PIC/MCC simulation of the plasma dynamics in nitrogen glow discharge

A self-consistent hybrid model of PIC/MCC (particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo Collisions) for nitrogen glow (NG) discharge is established, in which the movement of charge-particles and the self-generated field are described by the electrostatic particle-in-cell method and the collision processes are simulated by the Monte Carlo Method. The discharge processes, the behavior of charge-particles (e, N2+, N+) and the self-consistent electric field are simulated in the whole discharge space, the behavior and distribution of charge-particle (e, N2+, N'+) in NG are discussed through the calculation of electron/ion energy probability function (EEPF/IEPF). The N2+ density simulated agrees well with the experimental result. (authors)