Efficient numerical algorithm to simulate a 3D coupled Maxwell–plasma problem

This paper proposes an improved algorithm, based upon an explicit finite difference scheme, in order to simulate the plasma breakdown induced by a monochromatic High Power Micro-Wave (HPM). The 3D coupled Maxwell–plasma equations are to be solved. We want to study with this model the geometry of the discharge and plasma formation at high pressure which may contribute to shield microwave sensors or circuits. Generally, the simulation of this kind of problem is very time-consuming, but by using the fact that the plasma evolution in time is slow relatively to the monochromatic source period, we can drastically reduce the simulation time. By considering this assumption, we describe in the paper a process which allows to obtain this important reduction. Finally, an example where we show the gain obtained in terms of computation time with our process is given to validate and illustrate the global work.