Plasma Phenomena Research Articles

Hierarchical modeling of plasma and transport phenomena in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor

A novel dual-time hierarchical approach is developed to link the plasma process to macroscopic transport phenomena in the interior of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor that has been used for soil remediation (Aggelopoulos et al 2016 Chem. Eng. J. 301 353–61). The generation of active species by plasma reactions is simulated at the microseconds (µs) timescale, whereas convection and thermal conduction are simulated at the macroscopic (minutes) timescale. This hierarchical model is implemented in order to investigate the influence of the plasma DBD process on the transport and reaction mechanisms during remediation of polluted soil. In the microscopic model, the variables of interest include the plasma-induced reactive concentrations, while in the macroscopic approach, the temperature distribution, and the velocity field both inside the discharge gap and within the polluted soil material as well. For the latter model, the Navier–Stokes and Darcy Brinkman equations for the transport phenomena in the porous domain are solved numerically using a FEM software. The effective medium theory is employed to provide estimates of the effective time-evolving and three-phase transport properties in the soil sample. Model predictions considering the temporal evolution of the plasma remediation process are presented and compared with corresponding experimental data.

A new hybrid code (CHIEF) implementing the inertial electron fluid equation without approximation

We present a new hybrid algorithm implemented in the code CHIEF ( Code Hybrid with Inertial Electron Fluid) for simulations of electron–ion plasmas. The algorithm treats the ions kinetically, modeled by the Particle-in-Cell (PiC) method, and electrons as an inertial fluid, modeled by electron fluid equations without any of the approximations used in most of the other hybrid codes with an inertial electron fluid. This kind of code is appropriate to model a large variety of quasineutral plasma phenomena where the electron inertia and/or ion kinetic effects are relevant. We present here the governing equations of the model, how these are discretized and implemented numerically, as well as six test problems to validate our numerical approach. Our chosen test problems, where the electron inertia and ion kinetic effects play the essential role, are: 0) Excitation of parallel eigenmodes to check numerical convergence and stability, 1) parallel (to a background magnetic field) propagating electromagnetic waves, 2) perpendicular propagating electrostatic waves (ion Bernstein modes), 3) ion beam right-hand instability (resonant and non-resonant), 4) ion Landau damping, 5) ion firehose instability, and 6) 2D oblique ion firehose instability. Our results reproduce successfully the predictions of linear and non-linear theory for all these problems, validating our code. All properties of this hybrid code make it ideal to study multi-scale phenomena between electron and ion scales such as collisionless shocks, magnetic reconnection and kinetic plasma turbulence in the dissipation range above the electron scales.

On determining the fraction of metastable ions produced by direct ionization

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) on metastable ions is a powerful tool in studying wave-particle interactions, velocity-space diffusion and other phenomena in plasmas under the proper conditions. However, measurements which probe particle interactions place restrictions on the metastable lifetime. Metastable states are produced both from direct ionization of neutral gas particles and ions in other electronic states, but the former metastable population will only faithfully represent processes which act on the ion dynamics in a time shorter than the metastable lifetime. A numerical simulation is performed to study the metastable lifetime effects using a Lagrangian approach for LIF. A theoretical model in determining the fraction of metastable ions produced from direct ionization is reported to provide corrections to the LIF measurements.

Effect of magnetic field on the phase transition in a dusty plasma

The formation of a self-consistent crystalline structure is a well-known phenomenon in complex plasmas. In most experiments, the pressure and rf power are the main controlling parameters in determining the phase of the system. We have studied the effect of the externally applied magnetic field on the configuration of plasma crystals, suspended in the sheath of a radio-frequency discharge using the Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment device. Experiments are performed at a fixed pressure and rf power where a crystalline structure is formed within a confining ring. The magnetic field is then increased from 0 to 1.28 T. We report on the breakdown of the crystalline structure with the increasing magnetic field. The magnetic field affects the dynamics of the plasma particles and first leads to a rotation of the crystal. At a higher magnetic field, there is a radial variation (shear) in the angular velocity of the moving particles which we believe to lead to the melting of the crystal. This melting is confirmed by evaluating the variation of the pair correlation function as a function of magnetic field.

