Spatial and temporal structures in microplasmas

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ralf-Peter Brinkmann
• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2009 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 74729252

• Final Report Year: 2016

Final Report Abstract

Project B2 used modelling and simulation techniques to investigate the dynamics of microplasmas. The focus was on micro thin cathode discharges, planar microdischarges, microcavity arrays, and on plasma boundary sheaths. Two complementary approaches were used. The “hybrid” approach employed the two-dimensional self-consistent numerical simulation nonPDPSim to describe the behaviour of all species (electrons, ions, excited, and ground-state neutrals) and all interactions (elastic and inelastic collisions, emission and absorption of radiation, interactions with the walls). The “focussed” approach discussed specialised models which contain only the most important interactions, reduce the dimensionality, or represent only parts of the discharges. Comparison of the models and the experiments shed insight on the exact operation mechanism of the discharges and the underlying physical mechanisms.

Publications

• From electron depletion to quasi-neutrality: the sheath–bulk transition in RF modulated discharges Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 42, 194009 (2009)
  R.P. Brinkmann
  
• Fine-Sorting One-Dimensional Particle-In-Cell Algorithm with Monte-Carlo Collisions on a Graphics Processing Unit, Computer Physics Communications 182, 2161 (2011)
  P. Mertmann, D. Eremin, T. Mussenbrock, R.P. Brinkmann, and P. Awakowicz
  
• Ignition of a Microcavity Plasma Array, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 39, 2684 (2011)
  A. Wollny, T. Hemke, M. Gebhardt, R.P. Brinkmann, and T. Mussenbrock
  
• Ionization Wave Propagation on a Micro Cavity Plasma Array, Applied Physics Letters 99, 141504 (2011)
  A. Wollny, T. Hemke, M. Gebhardt, R.P. Brinkmann, H. Boettner, J. Winter, V. Schulz-von der Gathen, Z. Xiong, M.J. Kushner, and T. Mussenbrock
  
• Reply to the comment on ”The plasma sheath transition in low-temperature plasmas: On the existence of a collisionally modified Bohm criterion” Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 44, 158002 (2011)
  R.P. Brinkmann
  
• Spatially Resolved Simulation of a Radio Frequency Driven Micro Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet and Its Effluent, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 44, 285206 (2011)
  T. Hemke, A. Wollny, M. Gebhardt, R.P. Brinkmann, and T. Mussenbrock
  
• The plasma sheath transition in low-temperature plasmas: On the existence of a collisionally modified Bohm criterion Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 44, 042002 (2011)
  R.P. Brinkmann
  
• Electron heating in capacitively coupled RF plasmas: a unified scenario Plasma Sources Science and Technology 24, 064002 (2015)
  R.P. Brinkmann
  
• The electric field in capacitively coupled RF discharges: a smooth step model that includes thermal and dynamic effects Plasma Sources Science and Technology 25, 014001 (2015)
  R.P. Brinkmann