Abstract: A self-consistent kinetic model is developed in order to study the elementary processes occurring in surfacewave microwave discharges in pure O2 and in the mixtures O2-Ar, O2-N2 and O2-N2-Ar. The theoretical formulation is based on the solution of a system of 0-D rate balance equations for the dominant neutral and charged species, coupled to the homogeneous electron Boltzmann equation and to the quasi-neutrality condition, allowing the self-consistent determination of the sustaining reduced electric field E/N. The model is used to investigate different phenomena, such as dissociation in O2 discharges, production of O2(a) and UV emitting species, or the formation of NO and O3 molecules. The extension of the model to situations of small-diameters / low-pressures, where the kinetics is strongly dominated by electron-impact collisions and wall interactions, is briefly discussed.
Prof. Guerra graduated in physics and obtained his Ph.D. in 1998 after having written a thesis on Plasma Physics about Kinetic Modelling of Glow Discharges in Molecular Gases. He then became an Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics of the Instituto Superior Técnico where he is working down to the present day.
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| (c) Instituto Superior Técnico |
