LSP Code
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LSP Code
For simulations of plasmas in complex geometry the LSP code can be used. The LSP code, a software product of Voss Scientific Corporation, is an advanced 3D electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) code designed for complex, large-scale plasma simulations on parallel and serial platforms; the numerical code supports Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinate systems and can also be used in 1D and 2D geometries[1]. Various explicit and implicit algorithms are implemented in the code for solving the field equations and equations of motion. Additional complex and sophisticated algorithms implemented in the LSP code include but are not limited to: a hybrid kinetic - fluid electron model; field emission models from object boundaries (stimulated by particle bombardment, field-stresses, Child-Langmuir emission, etc.); auxiliary circuit models; transmission-line boundaries; inclusion of arbitrary electric and magnetic susceptibilities, dispersive magnetic materials; external (applied) electric and magnetic field models, secondary particle generation at material surfaces; backscattering; multiple scattering events and energy loss; surface heating and energy deposition; thermal and/or stimulated desorption of neutrals and ions from surfaces; ionization of neutrals, ion stripping, photoionization, and interparticle collisions.
The Large-Scale Plasma (LSP) Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code is a commercial code that is actively being used for many applications: beam-plasma interaction, pulsed power, high energy density physics. However, for low-temperature plasma applications we had to upgrade the code to includes several modifications. We refer to this improved version of the code as PPPL-LSP. PPPL-LSP allows us to perform large two-dimensional and small three-dimensional simulations of low-temperature plasma, see Fig. 1. The major code improvement of PPPL-LSP is the addition of a direct electrostatic (ES) field solver. To enable simulations of plasma devices, an algorithm for a new external-circuit model was developed and implemented. A new rejection-method algorithm for the secondary electron emission was also implemented [2]. A set of Python scripts were also developed to complement the existing P4 post processor for plotting and analyzing simulation data.
[1] https://www.northropgrumman.com/space-old/lsp-suite/
[2] J. Carlsson, A. Khrabrov, T. J. Sommerer, and D. Keating, “Validation and benchmarking of two particle-in-cell codes for a glow discharge”, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 26, 14003 (2017)
[3] A. Powis. J. Carlsson, I. Kaganovich, Y. Raitses, and A. Smolyakov, “Scaling of spoke rotation frequency within a Penning discharge”, Phys. Plasmas 25, 072110 (2018).
This capability is located at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
