Electron transport in mercury vapor: cross sections, pressure and temperature dependence of transport coefficients and NDC effects

In this work we propose a complete and consistent set of cross sections for electron scattering in mercury vapor. The set is validated through a series of comparisons between swarm data calculated using a multi term theory for solving the Boltzmann equation and Monte Carlo simulations, and the avail...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. D, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2017-11, Vol.71 (11), p.1-15, Article 289
Main Authors: Mirić, Jasmina, Simonović, Ilija, Petrović, Zoran Lj, White, Ronald D., Dujko, Saša
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory
Atomic
Boltzmann transport equation
Computer simulation
Cross-sections
Dimers
Electron transport
Electrons
Mathematical models
Mercury
Mercury vapor
Molecular
Optical and Plasma Physics
Physical Chemistry
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quality assessment
Quantum Information Technology
Quantum Physics
Regular Article
Scattering
Spectroscopy/Spectrometry
Spintronics
Temperature dependence
Topical Issue: Physics of Ionized Gases (SPIG 2016)
Transport properties
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Summary:In this work we propose a complete and consistent set of cross sections for electron scattering in mercury vapor. The set is validated through a series of comparisons between swarm data calculated using a multi term theory for solving the Boltzmann equation and Monte Carlo simulations, and the available experimental data. Other sets of cross sections for electron scattering in mercury vapor were also used as input in our numerical codes with the aim of testing their completeness, consistency and accuracy. The calculated swarm parameters are compared with measurements in order to assess the quality of the cross sections in providing data for plasma modeling. In particular, we discuss the dependence of transport coefficients on the pressure and temperature of mercury vapor, and the occurrence of negative differential conductivity (NDC) in the limit of lower values of E ∕ N . We have shown that the phenomenon of NDC is induced by the presence of mercury dimers and that can be controlled by varying either pressure or temperature of mercury vapor. The effective inelastic cross section for mercury dimers is estimated for a range of pressures and temperatures. It is shown that the measured and calculated drift velocities agree very well only if the effective inelastic cross section for mercury dimers and thermal motion of mercury atoms are carefully considered and implemented in numerical calculations. Graphical abstract
ISSN:1434-6060
1434-6079
DOI:10.1140/epjd/e2017-80403-4