Calculation of Electron Energy Distribution Functions From Electron Swarm Parameters Using Artificial Neural Network in $\hbox {SF}_{6}$ and Argon

This paper proposes an artificial neural network (ANN) to obtain the electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs) in SF₆ and argon from the following: 1) mean energies; 2) the drift velocities; and 3) other related swarm data. In order to obtain the required swarm data, the electron swarm behavior in SF₆ and argon is analyzed over the range of the density-reduced electric field strength E/N from 50 to 800 Td from a Boltzmann equation analysis based on the finite difference method under a steady-state Townsend condition. A comparison between the EEDFs calculated by the Boltzmann equation and by ANN for various values of E/N suggests that the proposed ANN yields good agreement of EEDFs with those of the Boltzmann equation solution results.