A FLUID MODEL OF THE BULK PLASMA IN A CYLINDRICAL MAGNETIZED LOW-PRESSURE RF DISCHARGE AND COMPARISON WITH PIC-MC SIMULATION RESULTS

The modelling of a cylindrical low-pressure RF discharge in a strong a xial magnetic field is analysed by a comparison of previously obtained kinetic particle-in-cell-Monte Carlo (PIC-MC) simulation results to a newly developed hydrodynamic model. We show that such a model is poss ible in the bulk of the discharge, where the electron distribution fun ction is Maxwellian to good accuracy. The small electron diffusion coe fficient perpendicular to the magnetic field is essential for the vali dity of the hydrodynamic analysis. As a result, we obtain good agreeme nt between the hydrodynamic model and our kinetic simulation data. We furthermore exemplify the usefulness of the hydrodynamic approach by d iscussing the properties of the discharge bulk in terms of macroscopic quantities; we thus can show that the contribution of thermal diffusi on to the electron current is of the same importance as that of ordina ry diffusion, an issue usually overlooked in the analysis of magnetize d discharges.