Development of a kinetic model of microwave discharge plasma in electron cyclotron resonance mode with allowance for the temporal evolution of the electron distribution function

A program to simulate gas-discharge kinetics with allowance for the temporal evolution of the electron-energy distribution function is developed on the example of microwave discharge in molecular deuterium with electron cyclotron resonance. The model includes the averaged heating effect of the microwave field at cyclotron resonance, elastic collisions of electrons with electrons and heavy discharge components, and inelastic excitation and transformation reactions. The program considers the temporal evolution of the electron distribution function within these processes, and an algorithm that changes the boundaries of the design range of the distribution function depending on its current values is developed for it. This makes it possible to consider the function variations over a wide energy range. The conditions determining the algorithm accuracy are developed, and the counting-error dynamics upon variation of the parameters of these conditions is given. The adequacy and reliability of the simulation results, which are estimated based on the values of the introduced errors and comparison with third-party models, are shown.