Fast simulation strategy for capacitively-coupled plasmas based on fluid model

Abstract

Fluid simulations are widely used in optimizing the reactor geometry and improving the performance of capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) sources in industry, so high computation speed is very important. In this work, a fast method for CCP fluid simulation based on the framework of Multi-physics Analysis of Plasma Sources (MAPS) is developed, which includes a multi-time-step explicit upwind scheme to solve electron fluid equations, a semi-implicit scheme and an iterative method with in-phase initial value to solve Poisson's equation, an explicit upwind scheme with limited artificial diffusion to solve heavy particle fluid equations, and an acceleration method based on fluid equation modification to reduce the periods required to reach equilibrium. In order to prove the validity and efficiency of the newly developed method, benchmarking against COMSOL and comparison with experimental data have been performed in argon discharges on the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) reactor. Besides, the performance of each acceleration method is tested, and the results indicated that the multi-time-step explicit Euler scheme can effectively decline the computational burden in the bulk plasma and reduce the time cost on the electron fluid equations by half. The in-phase initial value method can greatly decrease the iteration times required to solve linear equations and lower the computational time of Poisson's equation by 77 %. The acceleration method based on equation modification can reduce the periods required to reach equilibrium by two-thirds.