Analysis of plasma and neutral gas flow inside of a PET bottle under PIII condition by particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract The plasma behavior inside of a PET bottle has been simulated under the condition of plasma immersed ion implantation and deposition (PIII&D) using the simulation software “PEGASUS”. The software uses the “PIC–MCCM” module for the plasma analysis and the “DSMCM” module for the gas flow field analysis. DSMCM gives densities, velocities, fluxes, temperatures and pressures of each neutral species such as the fed gas species and radicals. By coupling PIC–MCCM with DSMCM simulation, the plasma behavior in the flowing Ar gas and N 2 gas has been simulated. The gas was injected from the tip of the gas inlet which was inserted into the center of the bottle. The base gas pressure was 1–50 Pa and a positive pulse voltage (maximum voltage = 0.1–1 kV) was applied to the center rod. A two-dimensional cylindrical coordinate system was used. Time evolution of the spacial distribution was obtained for densities of electrons, N 2 + ions, N 2 ∗ radicals and N atoms in N 2 gas, and Ar + ions, Ar ∗ and Ar ∗ (4s) radicals in Ar gas. Time evolution of the particle flux and the energy flux of electrons and ions on the target surface was also obtained.