We report current and past efforts made by our group in the ab initio modelling of different negative ion sources. In particular, we discuss the cross sections of elementary processes relevant to negative ion kinetics, including electron–molecule, atom–molecule and atom/molecule gas surface interactions, particularly emphasizing the role of vibrational excitation in affecting the cross sections. Attention is also paid to the elementary processes involving caesium in both volume and surface sources.Self-consistent models, which couple the Boltzmann equation and the vibrational kinetics, are used for describing multipole and rf discharges, while a PIC-MC (particle in cell) with Monte Carlo collisions is used to study electron and ion dynamics in a parallel plate reactor in the post-discharge regime. The present theoretical results should encourage further dedicated experimental work in the field.
A gyrokinetic electron and fully kinetic ion plasma simulation model