PDP discharge is a non-stationary, highly nonlinear barrier discharge, in which densities of charged particles change from almost negligible to a very large (n_e,i ~ 10¹⁵cm^-3), completely screening the applied electric field in about 100ns. The time scales of simultaneously occurring processes may differ by 5-7 orders of magnitude. The spatial scales in different areas of the discharge differ by at least an order of magnitude. Electron m.f.p. in the cathode fall area is less than an order of magnitude smaller than the cathode fall size. All these factors put serious restrictions on the codes. Statistical, multi-dimensional effects, numerical diffusion in the cathode area, accuracy and speed limit the applicability of fluid-like codes (including the Boltzmann kinetic code), that is why we choose the PIC/Monte-Carlo approach.

On the other hand, when one is interested in more general characteristics of the discharge, or in collective effects caused by the interaction between cells through wires, electric and magnetic fields they radiate in the panel, and how their interaction affects the operation of a particular cell, then one can use a fluid approach, which is fast enough to handle many cells - we have simulated 100 macro-cells on a single processor laptop, and a multiprocessor computer can easily handle thousands of cells.

3D PIC/Monte-Carlo code for simulation of any kind of discharge in a coplanar PDP, and versions of the code optimized for the ramp discharge, and investigation of the jitter.  Demo version of the ramp - optimized code can be downloaded here. All codes can be customized, and can run on a single or multi-processors computers.

2D PIC/Monte-Carlo code (fully conservative) for simulation of any kind of discharge in a coplanar PDP.  2D code is significantly faster, and more accurate  than 3D code. Of course, it can't be used for 3D effects investigations. Fully conservative means that it does not have any artificial heating of electrons, which may be responsible for more excitations in the afterglow, more electron losses to the walls and thus effects efficiency of the sustain discharge.

2D-Multicell fluid code for the simulations of the whole PDP line, including thousands of cells, distributed and discrete elements (R, L, C). This is the only code that can evaluate loading effects, caused by the interaction between cells when many of them are turned ON, and the voltage across wires is not negligible. It shows distribution of voltage, current  across every cell, as a function of time.