Simulation And Research On The Characteristic Of Low-pressure Glow Discharge Plasma

When space aerocraft reentries atmosphere at a hypersonic speed，a layer of plasmasheath will come into being on the surface of space aerocraft because of high tempera-ture, high pressure and friction with atmosphere，the existence of plasma sheath willexert severe influence on communication of space aerocraft. In order to study the prob-lem of electromagnetic waves attenuated in the plasma sheath of high speed aircraft, adevice which can produce large scale, stable and sustainable controlled plasma is man-ufactured. A numerical simulation of the low pressure glow discharge is performed inthis paper. It describes the discharge process under laboratory conditions of the plasmageneration device.This paper deeply analyzes basic particles of gas discharge moving means and par-ticles collided, at last determine the factors affecting the properties of the plasma. Anumerical simulation on the low pressure glow discharge is performed by means of flu-id model, and has gotten some numerical results by using finite element approach. Thewhole numerical simulation is built by COMSOL Multiphysics platform and the simu-lation conditions are set according to the conditions of the laboratory plasma generationdevice. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results and find thatthe methods can improve the plasma electron density by changing the cathode materialto increase the secondary electron emission coefficient and improving the power.