Numerical Simulation of Plasma Kinetics in a Low-Pressure Inductively Coupled Discharge in Argon and Mercury Mixtures

This paper deals with a model that simulates an electrodeless lamp with argon/mercury chemistry. The plasma kinetics model equations were solved using COMSOL (multiphysics simulation software) with appropriate boundary conditions. The numerical modeling of inductively coupled plasma is of crucial importance to understand the behavior of different physical quantities that characterize the ionized gasses such as electrical parameters. The electric and magnetic fields were handled by the electromagnetic model using the multiturn coil method. Results are in fairly good agreement with the experimental data from the literature and fit well with the expected physics of the discharge plasma.