The proposed research focuses on a better understanding of the complex processes that takes place in a glow discharge. Primarily this involves studying the physical characteristics of the discharge. Although experimentally the processes have been adapted for device manufacturing, the physics and the chemistry of the processes have been relatively difficult to understand. This can be attributed to many reasons; Extreme complexities and subtleties in the processes, the effect of spatial and temporal variations of the electric fields, lack of fundamental data as to the nature of electron and ion behavior, and so on. With the advent of large and powerful supercomputers, a more precise numerical analysis of the complex system of equations governing these processes has become feasible. The problems to be studied can be viewed as governed by a three-dimensional, time dependent, system of equations, a formidable problem. The application of the numerical techniques to this class of problems is possible, provided a combination of highly advanced numerical schemes can be achieved. Such a systematic study of the discharges will help in developing more efficient processes for semiconductor fabrication.
