Numerical Study on Glow Discharge of IEC Fusion

Abstract

An inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion device is possibly used for the neutron source that has the ability to produce the neutrons of 10⁵-10⁸/s by the glow discharge. It works more efficiently at the condition of the high voltage and the low pressure. It, however, is difficult to keep the continuous operation at the low-pressure because the glow discharge is apt to be unstable. We have made the three-dimensional Monte Carlo PIC code including atomic processes to investigate the glow discharge. The study reveals the spatial position where the ionization occurs and numerically reproduces the discharge called ’star mode’.