EDIPIC-2D, an open-source versatile and comprehensive Particle-In-Cell code for Low-Temperature Plasmas modeling

The Princeton Collaborative Low-Temperature Plasma Research Facility (PCRF) offers access to EDIPIC-2D, an advanced Particle-In-Cell code developed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The code is parallelized using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard and features state-of-the-art collision models. It accounts for different surface materials, leading to various electron and ion-induced secondary electron emissions. The inclusion of inner objects within the computational domain allows for the modeling of more realistic Cartesian and cylindrical geometries. The electric field is self-consistently solved by taking advantage of the Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific computation (PETSc). The code records particle velocity distribution functions, two-dimensional maps, and probe data, providing abundant diagnostics for fast and detailed analysis of the physics. The example of a hollow cathode for electric propulsion will be used to exemplify the code’s capabilities.