On the limitations of gyrokinetics: Magnetic moment conservation

The gyrokinetic theory is a popular and efficient approach to study low-frequency phenomena in magnetized plasmas. Its applicability is rooted in the invariance of a charged particle's magnetic moment. We calculate the maximum non-conservation of this magnetic moment in various elementary combinations of electromagnetic fields. The situation is ameliorated by introducing magnetic moments that account for the drift behavior of the guiding center. Based on these results, we discuss the limitations of gyrokinetics on a quantifiable basis.

Exploring the statistics of magnetic reconnection X-points in kinetic particle-in-cell turbulence

Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous phenomenon in turbulent plasmas. It is an important part of the turbulent dynamics and heating of space and astrophysical plasmas. We examine the statistics of magnetic reconnection using a quantitative local analysis of the magnetic vector potential, previously used in magnetohydrodynamics simulations, and now employed to fully kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Different ways of reducing the particle noise for analysis purposes, including multiple smoothing techniques, are explored. We find that a Fourier filter applied at the Debye scale is an optimal choice for analyzing PIC data. Finally, we find a broader distribution of normalized reconnection rates compared to the MHD limit with rates as large as 0.5 but with an average of approximately 0.1.

Strong coupling of Alfvén and fast modes in compressible relativistic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in magnetically dominated plasmas

In this paper, we report our detailed analysis of the new strong-coupling regime between Alfv\'en and fast modes in Poynting-dominated plasma turbulence, reported in our previous work Takamoto & Lazarian (2016), which is an important effect for many relativistic plasma phenomena, and calls for new theories of Poynting-dominated MHD turbulence. We performed numerical simulations of relativistic MHD turbulence in isothermal plasmas, and analyzed the ratio of fast to Alfv\'en mode energy. We found that the increase of the fast mode with the background $\sigma$-parameter can be observed even in isothermal plasma, showing that such a phenomena is universal in trans-Alfv\'enic turbulence in Poynting-dominated plasmas. To study the detailed energy conversion process, we also performed a series of simulations of decaying turbulence injecting pure Alfv\'en, fast, and slow modes, respectively, and investigated the development of the mode conversion from the each mode. We also found that the mode conversion between Alfv\'en and fast modes is nearly insensitive to the background temperature. Finally, we report a result of a simulation with initially fast mode dominated turbulence. It developed into a temporally strong-coupling regime, which is a strong evidence for the existence of our suggesting strong-coupling regime of fast and Alfv\'en modes. Our result suggests that the strong turbulence in Poynting-dominated plasma is very different from that in the non-relativistic plasma. It will also give an important guidance to studies of particle acceleration and non-thermal photon emission from Poynting-dominated plasma.

Physics of erupting solar flux ropes: Coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—Recent advances in theory and observation

Solar eruptions, observed as flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are the most energetic visible plasma phenomena in the solar system. CMEs are the central component of solar eruptions and are detected as coherent magnetized plasma structures expanding in the solar wind (SW). If they reach the Earth, their magnetic fields can drive strong disturbances in the ionosphere, causing deleterious effects on terrestrial technological systems. The scientific and practical importance of CMEs has led to numerous satellite missions observing the Sun and SW. This has culminated in the ability to continuously observe CMEs expanding from the Sun to 1 AU, where the magnetic fields and plasma parameters of the evolved structures (“ejecta”) can be measured in situ. Until recently, the physical mechanisms responsible for eruptions were major unanswered questions in solar and by extension stellar physics. New observations of CME dynamics and associated eruptive phenomena are now providing more stringent constraints on models, and quantitative theory-data comparisons are helping to establish the correct mechanism of solar eruptions, particularly the driving force of CMEs and the evolution of their magnetic fields in three dimensions. Recent work has demonstrated that theoretical results can simultaneously replicate the observed CME position-time data, temporal profiles of associated solar flare soft X-ray emissions, and the magnetic field and plasma parameters of CME ejecta measured at 1 AU. Thus, a new theoretical framework with testable predictions is emerging to model eruptions and the coupling of CME ejecta to geomagnetic disturbances. The key physics in CME dynamics is the Lorentz hoop force acting on toroidal “flux ropes,” scalable from tokamaks and similar laboratory plasma structures. The present paper reviews the latest advances in observational and theoretical understanding of CMEs with the emphasis on quantitative comparisons of theory and observation.

