One-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of sheath erosion in a plasma-filled diode

The effect of electron emission on cathode sheath evolution in a plasma-filled diode (PFD) is studied using a one-dimensional, electrostatic, particle-in-cell simulation of a PFD coupled to an external LC driver circuit. For the case in which space-charge-limited electron emission is allowed from the cathode, the simulation model reveals a variety of new phenomena that are not included in the standard bipolar erosion model for the operation of the PFD as first proposed by Miller, Poukey, and Wright [Phys. Rev. Lett. 35, 940 (1975)]. As a result the simulation model makes a variety of scaling predictions for the operation of the PFD that are different from those of the bipolar model and that may be used to distinguish experimentally between the two. Some of these predictions are discussed.