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 contours or 1D curves.
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 is done by selecting Options in the Graphics menu, or by clicking on the right mouse button when a graphic window is present and the program is paused. A menu appears in the graphic window (see the illustration below), showing 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, 1D-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
Select Option in the Graphics menu, or click on the right mouse button 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
Select Option in the Graphics menu, or click on the right mouse button 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 save in a bitmap format every k time step during execution if the Automatic Bitmap Save field is set to k. The size of the bitmap graphic may be large (several hundreds kB), and it is not recommended to save the graphic in bitmap format at a high rate.
Select Option in the Graphics menu, or click on the right mouse button 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)
Select Option in the Graphics menu, or click on the right mouse button 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 file is stored in the sub-directory ASCII of the current Run directory, with a straightforward name. The numbering of this file name is automatic. When used while displaying the current and voltage vs time, the results are stored by columns as 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 second, current in mA/cm, voltage in Volt.
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 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 voltage pulse.
Below is an example of 2D contour of the Potential.
The graphic can be customized by clicking on the right mouse button. The following menu appears:
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 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 also be plotted in the Filled Contours option 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 Density and Field option of the 1D Movie graphic option plots the axial distribution (distribution along X) of the charged particle densities and field at a give Y position.
The time evolution of these parameters can be seen when the Run option is selected while this plot is displayed.
The units of the densities are shown above the left axis and the electric field unit is indicated above the right axis.
The Y location of the plot is also represented (y=0.8 mm in the example below).
The Y location can be changed by selecting Define Y Position in the 1D Movie option (see the figure above).
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/cm because of the 2D nature of the model (it is actually a current density and is given per unit length in the direction perpendicular to the simulation domain).
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).
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.
In this option, the distribution of charges on the dielectric surfaces is plotted. The blue color corresponds to positive charges and the pink color to negative charges. The unit (i.e. the maximum value, in C/cm2) is also indicated.
The charges on the vertical (constant X) surfaces are plotted on the left graph and the charges on the horizontal (constant Y) surfaces are plotted on the right graph.
The charges on the walls are represented at the current time of the simulation.
The discharge energy balance is represented when this graphic option is selected. The left column shows the energy dissipated by electrons and by ions (in percent). The second column shows how this energy is dissipated. The red color corresponds to the energy dissipated by electrons in excitation (below the white line is the energy dissipated in excitation of the first gas). The yellow color corresponds to energy dissipation in electron ionization (total). The blue and green colors show the energy dissipated by each type of ion.
The energy balance is always represented from the beginning of the voltage pulse to the current time (i.e. it corresponds to the integral of the power between these two times).