Comment on "Plasma fireball: A unique tool to fabricate patterned nanodots" [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 88, 063507 (2017)

The article of Chauhan et al. ["Plasma fireball: A unique tool to fabricate patterned nanodots," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 88(6), 063507 (2017)] describes the very interesting idea of utilising the plasma phenomenon of fireballs for the creation of patterned nanodots on a GaSb substrate. For this purpose, the authors obtained a large plasma fireball in a magnetised background plasma and used it to accelerate ions in the sheath, which surrounds such a fireball. Chauhan et al. were able to demonstrate the production of large ion fluxes that can be extracted from the fireball and that the properties of these fluxes define the geometric structure of the nanodots on the substrate surface. Hence, the nanodot pattern can be easily controlled by the discharge parameters of the plasma fireball. This is clearly a novel method of fireball-induced surface modification. However, plasma fireballs themselves have been known for about hundred years, although as a very particular plasma phenomenon. Therefore, this letter aims at providing some additional background information and references on this topic for the interested reader.

Four-Spacecraft Magnetic Curvature Analysis on Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves in MHD Simulations

AbstractFour-spacecraft missions are probing the Earth’s magnetospheric environment with high potential for revealing spatial and temporal scales of a variety of in-situ phenomena. Magnetic curvature is intrinsic to curved magnetic fields where the magnetic energy is stored in the form of magnetic tension. In-situ magnetic curvature has been resolved by the four-spacecraft technique called “magnetic curvature analysis” (MCA). We test the MCA on 2.5D MHD simulations of curved magnetic structures induced by Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves, with increasing (regular) tetrahedron sizes of virtual spacecraft. We have found variations of the curvature vectors both in radii and orientations depending on the sizes of the tetrahedron. This is helpful to better understand the MCA measures when the technique is applied to in-situ data without knowing the scale sizes of plasma structures under consideration. This study lends support for cross-scale observations to better understand the nature of curvature and its role in plasma phenomena.

Electrostatic plasma simulation by Particle-In-Cell method using ANACONDA package

Electrostatic plasma is the most representative and basic case in plasma physics field. One of its main characteristics is its ideal behavior, since it is assumed be in thermal equilibrium state. Through this assumption, it is possible to study various complex phenomena such as plasma oscillations, waves, instabilities or damping. Likewise, computational simulation of this specific plasma is the first step to analyze physics mechanisms on plasmas, which are not at equilibrium state, and hence plasma is not ideal. Particle-In-Cell (PIC) method is widely used because of its precision for this kind of cases. This work, presents PIC method implementation to simulate electrostatic plasma by Python, using ANACONDA packages. The code has been corroborated comparing previous theoretical results for three specific phenomena in cold plasmas: oscillations, Two-Stream instability (TSI) and Landau Damping(LD). Finally, parameters and results are discussed.

Dependence of η-mode and anomalous transport on entropy drift in magnetoplasma

More than 90 years passed when name plasma was coined and more than 60 years in controlling plasma. It seems to be missing something, may be entropy that depends upon maximum constituents of plasma. Inculcating entropy in theoretical and experimental research may lead to the easy confinement. In this paper, Yaqub’s work is extended, transport phenomenon is studied with drift approximation inculcating entropy and η-mode depending upon entropy gradient drift is observed. New dispersion relation is derived by using Branginskii transport equations. Dependence of Anomalous transport on entropy is also observed. This work will be helpful in understanding different phenomena of space plasmas and tokamak specifically the pedestal H-mode.

