In order to select a particular plot or to change the current plot, the program (if running) must be first paused by selecting Pause in the main menu. Once the program is paused it is possible to change the graphic options by selecting Options (colors, scale, etc...) in the Graphics menu. All the graphics can be viewed either in a Pause mode, or while the program is running. Select the Run option to restart.
The properties of the discharge and plasma can be seen in the form of 2D and 3D contours.
The Graphics options are available either when the program is paused or while the program is running. When the program is running the graphics is refreshed at a rate which can be defined by the user. Only one graphic window can be visualized at a given time. To change the graphic selection when the program is running, the user must first pause the program by clicking on the Pause option (which replaces the Run option in the Main Menu when the program is running).
When the program is paused, the user can also change the properties of the graphics (scales, colors, number of contour levels, palette etc...).
This can be done by choosing one of the options of the menu bar appearing in the graphic window (see above), or by clicking on the right mouse button , when a graphic window is present and the program is paused. The same menu appears in the graphic window (see the illustration below), showing the different options which can be selected by the user.
The different options are briefly described below. More details are given in the sub-sections (2D-Movie, 3D-Movie ...).
Select Option in the Graphics menu, or click on the right mouse button when a graphic window is active to access this option.
In the Properties option, the window colors, and the palette and contour lines are defined.
The details of this dialog are described in the 2D-Movie section.
Scale Option
Choose Scale on the menu bar, or click on the right mouse button and choose Scale on the floating menu when a graphic window is active to access this option.
The scale of the graphics can be changed by selecting the Scale option. If the Auto Scale box is checked the minimum and maximum of the 2D plot are automatically adjusted to the min and max of the matrix to be plotted. If not, the user must indicate the minimum and maximum values of the plot in the Zmin and Zmax fields. If the Log Scale box is checked a log scale is used for the contour plot. The log plot uses the number of decades given in the corresponding field (3 in the example below), with the maximum value either automatically set or given by the user (when the Auto Scale box is not checked). If the Log Scale box were checked in the example below, the contours would be plotted on 3 decades below 103.17, i.e. betwee 0.10317 and 103.17.
Update Frequency Option
Choose Update Frequency on the menu bar, or click on the right mouse button and choose Update Frequency on the floating menu when a graphic window is active to access this option.
The Update Frequency option allows to define the frequency at which the graphic is refreshed, or the rate at which bitmap images of the graphic window are saved on the disk. The default value for the graphic refresh frequency is every 5 time steps. You can change to graphic refreshing every 1 time step but this may slow down the calculations. If 0 (default value) is set in the Automatic Bitmap Save field, there is no automatic save of bimap graphic. Otherwise the graphic is saved in a bitmap format every k time steps during execution if the Automatic Bitmap Save field is set to k. The size of the bitmap graphic may be large (several hundred kB), and it is not recommended to save the graphic in bitmap format at a high rate.
Choose Save on the menu bar, or click on the right mouse button and choose Save on the floating menu when a graphic window is active to access this option.
Selecting Save Image saves a bitmap image of the current graphic window. The user is prompted to store this file in the sub-directory image of the current Run directory, with a name such as imagexx.bmp where xx is a number. The numbering of this file name is automatic. It is possible to save either the whole graphic window (Image+Layout), or only the plot area (Image Only).
Save Matrix Option (for plotting with another graphics software)
Choose Save_Save Matrix on the menu bar, or click on the right mouse button and choose Save_Save Matrix on the floating menu when a graphic window is active to access this option.
Selecting Save Matrix saves an ASCII file containing the results displayed on the current graphic window. When used while displaying 2D contours, the 2D results are saved in a simple matrix form which can be easily imported by most graphics software (e.g. Microcal Origin®). These files are stored in the sub-directory ASCII of the current Run directory, with file name/number which is incremented automatically. Selecting the Save Matrix option while displaying the current and voltage vs time creates a file of columns are follows: : 1st column: time, 2nd column: current on the 1st electrode, 3rd column: current on the second electrode, ...,voltage on the 1st electrode, voltage on the 2nd electrode, .... The units are: time in seconds, current in mA/cm, voltage in Volts.
