Monte Carlo studies of non-conservative electron transport in the steady-state Townsend experiment

Abstract

An investigation of the spatial relaxation of the electrons and benchmark calculations of spatially resolved non-conservative electron transport in model gases has been carried out using a Monte Carlo simulation technique. The Monte Carlo code has been specifically developed to study the spatial relaxation of electrons in an idealized steady-state Townsend (SST) experiment in the presence of non-conservative collisions. Calculations have been performed for electron transport properties with the aim of providing the benchmark required to verify the codes used in plasma modelling. Both the spatially uniform values and the relaxation profiles of the electron transport properties may serve as an accurate test for such codes. The explicit effects of ionization and attachment on the spatial relaxation profiles are considered using physical arguments. We identify the relations for the conversion of hydrodynamic transport properties to those found in the SST experiment. Our Monte Carlo simulation code and sampling techniques appropriate to these experiments have provided us with a way to test these conversion formulae and their convergence.