Elementary Processes and Kinetic Modeling for Hydrogen and Helium Plasmas

We report cross-sections and rate coefficients for excited states colliding with electrons, heavy particles and walls useful for the description of H 2 /He plasma kinetics under different conditions. In particular, the role of the rotational states in resonant vibrational excitations of the H 2 molecule by electron impact and the calculation of the related cross-sections are illustrated. The theoretical determination of the cross-section for the rovibrational energy exchange and dissociation of H 2 molecule, induced by He atom impact, by using the quasi-classical trajectory method is discussed. Recombination probabilities of H atoms on tungsten and graphite, relevant for the determination of the nascent vibrational distribution, are also presented. An example of a state-to-state plasma kinetic model for the description of shock waves operating in H 2 and He-H 2 mixtures is presented, emphasizing also the role of electronically-excited states in affecting the electron energy distribution function of free electrons. Finally, the thermodynamic properties and the electrical conductivity of non-ideal, high-density hydrogen plasma are finally discussed, in particular focusing on the pressure ionization phenomenon in high-pressure high-temperature plasmas.

Conductivity tensor for anisotropic plasma in gyrokinetic theory

It has been argued that oblique firehose and mirror instabilities are important candidates for the regulation of temperature anisotropy in solar wind. To quantify the role of anisotropy driven instabilities, global kinetic simulations of the solar wind would be extremely useful. However, due to long time scales involved, such simulations are prohibitively expensive. Gyrokinetic theory and simulations have proven to be valuable tools for the study of low frequency phenomena in nonuniform plasmas; however, there are discrepancies between the anisotropy driven instabilities appearing in the gyrokinetic theory and those of a fully kinetic one. We present a derivation of the conductivity tensor based on the arbitrary frequency gyrokinetics and show that relaxing the condition ω/Ω≪1, where ω is the wave frequency, and the Ω is the cyclotron frequency, eliminates these discrepancies, while preserving the advantages of the gyorkinetic theory for global kinetic simulations.

Modeling of Resonant Surface Wave Excitation in a Large CCP Reactor

Low-pressure plasmas produced in capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) reactors are used extensively in the plasma processing industry. Although the physics of small scale CCP reactors operated under low pressure is fairly well understood, larger scale CCP reactors constructed to meet the industrial needs often exhibit surprising behavior in experiments, which affects discharge parameters of importance to the industrial applications. This can be explained by the resonant excitation of surface modes that a CCP reactor can support. Limitations of the drift-diffusion approximation in description of the surface mode phenomena in low-pressure plasmas are discussed. It is shown that a particular class of the surface modes can be adequately modeled using the electrostatic approximation if the finite electron inertia is taken into account. Continuing a previous work [1] , the present study demonstrates how such modes are triggered and how they affect the radial plasma density profile uniformity. This is done by using a self-consistent 2d3v electrostatic implicit PIC/MCC code. It is shown that in highly collisional plasmas, the nonuniformities caused by the modes disappear due to the large mode damping.

Nonlinear resistivity for magnetohydrodynamical models

A new formulation of the plasma resistivity that stems from the collisional momentum-transfer rate between electrons and ions is presented. The resistivity computed herein is shown to depend not only on the temperature and density but also on all other polynomial velocity-space moments of the distribution function, such as the pressure tensor and heat flux vector. The full expression for the collisional momentum-transfer rate is determined and is used to formulate the nonlinear anisotropic resistivity. The new formalism recovers the Spitzer resistivity, as well as the concept of thermal force if the heat flux is assumed to be proportional to a temperature gradient. Furthermore, if the pressure tensor is related to viscous stress, the latter enters the expression for the resistivity. The relative importance of the nonlinear term(s) with respect to the well-established electron inertia and Hall terms is also examined. The subtle implications of the nonlinear resistivity, and its dependence on the fluid variables, are discussed in the context of magnetized plasma environments and phenomena such as magnetic reconnection.

