3-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROMAGNETIC PIC MODEL OF A COMPACT ECR PLASMA SOURCE

A three-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) model is de veloped and used to model a compact ECR plasma source. The finite-diff erence time-domain (FDTD) technique is used to model the microwave fie lds which excite the plasma at 245 GHz. The PIC technique is used to m odel the dynamics of both the electrons and ions in the plasma. The gr id structure used is constructed using the cylindrical coordinate syst em. Techniques which permit stable numerical solutions in the cylindri cal coordinate system are developed and described. The electromagnetic fields and the plasma dynamics are solved in a self-consistent manner . A compact ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) plasma source used for the generation of ions for materials processing is simulated. This sou rce has a plasma size of 3.6 cm in diameter and 3 cm in height. Simula tion results of microwave power absorption, plasma potential, and micr owave electric fields are presented. Distributed computing techniques are explored to handle the large computer memory requirements and the long computer simulation times associated with the three-dimensional p article-in-cell plasma model.