MCIG is a free computer program for Monte Carlo simulations of electron or ion transport in weakly ionized gases under swarm conditions. These simulations are equivalent to rigorous, approximation-free solutions of the Boltzmann equation.
MCIG has a user-friendly interface similar to that of BOLSIG+, with similar inputs and outputs. It calculates steady-state energy distribution functions, transport coefficients and reaction rate coefficients from cross section data, without invoking the two-term Legendre expansion used by BOLSIG+ and many other electron Boltzmann equation solvers. These outputs can be used to check the validity of BOLSIG+ results, or directly as input data for fluid models of gas discharges. MCIG can handle ions as well as electrons, DC and AC electric and magnetic fields, pulsed and steady-state swarm configurations, non-zero gas temperature, superelastic collisions and anisotropic angular scattering.
The principles of MCIG are explained and illustrated in the following paper:
G. J. M. Hagelaar, Beyond BOLSIG+: Monte Carlo simulation of electron and ion swarms
to obtain transport and rate coefficients for plasma modeling, Phys. Plasmas 32 (4), 043501 (2025)
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MCIG version 03/2025 for Windows
MCIG version 12/2024 for Windows
Beta version for testing. Please report errors.
Copyright and terms of use
MCIG was developed by Gerjan Hagelaar of the Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion d’Energie (LAPLACE), Universite Paul Sabatier, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France.
Permission to use MCIG is hereby granted, provided that any publications involving data generated with this software explicitly cite (1) MCIG, (2) the above article [Hagelaar, Phys. Plasmas 32, 043501 (2025)] and (3) the cross section dataset(s) used as input. MCIG is made available “as is” and in binary executable form only. No source code, assistance or support are provided. The author makes no warranty about the suitability of MCIG for any purpose. The MCIG software and associated documentation and input files are not to be distributed by third parties or used for commercial purposes. Downloading MCIG from this site is implicit acceptance of these conditions.