One-chip analog circuits for a new type of plasma wave receiver on board space missions

Abstract. Plasma waves are important observational targets for scientific missions investigating space plasma phenomena. Conventional fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based spectrum plasma wave receivers have the disadvantages of a large size and a narrow dynamic range. This paper proposes a new type of FFT-based spectrum plasma wave receiver that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional receivers. The receiver measures and calculates the whole spectrum by dividing the observation frequency range into three bands: bands 1, 2, and 3, which span 1 Hz to 1 kHz, 1 to 10 kHz, and 10 to 100 kHz, respectively. To reduce the size of the receiver, its analog section was realized using application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology, and an ASIC chip was successfully developed. The dimensions of the analog circuits were 4.21 mm × 1.16 mm. To confirm the performance of the ASIC, a test system for the receiver was developed using the ASIC, an analog-to-digital converter, and a personal computer. The frequency resolutions for bands 1, 2, and 3 were 3.2, 32, and 320 Hz, respectively, and the average time resolution was 384 ms. These frequency and time resolutions are superior to those of conventional FFT-based receivers.

Scaling of plasma-body interactions in low Earth orbit

This paper derives the generalised set of dimensionless parameters that scale the interaction of an unmagnetised multi-species plasma with an arbitrarily charged object - the application in this work being to the interaction of the ionosphere with Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) objects. We find that a plasma with K ion species can be described by 1+4K independent dimensionless parameters. These parameters govern the deflection and coupling of ion species k, the relative electrical shielding of the body, electron energy, and scaling of temporal effects. The general shielding length λϕ is introduced, which reduces to the Debye length in the high-temperature (weakly coupled) limit. The ability of the scaling parameters to predict the self-similar transformations of single and multi-species plasma interactions is demonstrated numerically using pdFOAM, an electrostatic Particle-in-Cell—Direct Simulation Monte Carlo code. The presented scaling relationships represent a significant generalisation of past work, linking low and high voltage plasma phenomena. Further, the presented parameters capture the scaling of multi-species plasmas with multiply charged ions, demonstrating previously unreported scaling relationship transformations. The implications of this work are not limited to LEO plasma-body interactions but apply to processes governed by the Vlasov-Maxwell equations and represent a framework upon which to incorporate the scaling of additional phenomena, e.g., magnetism and charging.

A local meshless method for solving multi-dimensional Vlasov–Poisson and Vlasov–Poisson–Fokker–Planck systems arising in plasma physics

In this paper, we use a linear combination of the shape functions of reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM) and RBFs for achieving the unknown weights into each stencil. We obtain an error bound for the new shape function. Also, in this paper, we investigate a numerical procedure based on the presented technique for solving the Vlasov---Poisson and Vlasov---Poisson---Fokker---Planck systems. The Vlasov equation is a differential equation describing time evolution of the distribution function of plasma. The Vlasov---Poisson equations are used to describe various phenomena in plasma, in particular Landau damping and the distributions in a double layer plasma. We use the RKPM/RBF-FD technique for discretization of space direction and employ the method of lines to achieve a high-order accuracy in temporal direction. Numerical examples are reported which demonstrate the theoretical results and the efficiency of proposed scheme.

Safeguarding against Inactivation Temperatures during Plasma Treatment of Skin: Multiphysics Model and Phase Field Method

One of the most appealing applications of cold plasmas is medical treatment of the skin. An important concern is the capability to safeguard the non-targeted cells against inactivation temperatures during the plasma treatment. Unfortunately, it is problematic to experimentally determine the highest transient temperatures in these cells during the plasma treatment. In the present work, a complete multiphysics model was built based on finite element analysis using phase field method coupled with heat transfer and fluid dynamics to study the discharge phenomenon of cold plasma with helium carrier gas ejected out of a tube for skin treatment. In such plasmas with carrier gas, the fractions of plasma constituents are small compared to the carrier gas, so thermofluid analysis is needed for the carrier gas as the major contributor to the fluid and heat flow. The phase field method has been used to capture the moving helium gas in air, which has enabled us to compute fluid dynamics parameters for each phase individually. In addition to computational fluid dynamic analyses, we have also considered heat transfer in the fluids and to the skin using the Fourier law of heat conduction, which led to a multiphysics system. In the present paper, various flow velocities and tube-to-target distances (TTDs) have been considered to reveal the dependence of the fluid discharge output parameters on the flow and efficiency of heat transfer to the skin and the surrounding environment. The built model is a useful tool for future development of plasma treatment devices and to safeguard the non-targeted cells against inactivation temperatures.