This directory contains the input parameters and data necessary to reproduce 
the LSP and EDIPIC PIC-MCC simulations presented in the paper "Validation 
and benchmarking of two particle-in-cell codes for a glow discharge" by J. 
Carlsson, A. Khrabrov, I. Kaganovich, T. Sommerer and D. Keating
[submitted to Plasma Sources Science and Technology].

The simulation model is described in the paper. The details are as follows:

Time step: 2 picoseconds (except for the 600 V case, where the time step is 
1 picosecond)

Simulation time: until cathode current reaches steady state, about 120 
microseconds

Plasma length: 0.62 centimeter

Cell size: 10 micrometer (plasma resolved by 620 cells)

Helium gas pressure: 3.5 Torr

Helium gas density: 11.2x10^16/cm^3 for 173 V case, 10.8 for 211 V and 8.01 
for 600 V

Helium gas temperarure: 26.29 meV for 173 V case, 27.26 for 211 V and 36.75 
for 600 V *)

Initial electron density: 10^10/cm^3

Initial helium ion density: 10^10/cm^3

Initial electron temperature: 5 eV

Initial helium ion temperature: 25.2 meV

Typically 8-40 macro particles of each species per cell are initially 
created.

*) The above gas density values are from DenHartog et al. The temperatures 
were obtained from the ideal gas law using reported pressure and densitites.

The synthetic benchmarks use the gas density and temperature from the 211 V 
simulation.

The two files intereHe4.tab and intereHe4-consolidated.tab are tables of 
cross sections for collisions of an electron against a neutral helium atom 
as a function of electron energy. They are in an ASCII format preferred by 
LSP with energy in the first column, cross section for an elastic collision 
in the second column, ionization in the third, and excitation cross sections 
in column four and higher. The former file has seven excitation cross 
sections in columns four through ten. The latter file, with a single, 
consolidated (energy-weighted) excitation cross section in column four, was 
used in the simulations presented in the paper. The data from these two 
files is plotted in Fig. 2 of the paper.
 
To facilitate benchmarking with other codes, plain (ASCII) output data files 
are provided with the results shown in Figs. 5-7 (only the temporally 
converged results) and Figs. 9-11, as well as Python scripts to recreate 
those figures. The file names should be self explanatory.