Kinetic Modeling of Heating of Metal Microdroplet by Surrounding Plasma

A kinetic 1-D spherically symmetric model of heating of metal microdroplet (with a radius of 1–2 $\mu \hbox {m}$ ) by surrounding plasma was developed. The kinetic model is a model of 1D3V particle-in-cell/direct simulation Monte Carlo type. The model describes thermo-field electron emission and evaporation from the droplet surface and correspondent plasma creation. The droplet heating is self-consistently modeled, taking into account the influence of the plasma generated during the process. The calculations have shown that, beginning from the certain surface temperature, the droplet is heated mostly by electron flux from the plasma. A certain kind of thermal instability takes place in the developed model. Beginning from the certain value, the droplet surface temperature hyperbolically grows and reaches the critical temperature; after that, the calculation is stopped because of model restrictions.