High-Moment Simulations for Low-Temperature Plasmas

The physics of ionized gases, or plasmas, gives rise to a great variety of fascinating phenomena like northern lights or solar flares. In particular, plasmas are widely used in technologies, ranging from the fabrication of microelectronic chips and the production of thin films to satellite propulsion. The behavior of low-temperature plasmas is particularly complex due to (i) the interplay between the microscopic scales (where the charged particles interact among each other and with the electromagnetic field; typically on the order of μm) and the macroscopic scales (where the plasma behaves in a device; typically on the order of cm to m) and (ii) the complex physics, such as instabilities, turbulence, plasma-wall interactions, and collisional effects. The collaboration through this visiting junior scholar fellowship between the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas (France) and the Plasma Dynamics Modeling Laboratory (Stanford) will focus on the development of high-fidelity plasma fluid simulations based on moment models. Compared to the state-of-the-art techniques, these fluid moment models extend the validity of the macroscopic description by accounting for the effects of microscopic phenomena, thus contributing to unveil the complex dynamics of low-temperature plasmas and to better understand the role of micro-instabilities in the device-scale dynamics. Advancing predictive modeling capabilities of the complex plasma phenomena will help develop design tools for a wide range of industrial plasma systems that have immense impact to the society.