Numerical modeling of the non-isothermal positive column of an Ar+-laser

Abstract

A hydrodynamic description of the positive column is used to study the radial variation of particle densities, drift velocities, temperatures and heat fluxes of electrons, singly-charged ions and neutral atoms and the radial electric field. Elastic collisions between the plasma particles and neutrals as well as Coulomb collisions between ions and electrons are taken into account. The relevant equations to solve are the balance equations of particle densities, momentum, energy and the equations for the heat fluxes for each of the three studied particle types; the Poisson equation has to be added for closure. They form a system of 13 nonlinear differential equations with critical points. One singularity occurs when the ions reach the ion sound velocity which is the case inside the positive column. Therefore, a numerical method for multipoint boundary value problems was used which can also successfully handle removable singular points. The applied relaxation method is an iterative method which demands some preliminary knowledge of the solution looked for. The necessary knowledge can be retrieved from the quasineutral model and from a simplified two-fluid model.