions trajectory calculation under the action of quadrupole field, exciting field and neutral gas molecule collision. Compared with the existing methods, the model in this paper is simpler and more direct, which effectively explored the effects of dipole excitation and quadrupole excitation on ion manipulation under high background pressure. ResultsThe simulation results demonstrate that high RF amplitude, low auxiliary AC amplitude and quadrupole excitation can effectively improve the isolation resolution. Besides, it clarified the difference between the analysis mechanism of ion trap mass spectrometers under high background pressure (above 13.332 Pa) and absolute vacuum conditions. The relevant results are consistent with the conclusions of previous experiments and other theories, proving the applicability and accuracy of the proposed calculation model and solution method. SignificanceThis research bears the guiding significance for further understanding the mechanism of quadrupole mass spectrometry as well as designing and developing miniature mass spectrometers.

Impacts of neutral collisions and finite electron inertia on longitudinal thermal instability of two-component radiative plasma for star formation in interstellar medium (ISM)

The impact of neutral friction, finite electron inertia and radiative heat-loss function on the thermal instability of viscous two-component plasma has been explored, integrating the impacts of thermal conductivity. A general dispersion relation is gained by means of the normal mode analysis scheme with the assist of appropriate linearized perturbation equations of the problem, and an amended circumstance of thermal instability is acquired. For the case of longitudinal propagation, it is obvious that the circumstance of thermal instability is independent of the finite electron inertia, magnetic field strength and viscosity of two components but relies on the radiative heat-loss function, thermal conductivity and neutral particle. From the curves, it is clear that the temperature-dependent heat-loss function, thermal conductivity and viscosity of two components represent stabilizing impact, while finite electron inertia and neutral collision depict destabilizing impact. Results discussed in this problem are helpful for star formation in ISM.

Existence of Electrostatic Ion Cyclotron Waves in a Laboratory Created E Region Ionospheric‐Like Plasma

AbstractMolecular ions are relatively cold in the E region ionosphere; however, they can upwell to the magnetosphere during geomagnetically active times. Resonance between electrostatic ion cyclotron (EIC) waves is a potential pathway to energize molecular ions. In this work, the E region ionospheric plasma was modeled in the laboratory, and EIC waves were excited by a nonuniform field‐aligned current. The EIC wave was excited even when the ion neutral collision frequency is much higher than the ion cyclotron frequency, and the fundamental frequency was observed to be below the ion cyclotron frequency. In addition, the wave dispersion of the collisional EIC wave was calculated, which shows a consistent trend with experimental results as the collisions increasing. Therefore, this work suggests that EIC waves can be excited in the E region ionospheric‐like plasma, which can support the explanation of the energization of molecular ions in the E region ionosphere.

Verification of a Monte Carlo binary collision model for simulating elastic and inelastic collisions in particle-in-cell simulations

We present the development and verification of a Monte Carlo binary collision model for simulating elastic and inelastic collisions in particle-in-cell simulations. We apply the corrected binary collision model originally developed for charged-particles collisions to all considered scattering channels, including Coulomb collisions, elastic neutral–neutral and charged–neutral collisions, ionization, excitation, and fusion. The model's implementation is described and verified through a series of simulations, including charged- and neutral-particle thermal equilibration, slowing of electrons in warm solid-density aluminum, collisional damping of a Langmuir wave, helium gas breakdown in an applied electric field, and thermonuclear and beam–target fusion. Then, we demonstrate the model within simulations of hydrogen plasma formation in the Princeton Field-Reversed Configuration as well as of the burning of aneutronic fusion fuel p-11B. The latter includes measurement of the fusion power density in a low-density plasma and fusion production due to the stopping of a proton ignitor beam in a compressed boron target.

Native Mass Spectrometry Dissects the Structural Dynamics of an Allosteric Heterodimer of SARS-CoV-2 Nonstructural Proteins.

