Towards integrated modeling of the plasma-material interface

Plasma-surface interactions play a crucial role in many technologies, such as microelectronics fabrication and electric propulsion.

Plasma models are powerful tools to optimize fluxes across the plasma–solid interface, but often rely on empirical surface parameters, limiting predictive accuracy.

In fact, in the majority of plasma models, surface processes are treated via sticking or emission coefficients. However, those parameters are known only in some cases and with limited accuracy.

We present recent developments toward an integrated, physics-based modeling framework of the plasma–material interface.

This includes: (i) a 2-D non-neutral drift-diffusion fluid model resolving spatial–temporal plasma dynamics; (ii) a time-dependent Boltzmann solver for the electron velocity distributions in pulsed discharges; and (iii) a mesoscopic surface kinetics model based on kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, capturing adsorption, recombination, and surface diffusion of adatoms with material specificity.

Benchmarking with other codes and applications to capacitively coupled plasmas and nanosecond pulsed discharges is presented.

The need for coupled plasma–surface models is discussed, setting the stage for an integrated approach that can provide insights beyond empirical approximations.