Monte Carlo model for electron degradation in xenon gas.
We have developed a Monte Carlo model for studying the local degradation of electrons in the energy range 9-10 000 eV in xenon gas. Analytically fitted form of electron impact cross sections for elastic and various inelastic processes are fed as input data to the model. The two-dimensional numerical yield spectrum (NYS), which gives information on the number of energy loss events occurring in a particular energy interval, is obtained as the output of the model. The NYS is fitted analytically, thus obtaining the analytical yield spectrum (AYS). The AYS can be used to calculate electron fluxes, which can be further employed for the calculation of volume production rates. Using the yield spectrum, mean energy per ion pair and efficiencies of inelastic processes are calculated. The value for mean energy per ion pair for Xe is 22 eV at 10 keV. Ionization dominates for incident energies greater than 50 eV and is found to have an efficiency of approximately 65% at 10 keV. The efficiency for the excitation process is approximately 30% at 10 keV.
Space Physics Laboratory , Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre , Trivandrum 695022, India.
Vrinda
0000-0001-7991-9877
V
Mukundan
Space Physics Laboratory , Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre , Trivandrum 695022, India.
Anil
A
Bhardwaj
Monte Carlo model; atomic and molecular processes; electron degradation; ion thrusters; plasma; rare gases; xenon