COMSOL, Inc. COMSOL Multiphysics® Plasma Module

Low temperature plasmas represent the amalgamation of fluid mechanics, reaction engineering, physical kinetics, heat transfer, mass transfer and electromagnetics. The Plasma Module is a specialized tool for modeling non-equilibrium discharges which occur in a wide range of engineering disciplines. There are specialized modeling interfaces for the most common types of plasma reactors including Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP), DC discharges, Wave heated discharges (Microwave plasmas) and Capacitively coupled plasmas (CCP). Simulating the interaction between the plasma and an external circuit is an important part of understanding the overall characteristics of a discharge. The Plasma Module provides tools to add circuit elements directly to a 1D, 2D or 3D model, or import an existing SPICE netlist into the model. The plasma chemistry is specified either by loading in sets of collision cross sections from a file, or by adding reactions and species to the model builder. The complicated coupling between the different physics which constitute a plasma is automatically handled by the physics interfaces. Modeling of ICP and Microwave plasmas may additionally require the AC/DC Module or the RF Module, or both.