Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron Swarms in H2

Abstract

A Monte Carlo simulation of the motio'n of an electron swarm in molecular hydrogen has been studied in the range E/N = 1,4-170 Td. The simulation was performed for 400-600 electrons at several values of E/N for two different sets of inelastic collision cross sections at high E/N. ,Results were obtained for the longitudinal diffusion coefficient DL , lateral diffusion coefficient D, swarm drift velocity W, average swarm energy <Ii) and ionization and excitation production coefficients, and these were compared with experimental data where available. It is found that the results differ significantly from the experimental values and this is attributed to the isotropic scattering model used in this work. However, the results lend support to the experimental technique used recently by Blevin et al. to determine these transport parameters, and in particular confirm their results that DL > D at high values of E/N.