Calculating Electron Swarm Parameters in Argon in Strong Electric Fields

The dependences of the kinetic and transport coefficients of electrons in argon are calculated using the Monte Carlo method over a wide range of reduced field strengths E/N from 30 to 2000 Td. The obtained results are compared with experimental data available in the literature. It is shown that for argon, the drift-diffusion approximation for calculating the spatiotemporal evolution of the electron density becomes inapplicable in fields larger than ≈1000 Td. The results of numerical calculations of electron transport in argon in uniform and inhomogeneous electric fields performed using the Monte Carlo method are also compared with the results of calculations using a previously developed multigroup model.