Abstract: A hybrid Monte Carlofluid modeling network is developed for an argon-hydrogen mixture, to predict the effect of small amounts of hydrogen added to a dc argon glow discharge. The species considered in the model include the Ar gas atoms, electrons, Ar+ ions and fast Ar atoms, ArH+, H+, H+2 and H+3 ions, and H atoms and H2 molecules, as well as Ar metastable atoms, sputtered Cu atoms, and the corresponding Cu+ ions. Sixty-five reactions between these species are incorporated in the model. The effect of hydrogen on various calculation results is investigated, such as the species densities, the relative role of different production and loss processes for the various species, the cathode sputtering rate and contributions by different bombarding species, and the dissociation degree of H2 and the ionization degree of Ar and Cu. The calculation results are presented and discussed for 1% H2 addition, and comparison is also made with a pure argon discharge and with only 0.1% H2 addition.

Abstract: The purpose of this Brief Report is to point out the mistake in a formula for anisotropic electron scattering, previously published in Phys. Rev. A 41, 1112 (1990), which is widely used in Monte Carlo models of gas discharges. Anisotropic electron scattering is investigated based on the screened Coulomb potential between electrons and neutral atoms. The approach is also applied for electron scattering by nonpolar neutral molecules. Differential cross sections for electron scattering by Ar, N2, and CH4 are constructed on the basis of momentum and integrated cross sections. The formula derived in this paper is useful for Monte Carlo simulations of gas discharges.