Nonlocal, Collisionless Electron Transport in Plasmas

Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

August 2-4 2005


 
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In low-pressure plasmas the electron mean free path can be larger or comparable to the plasma characteristic inhomogeneity scale.  Therefore, the electron transport is collisionless and nonlocal, since an electron can traverse a significant distance between collisions and sample different values of electric field along its way.  As a result, the electron current is determined not by the local electric field, but by the entire profile of the electric field.  Also for inhomogeneous electric fields another mechanism of heating or power dissipation is possible, which is strikingly different from collisional one; namely collisionless heating is determined by the wave-particle resonances and independent of  the collision frequency. Moreover, the electrons are frequently not in equilibrium with themselves, and as a result, the electron energy distribution functions in such plasmas are typically non-Maxwellian. This property makes plasmas a remarkable tool for plasma applications, including plasma processing, lighting, plasma sources, etc. 

 A very productive workshop "Electron kinetics and Applications of Glow Discharges" was held in 1997 in St. Petersburg. That workshop discussed the plasma self-organization in gas discharges and resulted in a broad dissemination of existing developments in theory, diagnostics and modeling of non-equilibrium electron kinetics in glow discharges. The proposed workshop at PPPL during the Summer of 2005 will update and summarize progress since 1997 and will discuss future directions in the field.

 Another important goal of the workshop is to bridge high- and low-temperature plasma communities.  Both communities have developed many useful tools  little known outside their own communities. The proposed duration of the workshop is 2-3 days in August 2005, and the estimated number of participants 30.

 Some specific topics within the scope of this workshop are:

  • kinetic theory of nonlocal electron transport
  • numerical methods for kinetic plasma modeling
  • plasma diagnostics of  low-pressure gas discharges
  • applications which utilizes nonlocal electron transport
  • databases for electron-atom collisions
  • wave-electron resonant interactions
 
Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to Igor Kaganovich ikaganov@pppl.gov.
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Last modified: Friday January 21, 2005.