Structure-based drug design, which relies on precise understanding of the target protein and its interaction with the drug candidate, is dramatically expedited by advances in computational methods for candidate prediction. Yet, the accuracy needs to be improved with more structural data from high throughput experiments, which are challenging to generate, especially for dynamic and weak associations. Herein, we applied native mass spectrometry (native MS) to rapidly characterize ligand binding of an allosteric heterodimeric complex of SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural proteins (nsp) nsp10 and nsp16 (nsp10/16), a complex essential for virus survival in the host and thus a desirable drug target. Native MS showed that the dimer is in equilibrium with monomeric states in solution. Consistent with the literature, well characterized small cosubstrate, RNA substrate, and product bind with high specificity and affinity to the dimer but not the free monomers. Unsuccessfully designed ligands bind indiscriminately to all forms. Using neutral gas collision, the nsp16 monomer with bound cosubstrate can be released from the holo dimer complex, confirming the binding to nsp16 as revealed by the crystal structure. However, we observed an unusual migration of the endogenous zinc ions bound to nsp10 to nsp16 after collisional dissociation. The metal migration can be suppressed by using surface collision with reduced precursor charge states, which presumably resulted in minimal gas-phase structural rearrangement and highlighted the importance of complementary techniques. With minimal sample input (∼μg), native MS can rapidly detect ligand binding affinities and locations in dynamic multisubunit protein complexes, demonstrating the potential of an "all-in-one" native MS assay for rapid structural profiling of protein-to-AI-based compound systems to expedite drug discovery.

Experimental quantification of ion flux reduction at the sheath edge due to ion–neutral collisions in low temperature plasmas

Reduction of the ion flux at the sheath edge due to ion–neutral collisions in low temperature DC plasmas is experimentally quantified for low to intermediate neutral gas pressures (<102 mTorr). The reduction factor is defined as a ratio of the ion flux at the sheath edge in a collisional plasma to that in a collisionless limit in this work. Its quantification as a function of the collisionality with a Langmuir probe has been hindered since the measured data contain two intermingled effects, namely, the flux reduction and the sheath expansion, which are difficult to isolate one from the other. The sheath expansion effect with and without the flux reduction effect are analyzed, and by comparing the two, the reduction factor as a function of the collisionality has been estimated with Langmuir probe data from approximately 1000 systematic scans of the plasma conditions. Neutral gas pressures ranging from 0.2–30.0 mTorr for Ar and 1.0–65.0 mTorr for He discharges are generated in a multidipole chamber with hot filaments. The estimated reduction factors are found to agree with the results from the particle-in-cell simulations for He discharges [Beving et al., Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 31, 084009 (2022)]. The estimated reduction factors for Ar discharges are larger than those for He discharges, and the dependence of the reduction factor on species is discussed. Reduction of the ion flux at the sheath edge at intermediate gas pressures highlights the importance of taking into account ion–neutral collisions in many plasma applications.

Simulation of dynamics of rotating weakly ionized plasmas

In this paper, we present a simulation study on the generation of rotating gas in a cylindrical chamber, which contains weakly ionized gas with charge to neutral density ratio (10−6−10−3). In this chamber, a radial current component of current density, Jr, is driven by an external electric potential difference between the inner and the outer radial boundaries, and a static magnetic field B0 is imposed in the axial direction. The charged particles are accelerated in the azimuthal direction by the Lorentz force Jr×B0. The neutrals then gain an azimuthal acceleration through ion–neutral collisions. The centrifugal force increases as the azimuthal speed increases. In the simulation, a strong centrifugal acceleration of 1011 m/s2 is achieved with an azimuthal speed of 105 m/s. A density gradient is developed to balance the centrifugal force, and the density at the outer radial boundary can reach 1025−1026 m−3.

Difference spectrum fitting of the ion–neutral collision frequency from dual-frequency EISCAT measurements

Abstract. The plasma–neutral coupling in the mesosphere–lower thermosphere strongly depends on the ion–neutral collision frequency across that region. Most commonly, the collision frequency profile is calculated from the climatologies of atmospheric models. However, previous measurements indicated that the collision frequency can deviate notably from the climatological average. Direct measurement of the ion–neutral collision frequency with multifrequency incoherent scatter radar (ISR) measurements has been discussed before, though actual measurements have been rare. The previously applied multifrequency analysis method requires a special simultaneous fit of the two incoherent scatter spectra, which is not possible with standard ISR analysis software. The difference spectrum method allows us to infer ion–neutral collision frequency profiles from multifrequency ISR measurements based on standard incoherent scatter analysis software, such as the Grand Unified Incoherent Scatter Design and Analysis Package (GUISDAP) software. In this work, we present the first results by applying the difference spectrum method. Ion–neutral collision frequency profiles obtained from several multifrequency EISCAT ISR campaigns are presented. The profiles obtained with the difference spectrum method are compared to previous collision frequency measurements, both from multifrequency ISR and other measurements, as well as results from empirical and comprehensive atmosphere models. Ion–neutral collision frequency measurements can be applied to improve first-principle ionospheric models.