The different options of the 2D Movie option are shown below.
The meaning of each option is straightforward. In the Power Deposition option, the electron Power Deposition into excitation for each gas component (sum of all excited states for each gas component) is plotted as a function of position in the cell. The Energy Deposition option corresponds to the time integral of the Power Deposition from the beginning of the most recent voltage pulse.
In the Ionization option, the Total Ionization rate is the sum of the ionization rates for each individual gas component. The Integrated Ionization Rate option corresponds to time integral of the Total Ionization Rate from the beginning of the most recent voltage pulse.
Below is an example of 2D contour of the Potential.
To save these data in a file, choose Save on the menu bar, or click on the right mouse button and choose Save on the floating menu when a graphic window is active to access this option.
The graphic can be customized by choosing Properties on the menu bar or by clicking on the right mouse button and choosing Properties on the floating menu:
If the Properties option is selected the user can select the graphic properties in the dialog box below:
If the Contours option is selected only contour lines are plotted (no filling). The 2D Plot of the potential above was drawn with the Contours Option. The number of contours can be chosen by the user.
In the Filled Contours option, several palettes can be selected (it is possible to flip the colors of the selected palette). The image resolution can be changed using the Resolution option. Note that the plotting is more time consuming for higher resolution (high resolution can be chosen when the program is paused, but is not recommended when the program is running). Contour lines can superimposed on the filled contours if the box on the last line of the dialog is checked.
The background color, graph color and character color can be modified by clicking on the corresponding buttons.
Below is an example of the same 2D potential plot as above but with different settings (Filled Contours, Rainbow Palette):
The settings are automatically saved in the Preferences file if the Last Used option has been selected in the Preferences dialog of the Files option in the Main Menu.
The vertical tool bar on the left of the 2D contour window controls viewing of contours of a given physical property (potential, density, power deposition etc...) in different X, Y, or Z planes.
 |
|
icon to select a plane perpendicular to the X direction (i.e. a (Y,Z)
plane). The View 3D option of the menu bar (see above)
can be used to better visualize the position of the selected plane
icon to select a plane perpendicular to the Y direction (i.e. a
(X,Z) plane)
icon to select a plane perpendicular to the Z direction (i.e. a (X,Y)
plane)
or 
to move to the last or first plane along the selected direction.
to automatically display the successive planes along the selected
direction
to stop the automatic display of the successive planes
can be used to sum the displayed property along the selected
direction
to exit this menuClick on this video to view an example of use of the tool bar to display contours in 2D and 3D: Video 2D and 3D
It is possible to visualize a contour in 3D, together with the 2D contour. This can be done by clicking on the View 3D option when the 2D contour graphic window is active. This is very convenient to better visualize the location of the plane where the 2D contour is displayed. The following animation shows how to use this option: Video 2D and 3D
Note that in the 2D graphic contour, the units of the contours are automatically set (default option of the Scale menu) between the minimum and maximum values (in the selected plane) of the physical property being displayed. The 3D view, however, displays the contours between the minimum and maximum values (in the whole volume) of the displayed physical property. This is the reason why the colours in the 2D and 3D views may not be the same.
The Current-Voltage graphic option plots the time evolution of the current and voltage on each electrode. The electrodes and their color codes appear in the bottom right plot.
The scale of the current can be changed by selecting the Scale option (right mouse click or Option in the Graphic menu).
The unit of the current is mA.
The sign of the electrode currents is defined as follows: the current is positive when positive ions flow to the surface of the dielectric layer above the electrode. It is negative otherwise.
The current and voltage as a function of time can be saved in ASCII format using the Save Matrix option (click on the right mouse button).
In this option, the distribution of charges on the dielectric surfaces is plotted in the form of contours.
The charges on the walls are represented at the current time of the simulation.
Only the charges on the bottom surfaces and top surfaces (perpendicular to the X direction) can be seen.
Only the 
and 
tools are available. Use
to view the surface charges on the bottom surfaces (below).
Use to view
the surface charges on the top surfaces (below).
