Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Electron-Ion Temperature Equilibration in an SF{sub 6} Plasma

Journal Article · Fri May 22 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.102.205004· OSTI ID:21322818

Benedict, Lorin X; Glosli, James N; Richards, David F; Streitz, Frederick H; Hau-Riege, Stefan P; London, Richard A; Graziani, Frank R; Murillo, Michael S; Benage, John F ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

We use classical molecular dynamics to investigate electron-ion temperature equilibration in a two-temperature SF{sub 6} plasma. We choose a density of 1.0x10{sup 19}SF{sub 6} molecules per cm{sup 3} and initial temperatures of T{sub e}=100 eV and T{sub S}=T{sub F}=15 eV, in accordance with experiments currently underway at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Our computed relaxation time lies between two oft-used variants of the Landau-Spitzer relaxation formula which invoke static screening. Discrepancies are also found when comparing to the predictions made by more recent theoretical approaches. These differences should be large enough to be measured in the upcoming experiments.

• OSTI ID: 21322818
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 20; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.205004; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRONS
EV RANGE 10-100
ION TEMPERATURE
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS METHOD
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
RELAXATION TIME
SULFUR FLUORIDES