threeBodyRecombination

threeBodyRecombination

Works with VSimPD license.

A unary interaction that models three-body recombination of electron-electron-ion collisions. In this one electron is treated in kinetic fashion and the second electron is assumed to be the background electron density and the ion also assumed as a background ion density.

threeBodyRecombination Parameters

impactSpecies (string, required): Name of the impact species.

inIons (string, required): Name of the species representing the input ions.

inElectrons (string, required): Name of the species representing the input electrons.

outNeutrals (string, required): Name of the neutral output species.

vthermNeutrals (float, required): The thermal velocity of the neutral species.

alpha (float, optional): Parameter used to calculate the three-body recombination probability.

tempExpFactor (string): Parameter used to calculate the three-body recombination probability.

crossSection (optional, default = builtIn): Cross section to be used in the interaction. Possible values are builtIn and functionDefined. See below for required parameters for each choice.

builtIn Parameters

Please see Types of collisions for the available builtIn gases.

functionDefined Parameters

If the functionDefined cross section type is used, the following parameters must be set:

OAFunc (block, required)

An OAFunc block of name crossSectionFunc must be used inside the Interaction block. The OAFunc block allows the user to define its own cross section for the interaction, either through a two-column data file or through an expression. The kinds of OAFunc available for this interaction are interpolatedFromFile, LXcatFile, or expression. The OAFunc must return the value of the cross section in m².

Please see OAFunc Block for more information on the OAFunc block.

crossSectionVariable (string, optional, default = energy)

Used in the case when an OAFunc function is given for the cross section to specify whether the parameter of the function is either the:

Relative collision velocity magnitude of the incident particle in m^-1: crossSectionVariable = velocity

Kinetic energy of the incident particle in eV: crossSectionVariable = energy