The single particle motion analysis and particle-in-cell merged with Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) simulations are compared to explain substantial breakdown voltage reduction for helium microwave discharge above a critical frequency corresponding to the transition from the drift-dominant to the diffusion-dominant electron loss regime. The single particle analysis suggests that the transition frequency is proportional to the product of p − m and d − ( m + 1 ) where p is the neutral gas pressure, d is the gap distance, and m is a numerical parameter, which is confirmed by the PIC simulation. In the low-frequency or drift-dominant regime, i.e., γ ‐ r e g i m e , the secondary electron emission induced by ion drift motion is the key parameter for determining the breakdown voltage. The fluid analysis including the secondary emission coefficient, γ , induces the extended Paschen law that implies the breakdown voltage is determined by p d , f / p , γ , and d / R where f is the frequency of the radio or microwave frequency source, and R is the diameter of electrode. The extended Paschen law reproduces the same scaling law for the transition frequency and is confirmed by the independent PIC and fluid simulations.

Particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulations and numerical analysis of a single particle motion are performed for atmospheric He microplasmas at microwave frequencies to determine the characteristics of non-Maxwellian to Maxwellian transition. The left and the right regimes of Paschen curve, divided by this transition, reveal that the transition frequencies depend on the gap of electrodes and the neutral gas pressure to follow scaling laws for a new extended Paschen law. The fluid models are reasonable at the right-side regime of Paschen breakdown areas, but not on the left side, which is highly kinetic for electrons. The plasmas driven by weaker electric fields of high enough frequencies at the right-side Paschen regime breed more energetic electrons.

Nonlinear coupling of cold and hot waves in a flowing magnetized plasma is analyzed with the Vlasov equation. An analytical solution is obtained for cold waves of a small amplitude (weak flow) and a long wavelength. The distribution function is obtained by integrating the kinetic equation along a perturbed phase-space trajectory for a time-varying plasma flow. The kinetic description presents a generalized dispersion relation that involves resonances depending on cold and hot wave dispersions. Coherent fluid motion leads to radiation peaks in addition to the cyclotron harmonics, where the wavenumber of the cold wave determines the peak frequencies. The peaks appear narrow when the wave propagates perpendicular to the time-averaged flow while they become broad due to the Doppler effect when the wave propagates parallel to the flow. Fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations corroborate the theoretical predictions. The dispersion relation and resulting wave spectra provide information about plasma parameters and flow properties.

A thin-foil infrared bolometer has been developed to measure the plasma radiation quantitatively during plasma disruptions in the KSTAR tokamak. We present analytic solutions of a 0D heat transfer model, which enable the estimation of the plasma radiation from the bolometer signal. The analytical solutions for the linear response regime give practical ways by which the radiation power and energy can be estimated from the cooling time scale of the bolometer signal. A useful way of evaluating the linear response of the system is also introduced. The analysis is complemented by 2D heat transfer simulations. The bolometer signals from the shattered pellet injection experiments in the 2020 KSTAR campaign are analyzed and interpreted according to the heat transfer models.