Guiding-centre orbit-following simulations of charge exchange loss of NBI ions with the finite Larmor radius effect

Guiding-centre orbit-following simulations of the charge exchange (CX) loss of neutral beam injection (NBI) ions are presented. The finite Larmor radius (FLR) effect in the fast ion–neutral collision can be included in guiding-centre orbit-following simulations by using the gyroaverage method. It is proved that the neutralization probability of fast ions computed by using the gyroaverage method in the guiding-centre orbit simulation is roughly the same as that computed in the full-orbit simulation when the time step in the guiding-centre simulation is the order of the gyroperiod. The CX losses of NBI fast ions for two NBIs in the EAST tokamak have been simulated by the guiding-centre orbit-following code GYCAVA, and the FLR effect in the fast ion–neutral collision on CX losses has been numerically studied. The CX effect of the fast ion–neutral collision can significantly enhance NBI ion losses on EAST. The FLR effect in the fast ion–neutral collision can enhance the CX loss. Vertical asymmetry of localized heat loads induced by CX losses is found, which is related to the FLR effect of fast ions and the strong radial gradient of the neutral density near the plasma edge. Heat loads induced by CX losses are localized in the regions near the poloidal angle $\theta =-60^\circ$ , because the likelihood of exchanging charge is the largest at gyrophase $\xi ={\rm \pi}$ , and this leads to fast downwards moving neutrals. Fast ion loss fractions induced by CX increase with the neutral density increasing.

Scattering and enhancement of electromagnetic waves energy by coaxial plasma cylinders

The scattering of plane electromagnetic waves by three configurations of coaxial plasma cylinders is investigated in perpendicular incidence.‏ The results show that the electromagnetic energy enhancement and redistribution of energy are significantly affected by plasma frequency, electron neutral collision frequency, incident wave frequency, and the configuration of coaxial plasma cylinders. With increasing the collision frequency at fixed plasma frequency and incident wave frequency, the maximum relative energy density of the focal spot increases, and with a further increase in the collision frequency, the maximum relative energy density of the focal spot reaches some maximum value and begins to decrease. Furthermore, for fixed values of collision and plasma frequencies, at incident frequencies where the focal length is large, the maximum relative energy density is small. One main result obtained in this research indicates that the energy enhancement at the focal spot for TM polarization scattering is more than for TE mode. The results of this paper may be used for applications related to the redistribution and enhancement of electromagnetic energy.

Electron-field instability: Excitation of electron plasma waves by an electric field

Electric fields are commonplace in plasmas and affect transport by driving currents and, in some cases, instabilities. The necessary condition for instability in collisionless plasmas is commonly understood to be described by the Penrose criterion, which quantifies a sufficient relative drift between different populations of particles that must be present for wave amplification via inverse Landau damping. For example, electric fields generate drifts between electrons and ions that can excite the ion-acoustic instability. Here, we use particle-in-cell simulations and linear stability analysis to show that the electric field can drive a fundamentally different type of kinetic instability, named the electron-field instability. This instability excites electron plasma waves with wavelengths ≳30λDe, has a growth rate that is proportional to the electric field strength, and does not require a relative drift between electrons and ions. The Penrose criterion does not apply when accounting for the electric field. The large value of the observed frequency, near the electron plasma frequency, further distinguishes it from the standard ion-acoustic instability, which oscillates near the ion plasma frequency. The ubiquity of macroscopic electric fields in quasineutral plasmas suggests that this instability is possible in a host of systems, including low-temperature and space plasmas. In fact, damping from neutral collisions in such systems is often not enough to completely damp the instability, adding to the robustness of the instability across plasma conditions.

Effect of neutral interactions on parallel transport and blob dynamics in gyrokinetic scrape-off layer simulations

The effect of neutral interactions on scrape-off layer (SOL) turbulence is investigated in a continuum gyrokinetic code that has been coupled to a continuum kinetic model of neutral transport. This extends the work of a previous paper [T. N. Bernard et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 052501 (2022)], which compared two NSTX SOL simulations in simple helical geometry, one with neutrals and one without. The former included electron-impact ionization, charge exchange, and wall recycling. Here, the case with neutrals is compared to a gyrokinetic-only simulation that includes an effective ionization source to separate the effect of sourcing from charge exchange collisions. It is observed that sourcing accounts for many features of the simulated SOL with neutrals, including density and temperature magnitudes and reduced normalized density fluctuations, but differences persist. In particular, a flatter density profile results due to changes in parallel transport when neutral collisions are included, illustrating the importance of neutral drag on global plasma properties. An analysis of coherent turbulent structures, or blobs, in these simulations demonstrates the case with neutrals has slower and larger blobs. A series of seeded blob simulations corroborates the blob velocity observation. In general, the blob motion does not contribute significantly to radial transport in these simulations.