Abstract
Nonlinear dynamical behaviors in thermionic low pressure discharge are investigated using a particle-in-cell(PIC) simulation. An electrostatic PIC code is developed to model the plasma discharge system including the kinetic effects. The elastic collision, excitation collision, ionization collision, and electron-ion recombination collision are considered in this code. The generated electrons and ions are traced to analyze physical characteristics of the plasma. The simulation results show that the nonlinear oscillation structures are observed for cold plasma in the system and the similar structures are observed for warm plasma with a shift in values of the bifurcation parameter. The detailed oscillation process can be subdivided into three distinct mode; anode-glow, temperature-limited, and double-layer modes.