HYPIC: A fast hybrid EM PIC-MCC code for ion cyclotron resonance energization in cylindrical coordinate system

Abstract: Ion cyclotron resonance energization (ICRE) such as ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) is widely applied to magnetic confinement fusion and high-power electric propulsion. Since ICRE involves cyclotron resonance processes, a kinetic model is required. Both conventional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and solving the Boltzmann equation require enormous computation and memory. The hybrid simulation incorporating of adiabatic electrons and PIC ions allows both a substantial reduction in computation and the inclusion of cyclotron resonance effects. Under the adiabatic electron approximation, we have developed a two-dimensional (r,z) hybrid electromagnetic (EM) PIC-MCC (Monte-Carlo collision) simulation program, named HYPIC. The advantages of HYPIC are the inclusion of ion kinetic effects, electrostatic (ES) and EM effects, and collisional effects of ions and electrons, with a small computation. The HYPIC program is able to fast simulate the antenna-plasma interactions and the ion cyclotron resonance energization and/or ion cyclotron resonance heating processes in linear devices, such as high-power electric propulsion, magnetic mirror, and field-reversed-configuration (FRC), etc.