Cause analysis of plate current asymmetry in plasma mode

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In COMSOL's simulation, with a simple parallel plate system (the top plate is negative, the bottom plate is positive), the air molecules spontaneously ionize to produce electrons and positive ions. Theoretically, electrons should be collected by the lower plate, while positive ions should be collected by the upper plate. However, the simulation results show that the current of the upper and lower plates is not exactly the same.

Known conditions: 1.Transient solution. 2.Only spontaneous ionization, no electron impact ionization, is considered. 3.No secondary electron emission (SEE). 4.The electric field is provided by the plate and evenly distributed.

Question: In this case, why is the electronic current received by the lower plate different from the positive ion current received by the upper plate, which has a large difference? When in a steady state, the distribution of current in space should change slowly (because the gas spontaneously ionizes). But I observed a sharp drop in the current produced by the electrons near the positive plate.


1 Reply Last Post 09.03.2025, 07:42 GMT-4

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Posted: 5 days ago 09.03.2025, 07:42 GMT-4

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If you come across a discussion about using plasma modules to simulate radiation detectors, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a comment below. This information could be very helpful for me. Thank you!

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