Numerical simulation of sheath plasma by the particle method taking account of Coulomb collisions

We study the problem of the behavior of a plasma bounded longitudinally by an absorbing sheath. This model contains charged particles (electrons and ions) moving subject to a self-consistent electrostatic field. New particle pairs are generated in the region of a distributed source. As a numerical model we used the electrostatic "particle-in-cell" method supplemented by the Emmert model for a bulk source and the algorithm of binary Coulomb collisions using the Monte Carlo method. We give a mathematical statement of the problem. The computations were carried out using the direct implicit method with the "explicit limit" time step. The results of numerical simulation of this system are given. We consider the formation and evoluiton of potential structures (multiple weak nonmonotonic double layers). © 1999 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.