The veracity of a low temperature plasma model is limited by the accuracy of the electron transport coefficient, which can be solved by simulating the electron transport process. When simulating the transport properties of electrons, there are a variety of approaches to dealing with the scattering of electrons and energy partition between the primary-electrons and secondary-electrons after electron-neutral particles’ collision. In this paper used is a model based on the Monte Carlo collision method to investigate the influence of scattering method and energy partition method on the electron transport coefficient. The electron energy distribution function, electron mean energy, flux mobility and diffusion coefficients, as well as the Townsend ionization coefficients are calculated in the hydrogen atom gas under a reduced electric field from 10 to 1000 Td. The calculation results show that the influence of the isotropic scattering assumption on the electron transport coefficients increases with reduced electric field increasing. However, even under a relatively low reduced electric field (10 Td), the calculated mean energy, flux mobility, and flux diffusion coefficient of electrons under the assumption of anisotropic scattering are 39.68%, 17.38% and 119.18% higher than those under the assumption of the isotropic scattering. The different energy partition methods have a significant influence on the electron transport coefficient under a medium-to-high reduced electric field (> 200 Td). Under a high electric field, the mean energy, flux mobility and flux diffusion coefficient calculated by the equal-partition method (the primary and secondary electrons equally share the available energy) are all less than the values from the zero-partition method (the energy of secondary-electrons is assigned to zero). While the change of Townsend ionization coefficient with reduced electric fields shows a different trend. The electron transport coefficient obtained by the Opal method lies between the values from the equal-partition method and the zero-partition method. In addition, considering the anisotropic scattering, the influence of energy partition method on the transport coefficient is higher than that under the assumption of isotropic scattering. This study shows the necessity of considering the anisotropic electron scattering for calculating the electron transport coefficient, and special attention should be paid to the choice of energy partition method under a high reduced electric field.

It is difficult to effectively shield the system generated electromagnetic pulse (SGEMP), which can significantly affect the performance of important electronic devices and infrastructure, such as low-orbit spacecraft. Numerical simulation is an essential way to study the SGEMP response. However, many previous studies ignored or simplified the effect of secondary electron emission in their models. In this paper, a three-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell numerical simulation model is developed to evaluate the effect of secondary electrons on the SGEMP response of two typical structures (external SGEMP and cavity SGEMP, respectively) under different current densities (0.1–100 A/cm²) and different materials (Al, Cu and Au). A right cylinder or cylindrical cavity with a length of 100 mm is used. The photoelectrons produced by the interaction between the X-ray photon and metal are emitted from one end of the system and assumed to be monoenergetic. The photoelectron pulse follows a sine-squared distribution, and its full width at half maximum is 1 ns. Some important parameters of secondary electrons are discussed and summarized, including the emission coefficients of elastically and inelastically backscattered electrons, as well as the probability density functions of emission angles and energies. The results show that ignoring the secondary emission in the simulation model leads the peak electric field to be underestimated by twice-thrice, and the duration of electric field response by more than 10%. The oscillation frequency and the amplitude of the second peak of the tangential magnetic field are also increased, with the secondary electrons considered. Among various types of secondary electrons, backscattered electrons have a dominant effect on the change of SGEMP. The effect of true secondary electrons is about 1/5 of that of backscattered electrons. The effect of secondary electrons on SGEMP response increases with a higher atomic number of the material used in the system, mainly due to higher backscattering emission coefficient and a high ratio of high energy inelastically backscattered electrons. The secondary electrons will influence the response of the external SGEMP only when the space charge effect is strong (high X-ray fluence). While the response of the cavity SGEMP is more easily affected by the secondary electrons even at a relatively low X-ray fluence. This paper helps to better obtain the SGEMP response of a specific device under strong radiation through numerical simulation.

The surface of metal system exposed to ionizing radiation (X-ray and γ-ray) will emit high-energy electrons through the photoelectric effect and other processes. The transient electromagnetic field generated by the high-speed electron flow is called system generated electromagnetic pulse (SGEMP), which is difficult to shield effectively. An ongoing effort has been made to investigate the SGEMP response in vacuum by numerical simulation. However, the systems are usually operated in a gaseous environment. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of low-pressure air on the SGEMP. A three-dimensional hybrid simulation model is developed to calculate the characteristics of the electron beam induced air plasma and its interaction with the electromagnetic field. In the hybrid model, the high-energy photoelectrons are modelled as macroparticles, and secondary electrons are treaed as fluid for a balance between efficiency and accuracy. A cylindrical cavity with an inner diameter of 100 mm and a length of 50 mm is used. The photoelectrons are emitted from one end of the cavity and are assumed to be monoenergetic (20 keV). The photoelectron pulse follows a sine-squared distribution with a peak current density of 10 A/cm², and its full width at half maximum is 2 ns. The results show that the number density of the secondary electrons near the photoelectron emission surface and its axial gradient increase as air pressure increases. The electron number density in the middle of the cavity shows a peak value at 20 Torr (1 Torr = 133 Pa). The electron temperature decreases monotonically with the increase in pressure. The low-pressure air plasma in the cavity prevents the space charge layer from being generated. The peak value of the electric field is an order of magnitude lower than that in vacuum, and the pulse width is also significantly reduced. The emission characteristic of the photoelectrons determines the peak value of the current response. The current reaching the end of the cavity surface first increases and then decreases with pressure increasing. The plasma return current can suppress the rising rate of the total current and extend the duration of current responses. Finally, to validate the established hybrid simulation model, the calculated magnetic field is compared with that from the benchmark experiments. This paper helps to achieve a better prediction of the SGEMP response in a gaseous environment. Compared with the particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision method, the hybrid model adopted can greatly reduce the computational cost.